Use the boxes from duvets to make a boat!
For a child with eczema, like MyItchyBoy, having the right bedding is key to a good night’s sleep. Tiredness makes an already itchy child more itchy and tired, grumpy parents will find coping with the daily trials of eczema harder than usual
So, this is what I’ve learned (the hard way!) about bedding for eczema over the past few months:
1. Cotton sheets are an obvious one. However, the brushed cotton sheets that I thought might be cosy and soft, bobbled up in the wash. These small bobbles were enough to irritate MyItchyBoy’s skin. So, I replaced these with normal cotton sheets
2. Non-PVC Mattress Protectors are the best choice, but I found that they still seem to make MyItchyBoy itchy. I now put one of the aforementioned defunct brushed cotton sheets over the mattress protector before the normal top cotton sheet, which helps a lot. It does mean three layers have to come off if there is an accident in the night though
3. Pillows are filled with either: feathers or polyester. Along with the food allergies, intolerances and eczema, MyItchyBoy also has inhalers for mild asthma symptoms. For this reason, I have avoided feathers. That leaves polyester. Polyester irritates MyItchyBoy’s eczema. I have managed to track down a cotton pillow protector. Fingers crossed this will stop MyItchyBoy raking his head most nights. This is still new, but seems to be good so far
4. Duvets are either filled with feathers or polyester. It doesn’t matter what other names they call it, if it isn’t feathers, then it is polyester it seems. When we originally bought MyItchyBoy’s duvet, we bought an anti-allergy one. It is good quality and wasn’t cheap. Months later, I have realised that my natural pull towards and reliance upon ‘anti-allergy’ labels means that I didn’t really think it through. Eczema is not an allergy. Although AllergyUK even endorses some duvets and pillows, there is no reason that these products would be any good for MyItchyBoy’s skin. When looking to replace his duvet (this was last on my list due to cost), I only found one in store that mentioned being good for eczema. This is filled with silk, and although out of our price range, can be found here. Instead, we opted for the Marks and Spencer range of cotton duvets. They have cotton cases and are filled with cotton. So far, this has had a big impact. MyItchyBoy still doesn’t sleep well but he is waking less frequently for cream and the itching is not as desperate and intense. I wish I had made this change earlier and shall now make sure I don’t choose ‘anti allergy’ as a default but remember to separate out his allergies from his eczema.
We are still all suffering from MyItchyBoy waking up every night at some point. The chunks of sleep in between are getting longer, however, and I haven’t heard ‘I want to tear the skin off my legs!’ for a while. For that alone, all the bedding changes have been worth it.
Ever since i got diagnosed with Eczema, I’ve been super conscious about my skin. I try and wear as much organic cotton as I can. Even sanitary pads. It’s not that my eczema is completely cured because of that, but I do feel a difference in the itching compared to any other fabric.
Personally, what I’ve experienced with bedding is that silk is not something that my skin has taken to well. Maybe it’s the dyes. I am not sure. I looked online on google for organic sheets in the UK and found Cirkel (cirkel.co). I bought a sheet to try and so far, I am loving it. I want to try bamboo as well. If anyone has any recommendations, that would be great.
Not heard of them, I will have a look now, thanks.
We still use two cotton sheets for my son to give a barrier from mattress cover. I do think the cotton duvet made a huge difference and yes, I far prefer cotton clothes.
Great suggestions and discussions about Eczema. My little boy suffers terribly from it, especially at night and I am just looking at what type of duvet to get him. All these comments and suggestions are great and I will try them all. I must say I have been reading a lot about dustmites tonight being the cause of itching but this doesnt seem to be mentioned very often on medical websites such as NHS direct. Im thinking maybe dust mites are the cause of my little boys mad scratching at night! Thanks again!
Hi, my girl has ezcema since birth as well as food allergies/ intolerance. most of the time she got the reaction from foods/ dusts/ chemical. Her knee/ joints are clear. we were thinking to move her to single bed now. do you have any recommendation about mattress? She got warm easily esp to her chin. so, the best it has good air flow ventilation.
Thanks
hi, ive had eczema for a long time. Just to comment that dust mite droppings are a common cause of allergic reactions, carpets and duvets accumulate these easily. Ive found that staying away from dust helps reduce my eczema symptoms considerably. This and dairy..avoiding these two can get me 95% clean. My experience is, when i get a bad allergic reaction, my body becomes sensitive to things im normally not sensitive, and this translates to my skin breaking out terribly. Also, eating very clean has done wonders too. Good luck with your child 😀
Hi, thank you for this. Today we got a dust mite fact sheet from the hospital. MyItchyBoy is going to sort out a rota for his teddy bears tomorrow for their mini holiday in the freezer 🙂 We are looking into some of the other things on the sheet to see what is easy and cheap to implement. MyItchyBoy is already dairy free but I found my own eczema mostly stopped when I stopped it.
I wish you luck.
I have got very very severe eczema do you where I can get quilts and bed sheets for my eczema thank you I hope to hear from you very soon
We got the duvets from Marks & Spencer – the cotton washable ones.
Hey, I really admire the lengths youre going to in aid of your son’s exzema. I had it severely from up to the the of 13, up to the point where I couldn’t bend my arms, legs or fingers or even walk as it hurt my ankles so much. Unfortunately at 20 it’s showing signs of coming back but hopefully with information like this from people like you I can prevent it coming back. Good luck.
PS: when I was a child I remember having special eczema pillows which were filled with beans and almost looked like a long snake! My mum would put them in the freezer and Wheh it was bed time I would wrap them around my neck and arms to cool down the prickly itches and it felt like heaven! I’d advise looking into those if you haven’t already.
Gosh, what a ‘cool’ idea 🙂 I think MyItchyBoy would love that. All I hear about at night is how hot he is and, yes, it makes him itchy. I’m not sure they’d would fit in my freezer though but I might be able to find something smaller than a pillow that would do the job. Thanks for the idea.
Hi Just wondering which washing powder you use. I have eczema and my 3 children do too. We use Surcare which I find to be best as it contains no perfume and then Surcare conditioner for towels and no conditioner at all on bedding. Hope this helps, Julia
Hi
At the moment we’ve been using Bio-D laundry detergent. We don’t use conditioner at all. MyItchyBoy’s eczema doesn’t seem to be too affected by which one we use, as long as it is a mild one. I’ve not tried Surcare, but seen it around a lot. I might give it a go now, thanks for the recommendation!
Was just wondering whether you could use cotton towels for bedding. Fold/Roll one up and put it in a cotton pillow case. And a couple of big bath towels in a cotton duvet cover for a quilt. You could then be 100% polyester free. Just thinking aloud, I’m sure you’ve considered the options!
I guess polyester duvets are a somewhat recent development, perhaps the old-style sheets and blankets may have some advantages..
I think towels can be quite scratchy too. However, a couple of weeks ago, staying with a friend, MyItchyBoy was up in the night scratching like a demon. Instead of waking our hosts up, I took a punt on the towels we’d been given being cotton and put them under him (after much argument from him) and he slept well after that. Found out in the morning that although the sheet was 100% cotton, the mattress topper was not. He’s like the Prince and the Pea with being able to be irritated through more than one layer!