Children with dry lips, cracked lips: Causes and treatments

Weather changes cause differences in temperature and humidity. This can dry out your child's skin and lovely lips, and worse it can lead to chapped lips. So how to help children not to dry lips?

One thing we pay less attention to is that infant lips are thinner and more prone to drying than adults. Consequently, baby's lips can be easily affected by changing weather conditions.

In addition, children have a habit of licking their lips, which makes this condition worse. For adults, when dry, cracked lips, lip balm can be a lifesaver, but are such cosmetics good for children? aFamilyToday Health will help mothers understand the cause, how to recognize, as well as some home remedies to effectively treat the problem of dry lips in children.

Mother worry when the baby is dry, cracked lips

For young children, especially babies, dry lips are always a worrying situation. If ignored without intervention, dry lips can crack or even progress into painful sores for the baby.

One of the reasons why children get dry, cracked lips is the habit of babies often licking their lips. However, chapped lips are a warning sign of serious dehydration in a child.

Also, changing weather and exposing your child to wind can often cause this. What's more, some babies tend to breathe through their mouth more than their nose, which can also cause chapped lips.

The causes of dry, chapped young lips

Causes of dry lips can come from changes in personal habits or environmental conditions.

1. Dehydration

The cause of dehydration is due to two main factors: one is the dry, cold weather that lowers the humidity in the air, making the lips dry; Second, weather conditions can also cause babies to perspire constantly.

In addition, if the amount of food the baby needs does not meet the needs, the body will not have enough water. This will inevitably lead to dry lips. Some of the signs of dehydration in a baby that the mother may recognize are:

Sunken eyes

Crying without tears

Cold hands and feet

Fast heart beat

There is a soft spot on the child's head

2. Suck or lick your lips

Many people mistakenly think that licking your lips regularly will make your lips less cracked. However, saliva usually evaporates quickly after licking, so it will make lips lose their natural moisture and quickly dry and crack. In addition to the fact that children constantly stick out their tongues and lick their lips, perhaps mothers understand why their lips are dry.

3. The baby has dry lips due to lack of nutrition

The presence of chapped lips is another sign that your baby's current diet is not meeting the needs. If an infant is diagnosed with a lower content of certain nutrients in the body, the baby's lips will not retain moisture. This is exacerbated when the child's body has a weak immune system.

4. A tendency to breathe through the mouth

The baby's mouth breathing allows the air to flow around his lips continuously. This stream of air will take away any moisture it passes on its way. The presence of a related illness such as a stuffy nose often leads to a baby's mouth breathing and chapped, uncomfortable lips.

5. Reaction to an allergic factor

Young children can be allergic to many things. Baby skin is extremely sensitive and can react to many lotions or even be allergic to the material of the clothes they are wearing. Using a certain lip balm and having a tendency to kiss your baby regularly can also cause allergies in your baby.

6. Weather fluctuations can make babies more susceptible to dry lips

Young children need to be in a safe and controlled environment, especially when they are just born because their skin is not accustomed to the harsh weather. Hot summers, cold winters or strong, sunny days can cause a child's little lips to dry and crack.

Are there times when a baby has dry lips from breastfeeding?

In fact, breastfeeding is not the cause of dry, cracked lips. In contrast, breast milk is effective at helping chapped lips heal. If your baby is breastfed well and gets enough milk during the day, the risk of dry lips is greatly reduced.

What are the signs of dry chapped lips in babies?

For a newborn baby with chapped lips, symptoms can be:

Lips are noticeably more dry than yours

Cracks that appear on the lip surface can be deeper

The skin around the lips begins to darken in color

The lips are sore and reddish in color

Severe cracks will cause heavy bleeding

How can you treat dry, chapped lips in a child?

There are a number of home remedies you can take to provide quick relief and less discomfort for your baby.

1. Lip balm is safe for babies

Mothers should never think of using lip balm and other creams that adults use on children. This is because there are special lip balms available on the market that are specifically made for babies. They are made from natural ingredients that are gentle and suitable for your baby's delicate skin. However, you should consult your doctor before choosing to buy for your child.

2. Oil wax

Made from lanolin, this wax acts as a powerful moisturizer for baby's little lips, helping to heal cracks faster. The presence of lanolin acts as an absolutely safe and miraculous healer, even if the child licks his lips and accidentally puts some medicine in his mouth.

The way to use is for mothers to wash their hands, rub a little wax on their fingers and then gently dab on the baby's lips. Try using this wax at night when your baby sleeps so it lasts longer and has enough time to be fully effective.

3. Coconut oil

How good coconut oil is for the skin everyone knows. In fact, it is also used as a natural "remedy" to use when a baby has dry lips. Coconut oil is inexpensive and can be purchased at home. The reason for this effect is that the micro-component of the oil, lauric acid, helps heal chapped lips without affecting your baby. You wash your hands and dab a little oil, then apply it on your baby's lips and repeat many times each time your baby has dry lips.

4. Cream for cracking nipples for mothers

Creams to treat nipples for moms offer two very useful uses. The first is that in certain situations, a mother's nipples can be cracked and will cause pain while breastfeeding, so it is essential to use this cream. Second, this cream is also safe for children in the treatment of dry, cracked lips. If you want to use it for your baby, you need to consult your doctor first.

5. Breast milk

Breast milk is the safest and most natural way to heal dry lips. You can apply a little milk around the nipple before feeding or use your fingers to gently dab the milk on the baby's lips. Note that you should not rub your baby's lips. Breast milk will help keep your baby's lips hydrated, as well as provide some additional natural ingredients to help lips heal faster.

What if your child has chronic chapped lips?

Chronic chapped lips in a child can reflect nutritional deficiencies or even excessive vitamin A consumption. There is a more rare case of when a child has Kawasaki disease - a condition that causes inflammation and fever. and is common in children from 6 months to 2 years old. However, in the case of the disease, dry lips are accompanied by other symptoms including fever and red eyes. Therefore, if the child has prolonged dry lips, the mother should take the child to a medical facility for examination.

How to prevent dry lips for children

To prevent dry, chapped lips in children, maintain the optimal temperature indoors and use a humidifier if needed. Dress your baby appropriately and avoid exposure to excessive sunlight or strong winds. Also, make sure to feed your baby more often in hot weather so he or she doesn't become dehydrated.

Dry, chapped lips can be very common in adults. But with babies, the dry lips will make them painful and uncomfortable. Through this article, we hope that mothers will have more knowledge in taking care of their babies better when babies have dry lips.