Guest Post: Introducing Andrea Thomas, founder of ScratchMeNots

Today we meet the lovely eczema mummy Andrea Thomas who came up with the idea of  flip-mitten sleeves for children with eczema.  My own daughter still adores her ScratchMeNots.  It was such a relief to find mittens that actually stayed on, stopped her damaging her skin and were available in such vibrant colours.

Looking back to when my daughter was first born brings back a myriad of
memories. I knew there were going to be sleepless nights, lots of diaper changes,
and 24 hour feeds, but what I didn’t anticipate was eczema.

Andrea with her children.

Around 2 months of age, redness of her skin started to appear and it spread quickly. It went from redness to endless scratching, and my little daughter’s skin was being consumed by itchiness.

As a mom, this was heart breaking and I felt helpless as her pediatrician prescribed medication that helped only for a short time, and then it came back even worse.  Our days were filled with a scratching child and sleepless nights.

Naturally, we tried the traditional baby mittens, but she would somehow either pull or rub them off. Like many parents, we then tried using long socks to stop her from scratching however I noticed that the fabric being used was causing her skin to become even more irritated.

After several attempts to prevent her from damaging
her skin, with no success, I was on a mission to create something that would work.  And if it worked for my daughter, I wanted it to be available to other families that shared in my family’s story.

First, I knew it had to be functional, as it had to be easy parents to put on, yet hard for a child to pull off.  Secondly, they had to be effective by reducing or eliminating a child’s skin abrasion, when they scratched or rubbed their skin. It also had to be flexible, allowing them to enjoy hands-free time, allowing them to explore their world with their bare hands, and then closed at a moment’s notice for when they would start scratching. 

She also had to be able to pick up and play with toys easily with the mittens closed.  And of course they had to be Fun! My desire was to design a product that was able to compliment my daughter outfits and add a splash of fashion. By now, my daughter had already received so many stares and questions about her skin condition; I was determined not to create anything that resembled hospital clothing or would added draw negative attention towards her skin. ScratchMeNots had to be a fun and cute.

ScratchMeNots gave my family something we desperately needed; peace of mind, rest, and relief. Using them, offered us more time to focus on the true cause of my daughter’s eczema (food allergies), instead of having to continually worry about her damaging her skin.  I am proud to offer a product that is also helping so many families around the world, as it did mine. At ScratchMeNot my goal is to always offer solutions for families that will provide Parents Peace, and Baby’s Relief, in the world of itchy skin.