A MUM whose baby was born with "skin like a snake" has hailed a "miracle" cream which stops him scratching his face until he bleeds.
Rachel Mullins, 34, said little Caleb was previously scaly and painfully peeling – but a £7 high street product means he's now soothed and smooth.
The stay-at-home parent, from Carmarthenshire, Wales, said doctors first thought her son's flaky skin was due to being eight days late.
But when the dryness failed to clear up, she started using creams prescribed by her GP to treat the issue.
Sadly, these only irritated him further, leaving Caleb suffering sleepless nights due to agonising flare-ups.
Plagued with open sores, Rachel said she felt "helpless" as she watched her little boy live in constant pain and discomfort.
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However, Rachel finally found a solution in July.
After using Balmonds Skin Salvation, you could "see the relief in his face", she said.
The tot is now able to snooze through the night and no longer "obsessively" scratches his skin.
Rachel, who lives with her partner Adrian, 44, said: "His skin was so scaly when he was newborn that he looked like a snake but it wasn’t until he was three weeks old that we seriously became concerned.
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"Nothing was clearing his skin up and over the weeks, it got worse and worse.
"Now that we’re using the Balmonds cream, he is a much happier baby.
"His temperament has changed, he’s sleeping, and no longer scratching.
"It’s been a miracle cream for us."
Rachel gave birth to Caleb in May 2023 when he was eight days late.
He had skin problems from day one, but medics were unsure if his condition was caused by eczema or a milk allergy.
She took him to see her GP at six weeks old and was given an eczema cream, but this caused Caleb's skin to "swell up".
Rachel then tried various other lotions, but nothing seemed to work.
The youngster's skin only worsened, and he would scratch himself so much he would bleed.
Finally in July, the mum researched natural treatments online and discovered Balmonds Skin Salvation, which costs £7.99 at Holland & Barrett and £6.95 from Express Chemist.
Within one day of applying it to her son's skin, she noticed a huge difference.
The product is a godsend. It’s such a relief for everyone that Caleb's now on the mend.
"I couldn’t believe the difference – you could see the relief in his face," she said.
"Because he had open sores and skin peeled away, other creams were stinging him, but Balmonds doesn’t.
"I took a before and after photo on the first day I used it and the difference is unbelievable.
"Within a matter of hours there was a huge improvement in him."
Since then, Rachel has been using the cream daily on Caleb’s skin and she said his flare-ups have greatly reduced.
While not completely in the clear, his sores have started to heal and he isn't peeling as much as he was before.
Rachel, also mum to Brooke, 13, Riley, 12, Levi 11, Kelsey, nine, Kian, five, Jenson, three, said: "He’s so much happier now, you can notice the difference in his temperament and now he often sleeps with his arms above his head, which is something he’d stopped doing when his skin was at its worst.
"Doctors still aren’t sure of the cause. They think it could either be eczema or an allergy to milk, but we’re still going through the process of finding out.
"We’re hoping to find out in the next few weeks exactly what the problem is so he can be treated properly for it but for now, Balmonds has been a godsend for us."
The mum added that the ordeal has not just been stressful for her and her partner, but also for her other children who were worried about their little brother.
She added: "They watched us try to find a solution for him and were all just as worried as we were.
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"My 11-year-old son Levi was worrying about Caleb and kept saying to me, 'He’s the last baby and he’s having all this trouble, poor thing'.
"When something like this happens, it affects the whole family, so it’s such a relief for everyone that he’s now on the mend."
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