I was about seven months pregnant when, for no obvious reason, my belly began to itch. It was incessant. I’d wake in the morning to find claw marks across my skin, the result of scratching myself while asleep. At work, I’d attempt to ignore the itch for as long as possible, only to flee to the bathroom, pull up my shirt, and scratch furiously at my naked stomach in the privacy of the stall.
Though none of my pregnant friends seemed to have this affliction, itchiness during pregnancy is not uncommon. Your stomach grows, so your skin expands, which can lead to severe dryness and itchiness. I tried coconut oil, vitamin E, and cocoa butter, but nothing worked. The prickly, dry, must-be-scratched-now feeling persisted.
After weeks of my complaining, my husband picked up a box of Aveeno Soothing Bath Treatment—a “colloidal oatmeal skin protectant” that “relieves itchy, irritated skin”—at the drugstore. He also bought a tube of Aveeno Anti-Itch Lotion.
That night, I dumped a packet of the bath treatment into our tub and eased my growing self into it. Baths were becoming more awkward with each passing day of my pregnancy, but I was willing to try anything. Sitting in the water felt a bit like soaking in a bowl of oatmeal. The Aveeno Bath Treatment gave the water a milky appearance and a slightly thicker consistency, but almost immediately, my itchy skin calmed down.
It turns out that colloidal oatmeal is incredibly helpful for a range of skin conditions—everything from chicken pox to sunburn and psoriasis. According to WebMD, “Colloidal oatmeal binds to your skin and forms a protective barrier. It also helps hold in moisture and ease inflammation.” Though you can make your own at home, I found the Aveeno Soothing Bath Treatment to be an easy fix; one packet in the water and a short soak in the tub, and my itchiness subsided. And the cost was right; for as low as $6.99 I could get a box of eight packets, which would last for just over a week now that I was taking nightly baths. After each soak, I’d slather the Aveeno Anti-Itch Lotion all over my stomach; it was an additional $6.99 but lasted for months. And because Aveeno is such a well-known product, both items are widely available.
Once I began using these two Aveeno products regularly, the itching left and never returned. I continued the nightly baths for as long as I could comfortably fit into our tiny tub. After that, I used just the lotion for the rest of my pregnancy. Thanks to Aveeno, I no longer woke to red claw marks across my belly. Instead, I merely had a punching, kicking, squirming fetus to keep me up all night.