My Account  |  Contact Us  |  info@scratchsleeves.co.uk  |  +44 1962 890210

Building self-confidence in your eczema child

Eczema can affect a child’s self-confidence. This is especially true when children start to notice each other’s appearance. At some point your child will realise that not everyone has eczema. And that, as well as itching, eczema doesn’t look very nice. This realisation can really knock a child’s self-confidence. Low self-confidence can affect a child’s ability to develop friendships, so they are at a higher risk of being bullied at school. It’s also not uncommon for quiet children to be overlooked by the teacher in the classroom. However, by making a conscious effort to ensure that you are building self-confidence in your eczema child, you can ensure that they are well prepared for the rigors of life.

As kids try, fail and try again before they finally succeed, they develop ideas about their own capabilities. At the same time, their interactions with other people are contributing to their concept of themselves. By supporting this learning process throughout babyhood and childhood, parents are able to help their child develop a healthy self-confidence that will see them through the rest of their lives.

While having eczema can impact on a child’s self-confidence, this won’t happen until they start to become aware that most other people don’t suffer from it. By developing your child’s self-confidence early, you will give them a good, solid belief in themselves and their abilities that will buffer them from other peoples reaction to their skin.

Here are some ideas to get you started building self-confidence in your eczema child:

Having eczema can affect a child’s self-confidence. By building your child’s self-confidence throughout their babyhood and childhood, you can give them the self-confidence and resilience to thrive.
  • Praise often and accurately. If your child does well, make sure you praise them. Specific praise is far more effective than general praise so remember to focus on exactly what they have achieved. Remember to give praise for effort too, it will help to prepare them for dealing with disappointments.
  • Focus on abilities. With the best will in the world, some eczema children will struggle with their appearance. By focusing on their abilities rather than their looks you can begin teaching them that there is so much more to life than looking ‘perfect’. If you have more than one child, be sure to use this approach with the whole family.
  • Encourage your child to express feelings and emotions in a healthy way. This doesn’t mean you should let your child have temper tantrums whenever he or she wants! It means developing a healthy balance between expressing and controlling emotions in a decent manner. Let them know that everyone makes mistakes and okay to be angry, so long as you don’t take it out on others.
  • Play is invaluable. Designate an uninterrupted period of time where you play with your child on a daily basis. Children are constantly hunting for recognition and attention from adults, so a play session is a great way for them to get this.
  • Give your child responsibilities. This will make them feel important and part of something, as well as giving them an opportunity to develop new skills and reach their full potential.
  • It’s all in a name. Use your child’s name when talking to them. This makes them feel validated and appreciated and will convey a subtle “you’re special” message. When praising your child try use his or her first name or nickname. Like many families, we save full names for misbehaviour.
  • Lead by example. Children are programmed to copy the behaviours they see. Remember that an eczema child sees how their parents interact with the authority figures of medical professionals far more than the average child. Take a moment to think about what you are inadvertently teaching your little one.
  • Share you experiences. Sometimes, a child’s skill level is just not there and helping kids overcome disappointments can help them learn what they’re good at. By sharing your own experiences like “I can’t carry a tune” or “I couldn’t kick a ball to save my life” will help your child to learn about themselves and to appreciate what makes them unique. If you were shy as a child, talk about what helped you.
  • Spend time with other children. Social skills are developed through experience. Join a playgroup, organise play-dates, taking a swimming class, or go the story-telling sessions at the local library. While it can be difficult to deal with the inevitable ‘what’s wrong with your child’ conversations, the social skills which your child will learn from both playing with other children and seeing you interacting with their parents will be invaluable in later life.
  • Role-play with toys. This can help a child through specific self-confidence issues as they get to be a character they wouldn’t normally be. Let your child assume the role of adult and note the way he or she treats you when you are the shy character – this can unlock valuable information about your child’s thinking.
  • Be careful what you say. Even young children will pick up on negative messages that they hear in conversation. Some conversations are best held out of ear-shot.

There are many ways you can develop your child’s social skills, boost their self-esteem and build self-confidence. With a little TLC you can ensure that your little one grows into a well-adjusted, happy and confident little person regardless of their eczema.


Here at ScratchSleeves we don’t just share our experiences of bringing up an eczema child (and favourite allergy friendly recipes), we also manufacturer and sell our unique stay-on scratch mitts and PJs for itchy babies, toddlers and children. We now stock sizes from 0-adult years in a range of colours. Visit our webshop for more information.

The Calm Skin Guide

Love our blog? It's also available in book format with:

Signed copies available at no extra cost

Written by:

Tess joined ScratchSleeves in 2016 and loves being able to help our little clients and other parents who are struggling.

Reviewed by:

Coming from a family of eczema sufferers, Jae draws on years of practical, first hand experience living with eczema.

Interesting article? Don't keep it to yourself...

Read next...

You may also find helpful...

Eczema 101 | Eczema & Food | Life Stages
Breastfeeding can be an emotive subject, especially if your little one is unlucky enough to suffer from baby eczema. One...
Life Stages
Whether you are returning to work after maternity leave or you have other commitments requiring your attention – sending your...
Featured Article | Life Stages
Having a child with eczema lays another layer of complexity over parenthood. It can affect everything from whether one parent...
Featured Article | Family Life
There’s no getting away from the fact that having a child with eczema is likely to impact the entire family....
Family Life | Conventional Treatments
It's rare for children to end up in hospital with eczema, but if your little one is admitted, this post...
Life Stages
Every parent knows the heartache of watching their child struggle with rejection. It’s part of growing up and being human,...
Family Life | Sleep & Scratching
One of the questions often asked by our customers is “will wearing ScratchSleeves affect my child’s ability to play?”. The...
Life Stages | Triggers
Teething is a well known anecdotal trigger for flare-ups in pre-existing baby eczema. It’s not clear if the trigger for...
Life Stages | Family Life
When thinking about how best to help your child to manage their eczema, there are two sides to the story.  First, there...
Seasons & Holidays | Family Life
Long car journeys with babies and young children fill most parents with dread: the boredom, the kicking at the backs...
Family Life
The link between stress and eczema has been well documented in adults. There is less information available on the impact...
Seasons & Holidays | Family Life
When you’ve got a child who suffers from eczema, it can take a toll on the whole family and make...
Life Stages
Pregnancy, in my opinion, is one of the greatest preparations for the grimmer elements of parenting. Morning sickness gets us...
Family Life
What is Postnatal depression? Postnatal depression (also referred to as postpartum depression or PND) is defined by the Oxford English...
Family Life
Family life is certainly hectic with most of us fighting a constant battle to be in the right place at...
Life Stages
As parents we all want our child to be happy and confident going to school and to be in the...
Life Stages
Books are a great way of starting a discussion about eczema with both kids who have it and those who...
Life Stages
Starting a new school is already a stressful time and, while they may seem excited, there will understandably be nerves...
Family Life
Most children dream of keeping their own pet, it’s one of the pleasures of childhood. It’s also a great way...
Life Stages | Laundry & Clothing
The idea for ScratchSleeves was borne from the despair of watching our kids suffer horribly with eczema.  Eczema mittens and...
Life Stages | Family Life
As a parent it’s natural to do all you can to try to relieve the symptoms of eczema.  It’s awful...
Family Life
Sharing time and attention equally between your children is a juggling act for all parents. However, it is particularly tricky...
Family Life
If you have an baby or child with eczema, you’ll be well aware that the condition has a broad impact...
Life Stages | Family Life
As children get older, they start to notice differences between themselves and begin to tease each other about those differences. And it’s...
Life Stages | Family Life
Eczema can affect a child’s self-confidence. This is especially true when children start to notice each other’s appearance. At some...
Family Life | Sleep & Scratching | Bathing & Washing
Sleep is as essential as nutrition and for keeping children healthy. But getting a child into bed and sleeping at...
Family Life
Looking after a baby or toddler can be all consuming and exhausting, but if your baby has eczema then it...
Life Stages
Baby eczema typically takes hold just as little ones are starting to reach all those photogenic milestones of sitting up, crawling...
Life Stages | Family Life
It can be really difficult to figure out why a baby is crying. Are they hungry, tired, do they have...

Quick buy

What our lovely customers say...

More reviews are available on...

Multi Buy Discount

DiscountLogo

Spend between £30 - £60 and save 5%
Spend between £60 - £120 and save 10%
Spend over £120 and save 15%

Discount automatically applied at checkout

No Quibbles Guarantee

output-onlinepngtools (48)

ScratchSleeves abide by a no quibbles guarantee.

Free UK Postage

output-onlinepngtools (85)

Free packing and postage on all UK orders. For overseas orders to Europe postage is from £3.50, to USA is £8.50 and to the rest of the world, from £6.50.

Scroll to Top