How do I stop my baby scratching their face at night?

Keep the bedroom cool, moisturise well before bed, keep nails short and smooth, and use soft scratch sleeves or an eczema-friendly sleeping bag to gently limit scratching while your baby sleeps. These steps work together to protect the skin overnight.

What is the best sleeping bag for a baby with eczema-prone skin?

Look for a sleeping bag made from soft, breathable fabric like bamboo that does not trap heat, ideally with built-in scratch sleeves that gently limit scratching. Breathability matters because overheating makes eczema-prone skin itch more.

Why does my baby scratch more at night than during the day?

At night the bed is warm, there is nothing to distract from the itch, and babies often scratch in their sleep without waking. Itch also tends to feel stronger in the evening as part of the body's natural rhythm.

Is it okay to use mittens to stop night scratching?

Yes. Soft mittens and scratch sleeves are a gentle, widely used way to protect the skin overnight. Sleeves that extend up the arm tend to stay on better than loose mittens that slip off.

How to Stop Your Baby Scratching at Night: A New Zealand Guide

By Kelly Northey, Certified Postpartum Nutrition Professional

Founder of Nella Vosk • 14+ years supporting families across motherhood, feeding, and early childhood wellbeing

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How to Stop Your Baby Scratching at Night: A New Zealand Guide

This article is part of the Nella Vosk Baby Eczema resource for New Zealand families, our gentle, practical guide to caring for sensitive, eczema-prone skin at every stage.

It is the sound you have learned to listen for even in your sleep. The soft, frantic scratching through the monitor. You go in, you put your hand over theirs, you settle them, and twenty minutes later it starts again.

You have done the cream. You have done the mittens. You have followed every instruction, and your baby is still scratching. First: you have not failed. Night scratching is one of the hardest parts of eczema-prone skin, and it is hard for a reason. Here is what actually helps, put plainly.

Why babies scratch more at night

It is not your imagination that the nights are worse. A few things stack up after dark:

Warmth. A warm bed raises skin temperature, and heat makes eczema-prone skin itch more.
No distraction. During the day there is play and movement. At night there is nothing but the itch.
Scratching in their sleep. Your baby often scratches without fully waking, so they cannot stop themselves.
The body's natural rhythm. Itch tends to feel stronger in the evening and overnight.

Gentle ways to help at night

No single thing fixes night scratching on its own. Layered together, these gentle steps give the skin its best chance of a settled night:

1. Keep the bedroom cool

A cooler room and lighter bedding reduce the overheating that drives itching. This is often the simplest change with the biggest payoff, and it suits most New Zealand homes well for much of the year.

2. Protect the skin while they sleep

This is where scratch sleeves and eczema-friendly sleeping bags earn their place. By gently limiting scratching, they protect broken skin overnight so it can settle rather than being reopened again and again.

3. Time the moisturiser

Applying a generous layer of your usual moisturiser right before bed keeps the skin more comfortable through the night. Warm, damp skin after a bath holds moisture best.

4. Keep nails short and smooth

Short, filed nails do less damage on the nights scratching does happen. A small thing that genuinely reduces the morning mess.

5. Choose soft, breathable sleepwear

Scratchy fabric or seams sitting against the skin will undo a lot of your other efforts. Soft, breathable sleepwear that does not trap heat makes a real difference.

How the right sleepwear helps

Bamboo Bubby was born out of exactly these nights. Kelly created the sleeping bag with built-in scratch sleeves after 16 years of learning what actually helped her own child. The bamboo fabric is soft and breathable, so it does not overheat, and the covered scratch-sleeve design gently limits scratching while your little one sleeps, made to help break the itch-scratch cycle overnight. It works alongside everything else you are doing, giving the skin a proper break until morning.

Made for New Zealand families. Our Bamboo Bubby sleeping bag with scratch sleeves and our mitten sleeves ship right across New Zealand, usually within 3 to 7 business days, with prices shown in NZD at checkout.

Explore the Bamboo Bubby sleeping bag with scratch sleeves, or the eczema mitten sleeves.

Frequently asked questions

: Keep the bedroom cool, moisturise well before bed, keep nails short and smooth, and use soft scratch sleeves or an eczema-friendly sleeping bag to gently limit scratching while your baby sleeps. These steps work together to protect the skin overnight.
: Look for a sleeping bag made from soft, breathable fabric like bamboo that does not trap heat, ideally with built-in scratch sleeves that gently limit scratching. Breathability matters because overheating makes eczema-prone skin itch more.
: At night the bed is warm, there is nothing to distract from the itch, and babies often scratch in their sleep without waking. Itch also tends to feel stronger in the evening as part of the body's natural rhythm.
: Yes. Soft mittens and scratch sleeves are a gentle, widely used way to protect the skin overnight. Sleeves that extend up the arm tend to stay on better than loose mittens that slip off.

Bamboo Bubby by Nella Vosk — Baby Sleeping Bag with Scratch Sleeves | Eczema Sleepwear

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Bamboo Bubby by Nella Vosk — Baby Sleeping Bag with Scratch Sleeves | Eczema Sleepwear

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$63.00$78.00

The only infant sleeping bag with sleeves built specifically for eczema-prone skin.

You've done everything right — the creams, the baths, the gentle detergent. But the moment your baby's hands are free at night, the scratching starts again.

The Bamboo Bubby Baby Sleeping Bag with Scratch Sleeves was designed to break that cycle. It's Australia's original eczema sleeping bag — built from the ground up for babies with sensitive, reactive skin, not adapted from a standard sleep sack and hoped for the best.

The difference is in the details:

Built-in fold-over scratch sleeves that stay put through the night — no separate mittens falling off at 2am
70% bamboo, 30% organic cotton blend that's naturally thermoregulating, breathable, and softer than cotton against irritated skin
Full-body bamboo coverage from shoulders to toes — because sensitive skin needs protection everywhere, not just the hands
Two sizes — Small (3–18 months) and Large (18 months – 3+ years) — so it grows with your baby

"Has gone from hardly sleeping to solid sleeps and her eczema has dramatically improved." — Jessica R., verified customer (Results may vary)

For babies struggling with sleeping with eczema, this is one of the most complete overnight protection options available. Give your little one — and yourself — the chance at a calmer night.

Size

Small - 3mth - 18mth sold out

Large - 18mth - 3+yr sold out

Color

Qty

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelly Northey is the founder of Nella Vosk and the creator of Bamboo Bubby. She is a Certified Postpartum Nutrition Professional (CPPNP) who spent more than 16 years learning what actually makes a difference for babies with eczema-prone skin, starting with her own child. She writes for parents who have tried a lot, and are tired.

Kelly x