stinky hands!

Okay after 3 babies I thought we had covered most of these issues but our little E is making sure that we feel like we don't have a clue!
A couple weeks ago I picked him up and he stunk... I thought it was maybe some icky milk in his neck that I didn't clean up so I gave him a bath and afterwards I still smelled it. I smelled him all over and discovered that it was his hands! He keeps them in fists ALL the time! So I pried his little fingers open and he literaly had lint in them I felt like such a bad mommy for not noticing! Well since then I've been very good about cleaning his hands out and making sure they get opened every now and then.
Has anyone else been through this?? I noticed today that he has a red spot on his palm next to his thumb that looks really raw. He does stick his hands in his mouth so I don't want to put anything on it, what should I do? Is there a way to keep a babies hand open?? Or is this something he'll grow out of? I'm also wondering if this is happening because he's swaddled at bedtime? My other 3 were swaddled some but I think they had outgrown it by this age and Ethan can't sleep without it.
Thanks for any advice!

 

i've read that the reflex that keeps their hands balled up in fists starts to relax around 4 and 5 months. also, if his hands look raw and there's an odor, you might need to have him checked for a skin infection. a strong odor like that could indicate more than just gucky lint.

 

This happened to my granny after she had a stroke, she would keep her right hand balled up and it wou;ld get an awful sour smell. We would pry it open and scrub but the smell came back. Finally she got a powdered antifungal medicine from the Dr and that helped alot.

 

One of my girl's hands smelled like stinky feet or what a cast smells like after awhile. It helped to pry her hand open and wash it every day...hers was filled with lint too. No idea how it got there. Once she started opening up her hand to grasp at things, the problem went away!

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I don't think it's an infection yet.. It smells more like the stinky feet. I'm glad to hear that it should only last another month or so!!
Carla -- that's exactly what is happening with my son!

 

My son kept his hand balled up for a few months when he was first born. He got lint and junk in it for a while and yes, sucked his thumb raw. I asked his Ped about this. He laughed and said it's normal.

What I did to help w/the rawness is put neosporin on his thumb and cover w/mittens. If he knocked mittens off, I immediatly washed neosporin off so he didn't put in mouth. Ped said it was ok to use neosporin, but may want to make sure your ped is on board w/it. The rawness went away w/in a couple days.

 

We've experienced the lint early on, but no smelly.

 

I just noticed the girls had this yesterday, about the stinky.. I was inclined to think it was from having them balled up all the time..

We also had the lint alot too, this has kinda resovled on its own as they have started to strech out thier hands more.

 

My kids has smelly hands and feet!! I've got no idea how all those lint get in between their tiny toes and fingers, and its certainly tough to get rid of them! Funny how they still keep the lint in when they're playing and grabbing things more?