anyone here the radio 1 news about bathing too often & eczema?

[luckymummy74]

Just wondering what you all think. DD is one and has been bathed every night since she was a few months old. She used to have a bit of very mild dry skin on her legs, nothing to worry about. She has recently developed eczema, mild case of, few patches, she doesn't seem to be itchy. Anyway, for me this blatantly coincides with when we changed her to cows milk, but the health visitor disagrees this is relevant. She advised me to CONTINUE bathing her everyday to get the dead skin cells off, but not to use any soap, wash her with aqueous cream, and slap it all over her after bath (easier said than done with a one year old!!!)

I don't want to stop her nightly baths cos she loves it and so do we (!!)and cliched as it sounds, it is part of her bedtime routine (sleeps 13 hours a night so I'm doing something right!!)

DH is getting his knickers in a twist now saying we shouldn't bath her as often. Any comments?

[misdee]

why not give it a try.

dd1 benefitted from daily baths when her eczema was bad, but dd3 is better with every other day.

[gothicmama]

bathe her but without using soap or bubbles it is thought that possible teh use of bubles and then moisturiser cream can cause irration and then eczema put aqueos cream on the dry patches of skin.If you do this and it persists it has eliminated one potential cause

[pointydog]

What was the news story, lucky? That bathing wasn't good?

Daily baths were good for dd2 but only with a bath emnollient in it - far too drying otherwise. And no soap. Also made it easier to then smooth in steroid and moisturising ointments afterwards.

[skibump]

Lucky, if you htink it's to do with the cows milk then why don't you change for a bit and see if it makes any difference? Some people are allergic to cows milk...

[octo]

1. try using a paraben/lauryl suplhate free bubble bath and shampoo - most organic ones are best for this.

2. oilatum or diprabase are good for dry skin - I read an article in Junior not long ago that said aqueous cream can be an irritant to dry skin - which am unclear about as everyone says to use it.
3. your hv sounds a bit useless - follow your instincts re the milk and bathing doesn't get rid of dead skin cells - you need to exfoliate for that.

DS3 is 7 weeks old and has had about 8 baths! We bathed ds1 and 2 everyday and both suffered from dry skin until about age 1 when we eventually cracked it with some presciption creams. Would rather not go down that route again - so am holding back on the baths now. btw ds1/2 now have 2 or 3 baths a week.

[luckymummy74]

Radio 1 just had a newsbeat report saying that we are bathing babies too much, and that's why they are all getting eczema. But, it did seem to mean younger babies, cos it said once thay are crawling, they get dirty and need daily baths. So does that mean it's OK?!!! She is crawling, and nearly walking. I have put her back on formula to see if it makes a difference.
Thanks for the advice girls!

[pointydog]

That'll be one more theory to throw into teh pot then

[nannytania]

The report said that babies skin was up to 5 times weaker/thinner than ours, and that these days people over bath their babies, making them 'too clean' and it was associated with skin problems.
However take it with a grain of salt because I think the study was released by the editor or mother and baby or something - not that i don't think she's a reputable source but as the song says ' if you believe everything you read in 20 years they will put you behind glass for the people to come and see'

i think it was referring to NB babes.
Just top and tail them if you are concerned??

[bookwormmum]

My mum was shocked when I said NB babies weren't routinely bathed in the delivery room now - they like to keep the vernix on them as long as possible as a moisturiser. My dd suffered from ezcema on her arms which necessitated a special bath cream, a steroid cream for afterwards and at one point a anti-biotic cream.

She's now nearly 7 and hasn't been on the bath oil for a couple of years - it does take time. Follow your instincts and do what you feel is right - HV's don't know everything.

[MerryMarigold]

I had contradictory advice from HV's. The better HV told me to bath often to get rid of bacteria as it could infect the eczema. Another one said not to bath too often. I generally bath him every other night, but he has a special oil for the water called Balneum (prescribed). He has not been washed in soap or had his hair shampooed since very soon after he was born and he is now 18 months. It was Johnson's bath that first made his skin very red.

Different creams help the skin as well so if the aqueous isn't working there are plenty of others you can try on prescription so you don't have to fork out for them yourself.

[expatinscotland]

TBH, the reason I didn't (and still don't) bathe my children every night is because I am too damned lazy.

They've been every other nighters unless they get particularly mucky.

But if it works for you, lucky, stick with it.

[Jacanne]

Aqueous cream makes my dd's eczema much worse, as does oilatum. We use diprobase and it's fab - you can also apply it before a bath and it protects against mositure loss. I heard about the daily bath thing ages ago and only bath DD1 and DD2 every other day.

[Desiderata]

I got bathed on a Sunday night.

That's enough

... what's an allergy?

[LazyLine]

I guess it's different from person to person. We bathe DS roughly every other night, though don't bath him of he's going swimming as well.

Aqueous cream works for us, we use it as a soap and rub it into his scalp as that gets dry. I only use it in the bath these days though, don't put it onto dry skin.

[gess]

This is old advice- most dermatologists would tell you that if your child has severe eczema they need to be bathed every day - but- big but- with emollient. The bathing is important to help prevent infection.

[dyzzidi]

DD's skin has been so much better after i stopped bathing her every night.

As she is 18 months old and now looks like she has been digging all day she has to be strip washed with just flannels and hot water every night. After she has her creams on if she needs them then clean PJ's then bed.

[Budababe]

My DS used to have dry patches and I used all the emolients going. Bathed him every day too. Then when I switched him to cow's milk his skin really flared up. Took him to paed and she asked what had changed. Basically said "DUH!" - it's the milk. Took him off dairy for a year and then re-introduced stuff. Also didn't bath every day. Skin now fine pretty much but still has a tendency to itchiness.

I think if a child has bad excema then bathing every day is maybe wise to guard against infection. But if not too bad then try to reduce it and see what happens.