mamatilly-so glad to hear things are improving for your dd.My ds had betnovate as a baby as well for his face ,worked wonders on him.

My ds' skin reacts to him eating dairy products even though he is not allergic to it.He has had skin prick tests because of his other allergies and milk came up negative. So testing may not give you the cut and clear answers you want.

I had betnovate prescribed by the GP as a child, although that was admittedly quite some time ago so things might well have changed! It has always been brilliant for dealing with flare-ups so I very rarely use it now.

Hi mama, glad to hear the betnovate is working.

Should say in advance, I am not a medical person but have asthma, allergies and eczema in dh and the kids so am speaking from that perspective not medical training....

I don't think a GP would normally prescribe betnovate for a baby or child. It's of the stronger type of steroid cream and I think (though don't know) that most GPs would refer to a paediatrician or dermatologist (quite rightly so I imagine) so that the baby/child could get proper care and have the skin properly looked at. This might be why it wasn't prescribed earlier. Anyway, am pleased you've landed up with someone who is helping!

Hope your appointment goes well next week.

Fitting a water softener can have a big impact on eczema, although you shouldn't ideally soften your drinking water supply - only the water you use for shower / bath etc. (possibly washing machine too I guess - I don't know)

Don't know about special washing machines -
We use non-bio washing liquid, unscented if at all poss, and avoid fabric softeners.

We then do another shorter wash without detergent to make sure it has all gone.

i am now doing combination breast and bottle, but have swapped to goats milk formula... i have read that goats milk proteins are closer to breast milk than cows milk, so less likelihood of allergies...

yes i will go visit a nutritionist/dietician soon...but in meantime just swapping cow to goat and wheat to rye just in case these might help....

another thread is talkng about a fitting to a washing machine specially for ezcema sufferers - would that be to do a deeper rinse to remove more chemicals from clothes?

x

Is your baby breastfed or bottle fed? Obviously if bottlefed, normal formula is cows milk based. If breastfed, if you're cutting wheat and cows milk out of your baby's diet you need to cut it out of yours too. However I would echo what the others said about getting medical advice on this if possible just so you can be sure your baby is still getting all the nutrients he/she needs.

Also if it is allergy-related, bear in mind the fact that most babies who are allergic to cows milk protein will react to the protein in goats milk too.

well the betnovate has done wonders to baby's skin - inflammation right down, oozing completely stopped, patches still bright red but i guess these will slowly fade.. i'm like - why didn't a doctor do something ages ago instead of making it get into such a terrible terrible state...

back to the consultant dermatologist on monday for a follow-up and to talk with nurse about long-term care etc...

in the meantime i have dropped 99% wheat and replaced with rye breads, rice cakes, and dropped cows products and replace with goat!

i don't know if these were affecting anything but they are classic triggers so it can't hurt and its not restricting diet really at this stage.. will try reintroducing once baby a little older and all this drama is behind us.

x

Yes I would ask for a referral to the dietician at the hospital. Our dd s excema has dramatically improved in appearance (although not in itching) since cutting out dairy wheat and soya amongst others. After all what have you got to lose by having tests done??

Hi Mamatilly,
I'm so glad too you had a good experience in hospital. Phew. Am sure you will learn more useful stuff when you go back next week.

Re: diet, I agree with foxinsocks that you shouldn't do anything without medical advice - especially when your baby is still little, growing really fast, and needing lots of nutrients!

I've never spotted a connection between diet and eczema with my DD and DS. I kept hoping there would be as it would be something within my control! but no.

I'd also be a bit wary of putting other things on baby's skin, at least until this flare-up has passed. I'd stick with what they prescribed for the mo.

By the way, have you discovered the eczema society website www.eczema.org/? you can get some useful factsheets from there.

Hope things improve soon.