DS is 2.5 and has moderately bad eczema which we kept on top of with emollient 4 or 5 times a day and used eumovate on some small patches where it was worse. All this worked pretty much ok from when he was 16 weeks until about 4 months ago. The eumovate doesn't seem to be having much effect and I'm going back to our GP later this week to ask if we can review it and maybe step up to something stronger, as DS has now got eczema on more of his body than ever before and it's spreading every day & he's waking at night with the itching, which is fairly recent. Swiched to epaderm on GP's advice 3 weeks ago, previously liked doublebase (and like many of you, have tried lots of other creams along the way). I try and do other things that work for LOs with eczema: extra rinse on washing machine, got a water softener a month ago, keep him cool at night, only wears cotton clothes.

I'm sure the hot weather is not helping but I feel must try some other measures.

The 2 things I'm thinking about are: getting rid of carpet in DS's bedroom and trying him on a dairy free diet. I'd be really interested and grateful to hear if anyone thinks these two things are worth trying - or got other suggestions. Everything I read about eczema says there is no conclusive evidence about diet, but I know from MN that others think it's helped. Thank you so much.

my DS has just got rid of his exzema

it has taken 7 months or so

Aveeno cream really helped and he also had a course of ABs as it was infected which helped to clear up abuot 60%

a bath every other night, plus oilatum in the bath when he did bathe - no soap though

loads of cream - will have to check what we had but was much greasier than doublebase

also bandages on the worst bits to stop him scratching

the GP also advised washing any soft toys on his bed and also putting them in the freezer to kill any mites

the GP was sure my DS's was environmental as it flared up quite out of the blue, although he had always had the odd patch from when he was 7 months old

Yes a course of antibiotics may be in order.

A very enthusiastic seconding of AVEENO.

The bath oil and cream have virtually eradicated DD2's eczema.

You can get them on prescription and they are both really easy to use. The cream is absorbed really easily - which is handy because I usually have to chase her around the room to apply it!

I have read lots of threads on here and I know different people find different things helpful, but lots of people mention Aveeno.

We also use Surecare washing liquid.

thank you - haven't tried aveeno for some time, may revisit it. Also, rubyslippers, thanks for the prompt about the soft toys - DS has a heap of them in his cot and I have never got round to doing the freezer thing, I must!

Is there any chance DS could have sensitised to the epaderm? If he's been on it for 3 weeks and his skin has worsened at any point since the switch then it could be that?

Why did the GP suggest switching? Just out of interest... DD was on epaderm until about a month ago when the GP suggested we switch away from it to Unguentum as it looked like her skin had started to react to the epaderm.

The hot weather isn't a help at all is it! It's hard to tell now what's eczema and what's heatrash... btw, we're doing a patch test of Aveeno on one of DD's legs and seeing how it fairs against the Unguentum, so far so good.

Oh and we do the oats in a muslin in the bath to soften the water which really helps. Much better than Oilatum we found.

p.s. if there are specific patches of red skin that aren't responding to the eumovate that could suggest an infection worthy of anti-bs (oral or topical depending on how deep down the infection might be - it's not always visible on eczema skin).

Totally forgot to actually answer your questions

Getting rid of carpet - yes, but probably only really helpful if it's the whole house from what I've heard from others

Dairy - if you are going to try excluding, give it at least 6 weeks and you need to be really strict, i.e. nothing that even contains dairy derivatives like milk powder which can appear in a surprising number of sauces, flavourings etc. I'm on dairy and wheat free for BF 6 month old DD at the moment and it does seem to be helping - the flares are less awful, but the eczema is still there and still needs several times a day emollient, cotton clothes etc...

CClady, thanks ever so much. I was beginning to wonder about the epaderm too. Quite apart from anything else, it must be very heavy and sticky in this hot weather. GP used to be a dermatologist, so I normally trust her judgement on things, plus so much easier to go to GP practice rather than to hospital if you don't have to. however am now thinking of asking for dermatology referral, not least because we could then access extra support from eczema nurse etc

and yes, I think will try and oats at bathtime - have been using a product called cetraben for about 2 years, but now we have the water softener, might be a good time to try some different things at bath time. It's just a constant process of adjusting bits of lifestyle isn't it! But so worth it if you can get some improvement

Hi whenwillisleepagain, my dd has had very bad eczema in the past too. I do believe changing food help in my experience but through the help of skin prick tests. Her dermatologist sent her along for these and then we knew the problem foods and allergens. She was allergic to many veg,fruit ect to which you dont imagine along with pollens and dustmites. I would definately seek a dermatology refferral. Yes epaderm is very heavy this weather for sweating. We use diprobase and dermol for bathing as a soap sub. Dd's eczema has definately worsened recently due to the high pollen at the min, another thing to bare in mind. I would say washing bedding at 60 degrees and freezing teds, removing carpet are all good steps to possibly help. We have a blind in dd's room too.