Can baby acne spread over the rest of the body? Or could this be something else?

[newmuminwonderland]

Hello all,

I am hoping that one of you out there will be able to help a new mum. My daughter was born 5 weeks ago. About a week, week and a half ago, she developed what appeared to be baby acne. I wasn't very concerned, until recently when spots began to appear on her tummy (below her navel) and a very angry patch on her venus mound. Along with a few spare hanging out around her nipples, on the arms, etc.

I had a visit with the Health Visitor yesterday, and she confirmed it is baby acne on the face, I showed her the patch on the tummy, and the HV didn't really say if was baby acne or not, just gave the normal mumbo jumbo about babies in a new environment, blah blah.

I guess I am hoping that some of you other mums out there might be more helpful. Is is just me, or do others out there find HV a little less than helpful?

Any help will be most appreciated, thanks for your time!

[chloesmumtoo]

some info on: www.skinhelp.co.uk type in baby acne in search bar. It does say it doesnt appear on chest though. What does your dd's look like?

[newmuminwonderland]

Thanks for replying!

My dd's looks just like the pics you see if you google baby acne. it seems to be clearing up a bit on her face, or at least the redness has died down.

I went to the GP today, useless. She said yes to baby acne, but decided to check with the dermatologist (not that the dermatologist bothered to come have a look herself, that would make too much sense!) The conclusion was that it is milia, which it absolutely is not.

I hope it clears up soon, whatever it is. More importantly, I hope it stops popping up in new places.

Thanks again.

[girlsyearapart]

First congrats to you on new baby! Hope all going well and you're not tooo knackered. Just to say make sure you keep pushing for apts w dermatologist/doctor whatever. Although many healhcare professionals/HVs are lovely and well informed some are not and try to intimidate mums (esp 1st timers) into thinking there's nothing to worry about and that they are being neurotic. If you think there's something to worry about you're well within your rights to get your baby seen to by the dermatologist (in person!!) Hopefully it will all clear up though and you won't need to.

[misscreosote]

Hello newmum, and congrats! I have a 5 week old as well, and was wondering almost exactly the same thing! The face acne seems to be clearing up, but she's got spots all over her chest and tummy. My mum is over today and reckons its prickly heat.... Possible?

[Hangingbellyofbabylon]

both my dd's had really bad baby acne over their whole bodies. It looks horirble but luckily doesn't seem to bother them too much.

[ollipop]

Hey guys, my DS is now 1 year old. We experienced similar thing when he was only 2 months old. He had little dots first started on his face and then to his tummy and then everywhere!! We thought they were baby acne, and then we thought they were prickly heat. But we finally found out there were none of the above. My son's dots were infected eczema. He ended up in hospital for a few days. It's really hard to tell the difference but you have to keep an eye on them. If they get worse, go to the GP again.

[newmuminwonderland]

Thank you all again,

Fortunately the acne seems to be clearing.... still hanging on around her body though, but much better. I did have another visit with the GP, I was determined to keep going until something was done. Finally I was given a prescription for E45 cream and paraffin for the bath.

I didn't bother with the E45 cream, as I found a lovely cream from Culpepper made from Calendula. It is a beautifully thin cream, unlike most Calendula creams you find.

Olli- they have a cream made from Borage that is meant to work wonders for eczema if you are interested.

I have found the paraffin baths useful, and the two treatments combined seem to have worked wonders. Or perhaps it was the passing of time, who knows!

Misscreo- I thought about prickly heat, but ruled it out, since the bumps weren't in typical prickly heat places, but places 'out in the open'. I hope you find a solution to your daughter, and congrats

[jonsies22]

Hello, my little one got really nasty, angry looking baby acne on her face. I was really distressed about it (she didn't seem to notice!) but it did clear up within a couple of weeks and now she has gorgeous, perfect skin again. I know it's easy to say, but try not to worry too much about it.

She also had acne spots on her chest, which seemed to take longer to clear. The acne seemed to make her skin quite dry so I did use a Boots sensitive moisturiser, formulated specially for babies skin and it worked for us.

In my experience mums tend to know best, so do what you feel, and push for second medical opinions if you think you need it.

[RubyBuckleberry]

hi?

are you bf? apparently it is the hormones from you left over rom being preggers, going through your milk... it should clear by about 8 weeks. my ds was exactly the same.

if you are not bf, that throws that theory out the window !!!