Suncream and eczema

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

My 1 year old DS has eczema and our dermatologist initially told us not to put suncream on him. Now his skin has improved we've been told we can use it as long as his skin is good.

But which one do we use? Are there any creams recommended for children with eczema? I don't want it to irritate his skin and make it flare up again.

[sherbetpips]

E45 do a great suncream I used it on my little guy as he had it too. The biggest thing to do is not do too high an SPF as they basically block the skin up and make even more rashes, we used to use SPF 30 (rather than 50) and use a sunsuit, hat, etc. keeping him in the share where possible.

[MousyMouse]

trial and error.
it took us a while to find one that works... it seems that 'light' creams are easier on the skin than moisturising ones (for us at least). last summer we used the nivea light suncream (light blue bottle).
it is important to wash it off at night and put moisturiser on afterwards.

[GlaikitFizzog]

Ds has a sunscreen allergy. A UVB filter called octocrylene. This causes his eczema to flare up. I have only found one children's cream without it in and it's the Johnsons one. It's a waterproofing agent too, so maybe try and avoid those too.

Unless you know what will trigger a reaction it really is just trial and error. I'm glad we live in Scotland! We only had three days of sinshine last year the warranted sunscreen!

[Schulte]

Try Green People Organic children sun cream - it's without perfumes, which apparently can trigger eczema. It's the only thing we can use on DD2, it's not cheap and smells a bit strange, but totally worth it. Waitrose/Ocado used to sell it but last summer they were always out of stock and I bought from another online shop.

I wouldn't go anywhere near Nivea. I made the mistake of putting Nivea sun lotion on DD2's face a few weeks ago (skiing hols, hence the need for sunscreen) just once (!!) because I had a bit left on my fingers after creaming DD1, and it triggered her eczema again, which had been pretty much gone for well over a year. Could have kicked myself! Still trying to get back on top of the eczema now. What a pain.

Anyway - it's true, trial and error, what works for one child might not work for another. Good luck!

[queeniebee]

I second organic children, it's really great.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

Thanks for the replies, I shall look into all the recommendations.