Eczema in 1 year old

[jacapo]

Hello, my little boy has just turned one and been diagnosed with eczema. Giant red sores flared up on his back and the doctor was left without doubt that it was eczema. he prescribed e45 cream and before I could apply it, I noticed the redness had become noticeably less obvious. I have been applying e45 and whilst his back is still scabby, it's clearly healing.

The problem is, ever since it flared up he has been scratching like mad at his tummy and chest area, to the point where he is breaking the skin. This is something he used to do when he was very little as well, but had stopped. Now he's started again it's worse than ever. The thing is, he doesn't have any kind of rash on his tummy but he's clearly very unhappy with it.

Does anyone have experience of this sort of invisible eczema? Or maybe it isn't eczema at all. Please help if you can.

Also, we are currently trying to see if dairy is causing the eczema, as we started him on cow's milk proper about a week before his flare up. I thought this was a definite sign but he still had cow's milk in his system when the redness went down all by itself. Also, his tummy has persisted in itching despite us removing all cow's milk from his diet completely. From six months he had been having cow's milk on his breakfast and in some foods I prepared at home, as well as some regular formula milk along with his breastmilk feeds. I am very confused as to whether dairy is causing the issue because the facts all seem contradictory.

Please help if you can, any advice would be appreciated. I'm currently changing my washing powder and soap.

Sounds like my DD, today we have seen a dermatologist for the first time after MONTHS of mad itching for no apparent reason day and night. We have new creams etc and are just starting dairy free diet. It took a lot of persistence to get referred, I found a really nice sympathetic GP who has young kids of her own who eventually referred DD, I'm so glad I persevered as the dermatologist took it really seriously.

Thanks Potatoes, it does sound really similar. I will have to speak to my GP about seeing a dermatologist, he's usually quite good and I've only been to see him once so I've done the e45 thing. I've just bathed him and he seems to have flared up again, now he has smaller red spots on his back and the larger scabbier ones have moved to his chest.

It would be good to know how you get on with the milk free diet. Thanks again for your help.

jacapo is his skin quite dry? DD has very bad eczema and she itches even when there's no visible red - if I cover her in epaderm it makes a big difference. Fwiw dairy has no effect on her skin, we can't work out what causes it and have been waiting 4 months for a dermo appt. DD is also allergic to E45 so make sure to check that he doesn't flare up soon after you put it on or he could be reacting to it.

my dd has terrible eczema from about a few weeks old, within a few months over 90% of her body, dr wasn't any help although she did try, they don't specialise in it or have the time, would fob us off with steroid and give conflicting advise as to what to do. ended up having to go private and saw top uk skin dr (had to pay but worth every bloody penny as at this point we were in a terrible way). within two weeks of his strict regime 70% of eczema had gone!! if you are interested in what we did mail me and i will let you know!!

Hi jacapo, pleased to say DD is a different baby, so lovely to have our happy little girl back and to get a bit more sleep! Not sure yet whether it's due to dairy-free, strong anti-histamine or strong steroid plastered all over but the difference happened pretty well overnight. Her digestive problems (stomach cramps, lots of little smelly poos and huge farts!) have gone so I do think the dairy is at least partly to blame. We only had to use the steroid for a few days and have just gone back to moisturising now, DD's skin is beautiful
I think NICE guidelines say that if a child's quality of life is affected they should be referred to a dermatologist so you could tactfully mention that to your GP? I think there is more info on the Eczema Society website.
Good luck with it all

thanks for all the advice. before the weekend i would have said the eczema isn't that bad but we had quite a rough weekend with him behaviour-ise. he is usually a very happy little boy who likes going off and playing and exploring but this weekend he has insisted on being held by me and constantly asking to be breastfed, despite the fact that i had managed to wean him down to just one feed a day before. but it's hard whether it is his eczema itching him or his teeth. he seemed better today though. we're still looking at the dairy as he flared up on friday night after i gave him some ice cream (didn't even occur to me until afterwards what i was doing). but i didn't think the intolerance would show so quickly.