I need a plan ............ Anyone got any ideas? Beware - long post

[mumtodd]

My dd is 14 months old and has eczema since she was 2 months old. We have been told she has a mild to moderate case but it doesn't feel like that to us. She has never slept well due to the itching and discomfort and we tried a lot of different creams etc with varying results. We thought it might be food related as her dad had allergies as a child but not eczema.
Just after her first birthday I gave dd egg for the first time and she had a bad reaction to it so I got a referral to an Allergy/Immunology consultant.
We saw him yesterday and dd is allergic to egg but everything else showed up clear in skin and blood tests.(good news)
The consultant said that as her eczema is not too bad that he thinks we should continue with emollients and hydrocortison for flare ups and she will grow out of it.

Not exactly what we wanted to hear in relation to the eczema but now I know there is no obvious food cause I need a plan on how to deal with it.

1. What washing powder should I use? I tried Fairy and Persil Non-Bio but maybe there is something better I could try.
   
   
2. What is the best emollient to use? I have tried loads at this stage but feel like I am going round in circles. Has anyone any recommendations?
   
   
3. Alternative therapy? Anyone got any postiive stories?
   
   Any advice greatly appreciated. I have wasted too long pinning my hopes that it was something she was eating and now I know it isn't I want to get this sorted.
   Thanks in advance from me and my poor little itchy girl.

[TheBlonde]

1 - we use surcare. I also set the washer to do an extra rinse cycle. Some say don't use fabric conditioner

2 - diprobase is used for the kids, DH uses something else the name escapes me now sorry

Other tips - cotton clothing only and try not to let her get too hot

[ronshar]

I have used Calendular cream for both my dds and myself. I got mine by mail order from Natural life in Surrey. It does work out quite expensive but i found it worked much much better than over the counter and steroid creams. We also used another cream from them for flare ups but the name escapes me, it may be star something.
Hope that helps a little bit.
It is always better to look for alternative therapy!

[coleyboy]

My niece was allergic to egg (rash and vomiting). My sis took her to a Homeopath and her allergy was cured. My sis also recommended the homeopath to person with eczema, and they were also cured (along with a few changes in diet.)

[Leati]

My son had it bad when he was little too. The preschool he went to encouraged tons of hand washing which is generally a good thing. His hands got so bad that they actually would bleed.

I used hydrocortison for the flare ups and Eucrin cream which was great.

[daisyandbabybootoo]

MY DS was prescribed this when he was little, but it was in a pump dispenser. It was the only thing that would work, other than steroid creams but they don't recommend using them for prolonged periods.

He used to crack and bleed behind his knees and in the crook of his arm and his upper armsand calfs were like sandpaper.

[brimfull]

My ds had terrible exczema from 8 weeks aswell.He's much better now at 4.5yrs but still has all the red itchy patches behind his joints.
I used surcare detergent when he was really bad,probably should still but he's coping well on fairy nonbio.

We use a epaderm cream to moisturise,if the hydrocortisone isn't effective enough I would definatley recoommend a stronger one,It's worth getting it under control to allow sleeping.

Have to run now hth