Ezcema advice for 3 month old DS

[Poley01]

Hi all
New to Mumsnet. Would appreciate any advice from parents with LOs with eczema - have recently seen a dermatologist for DS (16 weeks) who was rather short with us and keen to get us out of the consultation as fast as possible with a bag of creams & have since had conflicting advice from GP.
After 7 days and slight improvement, it is angry and red again :(
Questions as follows-
Do you bath every day with a bath oil? Or only couple times a week? I know this is contentious subject!
How may days max were you told to use steroid cream (we have Eumovate 0.05%)
Have just ordered the Aveeno cream in hope that this can replace the Epederm ointment we are currently using.

Ds will only nap in the sling and I dont think the heat is helping matters!

Any advice appreciated, thank you

My little one suffered from eczema from ore or less the same age, plus a lot of other food allergies. We ended up under the care of a pediatric allergy clinic and the consultant we see regularly gives us excellent advice I am happy to share.

Bathing: she said as infrequently as possible. When he was little I was giving him a bath 2-3 times a week or when needed, but now at 20 months at the end of the day I collect him from nursery covered in color stains, food, snot, mud... he NEEDS a daily bath. However, I keep it short and I always add an emollient as recommended. I have discovered Oilatum Plus antiseptic and add a spoonful every time.

• We use Eumovate too! I have been told to apply it until a couple of days after the eczema has completely disappeared. Then once a week to keep it under control. His eczema flares up badly on average once a month, normally if there is a trigger (pollen mostly).
• Moisturizers: there is really no secret recipe there, literally everyone reacts differently to one cream or another. I have been given 3 different creams and ointments but reverted back to Oilatum junior cream, which seems to keep the eczema under control. The key however is to apply the moisturizer several times a day (for a minimum of 5 times). A bottle should not last more than 2 weeks.

I must admit I struggle with that, no matter if my son is at nursery or at home. I always apply it morning before getting dressed and evening before pijamas, but during the day I tend to apply it on his legs when I change him but rarely on his arms and torso.

Good luck, you are not alone there unfortunately.

My now 7 month old has the following regime:

• bath every 3 days with oilatum bath additive
• epaderm cream applied several times a day
• 0.5% hydrocortisone once a day for 7 days

My daughter has eumovate twice a day for 7-14 days, she was about 18 months when this was prescribed though so that might make a difference.

I'm on the hunt for a new cream for my 6 month old. She's had epaderm and Averno from GP which seemed to make things worse. Child's farm I'm using just now is alright but needs applied about 20 times a day. Hydrocortisone for flare ups works well. My older DD had eumovate but not been prescribed it for little one yet.

Have you tried scratchsleeves? They are so much better than the mitts and socks we used to put on her hands.

I'm aiming for baths twice weekly but we are weaning and it depends what she's eaten.

Thanks for replies everyone, really helpful.... it seems my instincts for bathing were correct and less is better...in fact his skin did seem better before taking the advice of daily baths!

It seems moisturise moisturise moisturise is the key right!

@Spam88am interesting on the 14 days rather than 7, thanks, am now waiting on a second opinion from another GP

@Jarofflies the scratchsleeves look great :)