Eczema - did your child ever grow out of it?

[Feierabend]

DD2 (5 months) has had eczema for the past 3 weeks. We're trying to get on top of it with steroid creams and emollients but every time one patch heals, it just flares up somewhere else. Do I need to prepare for the long haul? If your child had eczema, did he/she ever grow out of it and if so, when? And did they develop any related problems such as food allergies? Would love to hear everyone's experience. Thanks so much.

I also recommend aveeno. My baby was covered at 3 months for about six months, homeopathy and aveeno. She is 4 now and clear skin since 18 months. it will go x

both my DSD and my DS had severe excema from 3 months until around age 4 they still get it but only mildly. at one stage we were bathing DS in emollients twice a day, then applying steroid creams and bandaging the areas so he couldnt scratch. Could I also point out that one was breastfed and one was bottle fed. Breast feeding a baby DOES NOT stop them from getting allergies it just makes it less likely in some cases. In our case the excema is genetic passed down by their father who also suffered from paediatric excema.

You will find that what works for one child wont work for another. Personally, we have always used E45 top to bottom regardless of wether the excema has flared or not, and we still do, then applied the steriod creams and other medicated creams as and when they were prescribed, that kept it down but it doesnt 'cure' it. and no, neither of the children have any food allergies.

DS2 had terrible eczema from 6 weeks old (we used steroid cream, wet wrapping etc). He was fully breastfed. We discovered he was allergic to dairy, soya, eggs, wheat, peas & pulses, sesame, nuts and peanuts.

Once I'd removed these from my diet his eczema completely cleared up. He's now just turned 3 years old and we haven't needed to apply cream for over a year. You would never know he'd had it. From me completely removing these foods from my diet, to seeing an improvement took around 3 weeks.

I did - i can't remember when it started but probably around 5-7 and i was lucky - it mainly affected me in elbows and behind my knees although i did get it on my face as a teenager. It mostly stopped when i hit my late teens - i'm sure it got worse around exam time, but by the time i was at university it had gone minor flare up for finals). Now more or less excema free for nearly 20 years

I have never found a particular trigger, but whether is a big one for me.

I was tested many times for dairy intolerance but just couldnt bear to give it up! I absolutely love milk and related products

Hope you all can find an easy way to handle your dc ezcema in a way that suits you :D

avalon

I think you would be better posting this on 'chat' or some other part of Mumsnet, as the people answering won't generally be representative of life (ie they may be on the Allergy board as their child still does have eczema).

Our DC2 had it badly until about 3 and is now totally exzema free.

Beasknees - that is very similar to me! I had it bad behind knees as a child. I can remember bleeding and not being able to wear wooly tights in winter because it made it worse, so I always had cold legs. I also remember lots of bleeding behind the ears. Then about 6 or 7 or so I guess it eased off, and in later life I have had it mainly on my forehead and a little inside the elbows.

Tomatoes were a big trigger for us. It got much better once we cut those out. He was always fine with dairy and Aveeno bought him out in a terrible rash! Just goes to show how different eczema can be for every child.