My 3 month old baby has pretty bad eczema on his face and dry patches over the rest of his body. It's sooo heartbreaking to see him trying to rub himself all the time and getting more and more sore.
Neither my husband nor I suffer and so we are new to this business and although I've googled like mad I still have millions of quite a few questions.
Treating flare-ups DS is really bad at the moment - very red and bobbly on his cheeks and almost at the oozing stage. We're in the middle of his first prescribed course of 0.5% hydrocortisone and so have been (in accordance with instructions) weaning him off so only applying at night instead of twice a day, but I feel as though that's not enough at the moment.
What's the best way to deal with a bad flare up on his face? I'm off to the dermatology clinic again on Wednesday but would appreciate advice on whether it's better to stop this flare-up in its tracks by slapping on a bit more hydrocortisone or to stick with the "weaning off" programme?
I'm trying to keep him cool and so am reducing the amount the central heating is on, but should I turn it off altogether? It's pretty nippy!
Is it worth getting a humidifier? Any recommendations?
Is it also worth bothering with the various natural ointments and creams during the really bad flare-ups or should I just stick with the hydrocortisone and hydromol at these times?
How quickly do you get a reaction I've ordered a whole load of organic creams and ointments (most of which have been recommended at various points on MN). How quickly can you tell whether one is working or making it worse? Ie does it take a couple of applications/days/weeks etc to know whether it's any good?
Generally, if you have a few creams which you use in a cycle, how long do you use them for before switching?
Dairy problems I'm currently EBF my DS and so any dairy he has will come via me. I may have bone density issues (currently under investigation) and so don't want to give up dairy unless I need to, but wondered whether you can establish a dairy issue by not having it for, say, a couple of days and then having a lot? Or would I need to go without for longer?
Scratching at night Currently I'm swaddling DS overnight in just his nappy and a super size muslin, as its the only way I know of to stop him scratching his face all night and waking himself up all the time. But he seems to wake up wriggling and rubbing anyway. Are there any other ways to prevent him scratching himself?
Has anyone else tried Dermatherapy sheets? They are quite spenny: are they worth it?
Thanks for bearing with the long post!