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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think there must be SOME cream that works on dry itchy toddler skin !

141 replies

CheshireDing · 04/09/2013 21:38

PFB is 20 months and had lovely skin until she got Chicken Pox in May, since then her ankles, wrists and elbows are just a mess :(

She has been to the walk-in centre and the GP and has various vaseline type creams, a steroid (but we can only use that sparingly) and the GP gave her E45 (which did nothing).

Tonight she has been trying to get to sleep but scratching and saying "ankles, elbows, sore, more cream, a little bit". I feel really sorry for her but am also losing my mind over the scratching too and the lack of GP help. He just said it's eczema and she will grow out of it.

I honestly cannot believe there is not SOMETHING out there that actually works, surely she (and I) don't have to put up with this until God knows when?

If DC2 wasn't due in December I would seriously be on the wine :(

OP posts:
gonerogue · 04/09/2013 21:48

My 18 month DS has really bad excema and we've had loads of creams. The best we've had is La Roche Posay Cicaplast. It's really good and stops him scratching.

sillymeagain · 04/09/2013 21:48

Pure potions skin salvation. Can get on Amazon and Holland and Barrett. ..its brilliant and all natural. ..made by a mum who wanted something natural to treat her childs excema. Not cheap but last ages and only need a riny bit. Have recommended it to several people who now swear by it for them and the children.

HumphreyCobbler · 04/09/2013 21:49

with eczema it really is a case of finding what suits. For my ds it was Aveeno for ages, now it is an aloe vera/propolis cream which we buy at staggering expense. The key thing is to keep the skin from drying out, so whatever cream you use keep on doing it regularly. If you need a steroid then wait twenty minutes before putting on the emollient. We do this twice a day. Eparderm is a really good emollient.

If it is red or inflamed it may be infected, esp if she is scratching and she may need fucidin. I would find a GP that specialises in eczema, we put up with someone who clearly knew nothing for six months whilst DS's eczema got worse and worse due the the prescription of bloody aqueous cream, which even the Eczema society flag up as a disaster.

Phineyj · 04/09/2013 21:49

Another vote for Sudocreme. It has cleared DD's eczema up when other types of cream failed and it sticks on better than sloshy ones .

Willitberaaaaspberry · 04/09/2013 21:49

Oops! Should have been a Grin not a link

wineoclocktimeyet · 04/09/2013 21:49

Another vote for Doublebase - we have DS2's prescribed by the doctor

CheeseAndFriedMushrooms · 04/09/2013 21:50

Aveeno, i was able to get it on prescription when i was pregnant, and also use it on my children. Great stuff.

DoItTooJulia · 04/09/2013 21:51

There are a few things you could try.

The most expensive is La Roche Posay Cicaplast. Amazing.

The hardest to get is Rosken dry skin cream. Also amazing but it's Australian, so hard to get here.

Essential oil of lavender diluted in almond oil is the most natural.

Dead Sea magic do a skin softener that's Vaseline like, so greasy, but effective.

Hope you get it sorted for her!

Listentomum · 04/09/2013 21:52

Wash with aqueous cream and apply diprobase or doublbase as a cream

rachyconks · 04/09/2013 21:54

I have really bad excema on my hands - the only cream that works is Simple Derma. It's really good and would be suitable for a toddler.

rachyconks · 04/09/2013 21:55

Aveeno is good too - but I can't stand the smell!!

Kowalski · 04/09/2013 21:55

I've found doublebase and hydromol to be the best; diprobase and E45 seemed to make it worse. It is a case of trial and error really.

hugoagogo · 04/09/2013 21:55

Oh poor little sausage.

Go back to gp and ask to try something else.

When dd was little her skin was so bad she scratched herself til she bled. Sad

I think we had oilatum jnr for the bath, epaderm, doublebase and fucidin amongst other things, a combination of things which all helped- no way could I have afforded to buy all that stuff.

hels71 · 04/09/2013 21:56

We found that sudocrem, E45 anti itch cream (not the just E45 one) and Oliatum bath stuff are the only things that help DD when she gets itchy...

Taffeta · 04/09/2013 21:57

My DS at the same age had eczema all over his back. He was prescribed Diprobase and Oilatum in the bath. It made no difference. I went back to the surgery but was lucky enough to see a GP that was a skin specialist.

He said it was less about the brand, ie Diprobase was fine, it was all abut how often it was applied. He recommended applying it 10 times per day.

It went within 2 weeks.

ThePieSmuggler · 04/09/2013 21:57

Hydromol worked best for us too

ceeveebee · 04/09/2013 21:58

Epaderm is the only cream that has worked for my DS, we tried oilatum, diprobase and aqueous cream first which didn't work but Epaderm cleared up all his dry skin

RawCoconutMacaroon · 04/09/2013 21:58

DS is allergic to e45 and many other creams, but it took us a while to realise that (its the lanolin in them).

He did better with a body shop body butter I happened to have, but now he ha little green people organic body lotion, and that keeps his skin lovely.

AvonCallingBarksdale · 04/09/2013 22:00

oilatum in the bath and then doublebase.

Turniptwirl · 04/09/2013 22:01

She is likely to grow out if the worst of it but why should she suffer now?

I agree with whoever said you may need an extended course of a steroid cream to get it under control and then a moisturiser type cream to keep it controlled.

Aveeno is good, I've had that on prescription and its not too greasy. A paraffin based one is good at night as they can be very greasy.

I get excema on my hands and friends always suggest wearing gloves or socks to bed but whenever I've done this I end up scratching against them, but you could try this if the excema is elsewhere as it may help prevent her scratching it raw and it getting infected.

mrspink27 · 04/09/2013 22:02

Calendula... worked a treat on my DD

marriedinwhiteisback · 04/09/2013 22:03

We used diprobath and aqueous cream for ds and absolutely no soap, shower cream or bubble bath.

I always have used persil non bio but his eczema improved miraculously when I stopped using even sensitive or pure fabric conditioner. Mine flares if I have too much citrus.

ClaimedByMe · 04/09/2013 22:04

We used emulsifying ointment everyday, got a steroid cream when he was 2 to use sparingly to keep ds excema under control, I read something on here about switching to goats milk/cheese/yogurt and his skin changed almost instantly, that was when he was just turned 2, I weaned him back on cow products before he started nursery at 3.5 and he has been fine only tiny patches of excema if he is run down.

FrogsGoWhat · 04/09/2013 22:06

You really have to try ...

With DD we tried: double base, diprobase, aveeno, E45, coconut oil, pure potions skin salvation, CJs bottom butter, Lush dream cream, and waitrose bottom butter.

What works is actually alternating a few creams - one will work for a week or so then not be so good. What works best for us is waitrose bottom butter / coconut oil / aveeno...

primallass · 04/09/2013 22:06

Has anyone said Lush Dream Cream yet? Magic stuff.

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