Newborn Eczema

[OliviasMama21]

Hi all

My LO (8 weeks old) has quite bad eczema, particularly on her face and neck. It's in her other folds too but her neck in particular weeps a lot. We've been to the doctors today who has suggested to continue using oilatum cream 6-10 times per day. So far I have been using it 1-2 times each day but she hates being undressed and messed around with so cries all the way through and becomes really distressed. So now I'm worried about having to apply the cream so often 🙁 Any advice??

The GP is also going to speak to the lead doctor to decide whether I need to go dairy free (as I'm breastfeeding).

Any advice will be greatly appreciated 😊

Sorry for the long post, eczema/allergies really are our life!
My son has weekly visits to the consultant and has to regularly spend long periods of time in hospital.

Over the years we've definitely learnt that works well for one won't work for another child, it really is trial and error but feel free to PM me if you want.

Yeah 2 weeks definitely isn't long enough. It can take 2 weeks to leave your system alone, then a further 2 weeks for it to leave baby's system. It took about 3 weeks for my daughter to start showing improvements, then about 5 weeks for her eczema to completely clear up

My 3.5 DD has had eczema on the back of her legs for a year and a half. I’ve managed to keep it under control as I was reluctant to get some medicated cream. However it flared up badly last week so I finally took her to the GP. She prescribed a hydrocortisone cream and Doublebase gel to hydrate the skin. The gel seems to be a lot better than oilatum, child’s farm or cereben moisturiser so worth a try.

I also use the oilatum bath additive and as other people have mentioned using non bio laundry liquid and sensitive fabric conditioner really helps.

You have my sympathies it's awful, keep applying as much as you can, my ds suffered with terrible excema, what really helped alongside the prescribed lotions and potions was oats. Get a clean pair of tights put in proper porridge oats, tie a knit in the tights and put in the bath, the natural milk from the oats comes out into the water without getting oats everywhere, it really really helped. I would always Che K with your GP though before doing anything extra, I took advice on certain creams and it made it worse, each child is different xx

You are probably already doing this, but always moisturise her skin after bathing. I second the recommendation for Dermol - it has anti-microbial elements in it as well as being a moisturiser which protects against infections. I use it after a shower every morning, I found after 30-odd years this is the only way I can control my eczema and stop it from becoming infected. Mine flares in winter more (mine is brought on by the environment rather than food) and when it does I have twice daily showers followed by more dermol.
I know someone with a baby with eczema who finds taking him swimming soothes his skin, but he needs moisturiser immediately afterwards.
to you and DD, eczema is a bastard.

My boy has suffered with eczema on his face from birth and still has occasional flare-ups and he's nearly 2. I feel your frustration, I would have torn a leg off if it helped my son feel better. The only thing that works for him is keeping his skin clean and dry, use Child's Farm nappy cream (it's lighter than the moisturiser) and hydrocortisone cream when he has a flare up. Anything else makes it worse.

We were so frustrated not knowing what caused it but in time with trial and error we realised it was caused by contact with plastics. He couldn't use dummies or plastic backed bibs, even 10 minutes on his skin left him red raw. He is getting better as he ages so hopefully it's something he will grow out of.

Thanks everyone for your advice and support. I am going to push for a referral and keep trying suggestions in between.

Below is ezcema manahement advice from a dermatologist that I received on a prescribing update that I attended last week.

Moisturise every 2 hours, as advised, downwards direction only
www.eczema.org/emollients

Short courses of topical steroid are needed in eczema, even in babies, do not listen to people who say they shouldn't be used, they generally don't understand why steroids are recommended. Not treating eczema can result in infection.
www.eczema.org/corticosteroids

There are many different emollients/moisturisers & steroids, it may take a little trial & error to find what suits baby best

Avoid anything with lanolin including E45, aqueous cream is no longer recommended

Use a bath additive, daily baths are okay

Ask your GP about prescribing antihistamines ( off licence in under 2s) if baby is very itchy, and other treatments aren't helping

Great websites for eczema information leaflets include:
The British Association of Dermatologists
DermNZ
Patient UK
www.dermnetnz.org/topics/guidelines-for-the-outpatient-management-of-childhood-eczema/

Allergy testing is rarely carried out in young babies www.allergyuk.org/

Talk to your GP, It will get easier

Hi OP, I had to go dairy free when my baby was 9 weeks old because he’d always had bad skin and they thought it may be a dairy allergy. I was told to eliminate it for at least a month in order to assess if there was any obvious difference, which eventually there was.

My son would also have weepy lesions that usually required antibiotics and it was eventually realised this tended to happen if I ate egg so I cut that out too.

The fact your babies skin is bad and there are gastrointestinal issues then it’s probably likely to be an allergy. I got referred to a Dietician when I was first advised to go dairy free by my GP but the waiting list was 4 months long so I was left to my own devices and it was difficult.

Did your GP mention trialling dairy free formula?

I don’t know if you are part of Facebook but there is a group for mothers who are breast feeding CMPA babies and they are so knowledgable. If you join they will probably be able to really support you and advise you.

Hi QueenofmyPrinces,

I saw a different GP today and he has advised that I cut out dairy for 3 weeks to see if it makes a difference. Did you see a difference within this time?

I don't really want to change to formula. I know there's nothing wrong with it but I really enjoy feeding her myself and want to continue if I can.

Thanks 😊

My DD had awful skin on her face and ears until I cut out dairy and soy, that gave an improvement after a few weeks, but it didn't get 100% better until I also cut egg out.

Egg seems to be a major cause of atopic dermatitis, if you're going to do an exclusion diet you might as well cut that out too.

If i remember correctly, egg proteins leave the system much faster than milk protein, so if there's an improvement to be seen, you may see it within a few weeks.

I noticed a difference in his pain, screaming, reflux and discomfort whilst feeding within a few weeks but actual improvements to his skin took well over a month which is why removing dairy for at least 6 weeks is recommended.

It takes up to a month to leave your system and then another few weeks on top of that for it to leave the baby’s system. So although you may be free of dairy at 3 weeks your baby won’t be and so if there is an allergy they will still be displaying signs of one. Mothers can then incorrectly assume that there cant be an allergy as the symptoms are still present and so start having dairy again, whereas if a full 6 weeks of the mother being dairy free was carried out then the allergy symptoms would improve.

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Definitely join the cmpa breastfeeding group on Facebook lots of help and tips. My DD had horrendous eczema that was weeping and so sore. We eventually got it under control with steroid creams and once it was better we kept it at bay with hydromol ointment. I would always say the greasy emollients are better than creams at moisturising.
You have to keep trying with various options that suit you. Child's farm is the current miracle but back then people were raving about lush dream cream but when I tried it on my DD she screamed the house down and it made it worse.
My DD still can't tolerate milk or soya and she's nearly 5 but her skin has been lovely for years. You will get there even if it doesn't feel like it now xx

Dream cream from Lush is very good for eczema.

Aveeno cream plus hydrocotizone. The doc can prescribe a lower dose. Aveeno is a wonder cream for eczema.

Come and join the CMPA group on Facebook. We are 30,000 members, mainly parents with babies and children who have problems with dairy. You'll get much better info and advice that what you'll get from your DR. It's called 'Main Group -CMPA Support'. There is also a breastfeeding sub-group.

We got given so much advice by so many well meaning and kind people. I tried everything and in the end I didn't know what was making it worse and what was helping. We were referred to the dermatologist and told us off for trying it all. Once we started following her advice (and only her advice), it all started to fall into place. He had awful eczema on his face that would weep and puss. It was also all over his body. We did some blood tests and found that it was a mixture of eczema and some allergies. Once I stopped eating dairy and egg, that made a huge difference. But I would echo what others say, try and get a referral

You have my sympathy OP - my 7 month old has had mild eczema since around 4 months and it's been so stressful. However there is light at the end of the tunnel! Thankfully it has only been mild but is now looking a lot more under control. It started with patches on his chin and we got various opinions from GPs on whether it was fungal or eczema...so things got a lot worse whilst we tried hydrocortisone and then canesten and then hydrocortisone again. Then there were patches on his body so we tried a range of lotions etc. In the end we found using zeroderm emollient prescribed by GP at every nappy change and Weleda white mallow body lotion and face cream to be the best for his skin. Bath time we use a blob of the emollient and only recently started using Burts Bees wash again (which he used since birth). Like others have said it's trial and error and he certainly suffered a bit whilst we tried different creams. I have to say we tried Aveeno and Childs Farm as heard all the hype but these made his skin a million times worse...unfortunately he requires the pricey stuff but it's all worth it!! Good luck OP as others have said I'm sure there is a lot more support and advice out there from those who have been there and done that