Bathing your kid twice a day .... is it me? Am I an evil step mother.

[lickencivers]

I’ve gained two lovely step children. One of which suffers from pretty horrific eczema. Especially on hands (all cracked open at the knuckles etc). Whilst I have dry skin myself I have zero experience of this sort of stuff with my own DC.

DP and their mum seem to be using a lot of steroid based cream and epiderm but it doesn’t do a thing to ease him.

I’ve suggested alternative things (like putting porridge oats in a sock in the bath) as helped the itching when Mine had chicken pox etc

However, they bath their kids normally twice a day. If not twice then definitely religiously every night. Without fail. Gina Ford babies —I didn’t do routine either— any way. Any help or advice? Because I’m getting ulcers biting my tongue.

I agree Mixedupmummy my DS are allergy related. They are usually interlinked

Also have they looked into food allergies, my eldest cannot have citrus fruit or drinks, most fruit that you have to peel is out, peanuts, strawberries, washing powders, even tryin on clothes in a shop can cause issues because of dyes etc. I imagine the fucibet is doing absolutely nothing for them at this point, they need the oat socks/bath oils, use the epaderm as a soap. I used to have the battle over the aqueous cream which I only ever used as a soap substitute until I called it snowman cream ......they used to be a bit keener to put it on. I used to make sure the bath was just warm and put the cream all over my arms for them to wash off me as well. It didn’t always work, mine didn’t like the 50/50 which is 50% white soft paraffin and 50% liquid paraffin because their PJ’s would stick to them but I never ever missed applying it. Oh my eldest is allergic to yeast as well so bread, cakes etc are bad for him.

Or perhaps show him some advice by the eczema society?

"Tips for bathing and moisturizing with eczema

Some things to remember when bathing:

Take at least one bath or shower a day.
Bathe or shower in lukewarm (not hot) water for 10 to 15 minutes"

The eczema society (where the quote above comes from) recommends daily bathing (as long as creams and emollients are also used)

Fucibet for over a year . My GP is so reluctant to prescribe it and then only very short term. Bert's bees hand cream and body shop hemp hand protector worked for my DS. A luke warm bath and cream applied straight after worked best for him.

The consultant dermatologist told us that the new advice is to bathe every day, but use whatever the prescribed moisturiser immediately after the bath (as in less than 5mins after).

Yes eczema is related to atopy (ie general tendency to develop allergies).

My son’s GP said he had the worst case of eczema she had ever seen.

My DH’s a doctor so he did masses of research. In my son’s case it turned out to be caused by allergy to a fungus in his gut. Killed off the fungus, all the eczema went.

I used Child’s Farm cream, Dr Organic Vit E cream and Burts bees. Anything containing SLS made it worse, I found.

Oh yeah I forgot milk, he cannot have cows milk either .......list as long as my arm really. For my DS daily baths/showers work but for different tyres of eczema that would aggravate the condition, it does sound like they are not getting it right though, how can you not apply cream when your child’s hands are that broken? Surely the effect of the fucibet after using it for such a long period of time will be massively lessened and make it ineffective? I haven’t heard of people being given it for such a long time before, I was given it to use in the past on the boys but only for 5/6 weeks and that included tapering it off. In fact every steroid should be tapered off or you end up in a cycle of calm and flare up. I will say that GP’s are not experts in skin and I have had to challenge every GP that my sons have seen, I had a care plan from a consultant that worked so I refused to allow the GP’s to change it. My answer to any fear mongering about steroid creams was to ask if they were Dermatologists, invariably when they said no I would suggest that any changes should be made by one and asked for a referral....every time the GP backed down because they would have had furious calls from consultants asking why they were sending kids with well controlled eczema to see them.

I must be a bad mum then .

DS Eczema is really bad and we don't use steroid due to causing medical issues.

He has a bath twice a day- but that's because we wet wrap daily- which is recommend before doing wet wrap therapy.

I will put Dead Sea salts in a bath- at night- then as soon as he comes out, apply the emollients and start with the wet wrapping.

DS skin would become very hot and itchy and the only thing that ease it were the baths. Not only that , the build up of emollients really bothered him and his bed would be full of cream etc.

I'm failing to see what the parents are doing wrong ? They are under a dermatologist and have been prescribed a steroid under the Derms guidance.

I had a friend at school with terrible eczema one if the successful treatments she was given was 2 baths a day. It did work better than many if the many other So this might be on medical advice,

You will be surprised stormy our dermatologist (or used to) prescribed my DS Elocon (a potent strength steroid cream) for 5 months ! When I stopped using it after three weeks, she told me off and told me to continue on using it ! DS Eczema was very very bad, so we kept seeing the dermatologist every month or so and again it was the same advice- "his skin is still not good- keep applying the steroid".

...not sure about doctors children visited. Last saw a dr Christmas time as DP Went along too as both had blood tests. Not seen a gp since afaik. Both awaiting referrals to 2 different private clinicians for 2 other separate issues I think currently.

That rings a few bells for me, especially if there are different doctors and information is not being passed along or centralised with one particular HCP who can check for drug interactions, check for doubling up of services for the same condition, or information not being volunteered by the parents to each doctor about conditions, prescriptions, or the involvement of other HCPs.

Has the mother been upfront with DP about the number of doctors and conditions?

Do you know if there is one 'central' HCP who has all the medical information to hand?

I'm failing to see what the parents are doing wrong ? They are under a dermatologist and have been prescribed a steroid under the Derms guidance.

The steroid prescription needs to be reviewed periodically as extended use can lead to problems. Even half a year constitutes extended use. They have been on it for a year.

The parents have apparently not done follow up appointments with the prescribing physician.

Parents need to be proactive if they are concerned about their children's health and not concerned about a personal battle or mired in personal problems to the extent that the children's health is taking second place.

The steroid prescription needs to be reviewed periodically as extended use can lead to problems. Even half a year constitutes extended use. They have been on it for a year*

Ahh, I see. I missed that. Yes, they need to review the steroid use. A year isn't good. GP's and some Derms, seem to give out steroid creams like it's candy. I honestly feel like steroids are given as a quick fix, it's cost effective - a dash of it and boom ! The flares and the Eczema are cleared for a couple of weeks and so.

Emollients and wrapping is- especially when you have to factor in the costs of bandages and specialist garments- can get expensive in the long run,

I think everybody has different things that work — baths and wet wraps did nothing for me, but basically cured my DSis.

The best for me was fewer baths, coal tar and calamine cream, and ichthopaste (a kind of impregnated bandage) every night. That kept it well-controlled (a nice effect of the ichthopaste was that it prevented me scratching) and eventually I grew out of it.

Notgivingin78910 but in your case you were being reviewed and the use was under medical advice, which is completely different to seeing private Drs and getting a prescription without a review? OP said this has been going on for a year I think which isn’t right. Fucibet is supposed to be used sparingly and tapered off because it’s an antibiotic cream and as with all antibiotics will become less and less effective with prolonged use. The longer it’s used the more likely it is to irritate the skin, this should have been reviewed regularly and stopped if it’s not effective. There must have been improvements every time your DC went to the consultant or they wouldn’t have said to continue with the cream.

My son had eczema, fortunately not severe but persistent. I would not continue with a treatment that wasn't working, and I kept trying new methods / moisturisers whilst using steroid on the constant little flare ups. From googling I tried lush dream cream, cleared it up like magic and he has barely had a patch of it since (that was 9 years ago).

Yes Stormy the Elocon was working - but whilst he was on it- he developed odd symptoms. I don't want to go on as this may out me- but DS has developed complications as a result of the steroid.

Since then, I have refused to apply any sort of steroid cream on DS.

Sorry you've been given such a tough time on here.

You've definitely done the right thing to raise this; there is no way Fucibet should be used long term.

Even if you don't manage to change the bathing attitudes, getting a proper eczema plan from the GP will make the children safer. Best of luck.

I can’t believe the poor kids are being bathed twice a day with no bath oil (please tell me they don’t use bubble bath or anything harsh?) and then no emollients applied immediately afterwards?! Once or twice a day baths are an effective treatment for eczema - IF they’re done properly and the skin is kept moisturized!

Emollients and a strict routine are the best way to keep eczema at bay. Not just applying steroids for a year with no review

Fucibet contains a moderately potent steroid. It is for short term use only. 7-10 days.

It's definitely not for long term use, especially in children.

Whoever is repeatedly prescribing it is being negligent at best.

I suffer from eczema but haven’t had a bad flare up recently but I do tend to have showers , advised by a doctor , rather than bathe . Porridge oats, put in a sock and put under running water , is soothing for skin allements . Two baths in one day is extreme so I don’t think your being unreasonable.
Has anyone thought about the child’s diet . The reason I ask was because when my eczema was really bad I was told to give up dairy products and use alternatives .
I occasionally suffer from eczema but not as much as I used to . I still suffer with dry skin but that’s not as bad as having skin just break open.
It’s hard when you have to approach a subject with someone but try explaining that bathing all the time drys the skin out and surggest the child has a shower instead . See if they will try it for a month and see what the childs skin looks like after the months trial. No one likes to see someone suffering .

For hand eczema like you describe I’d be applying the emollient cream every few hours and covering with cotton gloves or a dressing over the bad cracked part. Nothing wrong with bathing the hands to keep them clean, but they need to be heavily moisturized immediately afterwards. Steroids applied as needed, but the emollient is the key! Poor kid

Whoever is repeatedly prescribing it is being negligent at best.
Agree.

lickencivers
Is there more than one doctor prescribing the Fucibet or just one?

Poor kids :(

People's reactions on here are so ridiculous. Some calling out op for interfering, others saying she should go to social sevices

Can you try to have a very laid bank convo and say spmething like 'oh i was talking to a consultant at work and they mentioned that xxx works well for eczema ... and i didn't realise but bathing isn't recomemded blah blah blah and so on'

But would be worth getting so expert advice first so you can recommend the best alternative.

Has the mother been upfront with DP about the number of doctors and conditions?

I would check this. Dh’s ex deliberately keeps him in the dark over his dd’s medical condition after he asked me about a new drug they wanted to use - which is known to (rarely) cause cardiac arrest in combination with his pre-existing medication (i’m a pharmacist).

Ex immediately threw a tantrum about him “not supporting her” when he wanted to go to the next appt to ask the dr if the combination was safe.

She now refuses to tell him what medication dc is on. She won’t tell him when appt are, and tells dr’s he isn’t to be informed on care. We have to get a solicitors letter every time explaining PR and they can’t withhold information. She changes GP fairly regularly so we have to chase them down.

Even when we have dc for a week or more she won’t send the medication. She does not have it when she stays with us. We have asked for the drug regime in case there’s an emergency and we need to tell paramedics about medication, but apparently they can just ring her.

As your dh has pr, o/p, he can ask for a phone consult to discuss current treatment and possible review. He can also make an appt to take them without her if he needs to, although she would need involving in any change of treatment plan, obvs. But nothing to stop him getting a second opinion.