8 week old eczema

[EdenJayne]

My 8 week old has sort of like a red bumpy rash on both cheeks which seems to be eczema, he also has cradle cap on his forehead eyebrows and ears... and he has sort of sore bits behind his ears and under his neck creases which i'm assuming is from the milk running? but i'm just wondering if this is all normal? or if i'm doing something wrong...
thanks

IMO red bumpy rash on cheeks very normal, all babies seem to get it. With regards to sore bits/creases... Try to keep the area clean, but most of all keep it dry!
My DS (16 weeks) has just been diagnosed with eczema... It's on his feet and hands... It's not bumpy, it's very dry and slightly scaley, I've been told to keep clean, but not to use soaps and keep applying Vaseline to it.
Also cradle cap is very normal; I'm applying olive oil to DSs head daily, seems to be working quite well.

Thats a relief! I use baby oil but i'm not sure if it's making it worse or not so i bought Denitox Cradle Cap Shampoo yesterday havn't really tried it yet.. and I do try to keep it dry but he has so many rolls and creases I can't get to them all. As for the cheeks should I apply sudocrem to it but should i do anything else about it?

One more thing sorry we stopped using scratch mitts a few weeks ago.. and the last few days he's woke up with so many scratches on his face! Is this because it's itchy or is it because his nails are getting long he does seem to scratch his face whilst crying when he's hungry? i've attempted at cutting his nails but i don't think i've done them very well as a bit scared of chopping is finger off!! thanks for the advice

Yep your DS sounds exactly like mine... I don't cut DSs nails for the same reason as you, I bite them, nit as grim as it sounds and I've not hurt him yet, I was advised to do it because your mouth is very sensitive and you will know when you have nail and when you have skin. Every now and then he wakes up with scratches but they font bother him too much.
I personally wouldn't put sudocrem on cheeks (I only use that on his bum), I put a tiny bit of Vaseline on them after his bath.
I have dentinox, but not used it yet, I was advised to use it sparingly after the cradle cap had cleared to stop it coming back... He's still got it but after 4weeks if olive oil it's almost gone and I will be trying it soon... I will keep you posted!

Sorry for the typos, doing this on my phone!
If anything looks really sore or nasty, take him to your GP... He/She won't think your nuts for being concerned about a baby. With regards to eczema, apparently it's common if one or both parents have either eczema or asthma... I'm asthmatic.

Me again... Best time to bite his nails is when I'm feeding him! I breastfeed and therefore have a free hand to hold his hand to my mouth while I do it.

I have mild eczema when i use certain soaps, washing powder ect but my mum and one of my sisters have it bad especially my sister. My partners family don't have any problems with anything like that... Yeah i try and bite them but i can't seem to get them off because my front teeth are slightly in front of my bottom ones so it makes it akward.. i'll try the vaseline as i use it alot when my skins dry and on his cradle cap too..

Please rethink your use of baby oil and Dentinox!

My DS (now 8 months) has eczema which started exactly like your son's -red bumpy patches on his cheeks - when he was about 3 weeks' old.

I went through a phase of experimentation, thinking there was something I could pick up off the shelf in the chemists to sort it out. I got the same stuff you are using - baby oil and Dentinox. It got worse - covering his whole face and occasionally flared up so that his whole torso was covered in hives.

Embarrassingly it was the HV who picked up on it at one of DS's weigh ins, and booked me in to see a dermatology nurse (who herself has suffered badly from eczema). She made me take it seriously, and said that baby oil (and all Johnson's products) were "the work of the devil" for those with skin conditions because they contain so much perfume. Similarly, Dentinox is stuffed full of chemicals.

Everything I now use is soooo gentle - olive oil, hemp seed oil etc. I wouldn't dream of trying to comb out cradle cap because that is just scratching the itch. All our products are very neutral, nothing perfumed. I was prescribed hydrocortisone to deal with the flare ups. Frankly, there comes a point when nothing else can get it under control and the poor mites do really suffer. If it's not going, I'd go and see your HV/GP and get some proper stuff.

Other tips:

• keep him cool - the heat will make him more itchy;

• he is scratchy his face because it itches. The only way really to sort this out is to treat the itch, everything else is just a form of restraint. But I would recommend Scratchsleeves here to prevent your boy from doing himself damage;

• avoid non-natural fibres. His skin will be worse in non-breathable fabrics;

• be aware that it will probably get worse in winter - central heating is a killer as it sucks all the moisture out of his skin;

• moisturise, moisturise, moisturise;

• have a look at the Allergies board, there is loads of helpful advice there.

Good luck, it's not nice seeing your LO in distress. I cling to the statistic that nearly all kids grow out of it by the time they are 5, and about half get rid of it by the time they are 2. Let's hope your DS's skin gets better soon.

Agree with Oooooh - our HV said the majority of allergic reactions she sees in babies are caused by Johnsons products and Pampers nappies. We stopped using anything but plain water and olive oil on dd's skin and all her rashes cleared up wonderfully!

The nail-nibbling is a lot easier than trying to use those little clippers or scissors as well - dd is now 14mo and I still nibble her nails down!

Please please please give Burts Bees products a go, I use it for my own eczema and it's amazing, and now use the Baby Bee range in my daughter's bath and her dry skin, rash and cradle cap have cleared up.

I use the buttermilk bath salt stuff, the shampoo then give her a wee massage with the lotion.

Yes, try the allergies thread for more info. My LO suffer(ed) a lot from ezcema and I would never endorse Dentinox or any Johnsons product (even wipes). We use Weleda for hair washing, Pure Potions Skin Salve and various emolients from the GP. The one that works the best for us is Epaderm. We have since controled LO diet which for us was the root of the skin problem. Even at 2 months old we had skin issues and as it turns out traces of foods that LO is now known to be intolerant to were affecting him through the breast milk.

I agree with the recent posts about avoiding Johnsons products and any of the leading supermarket / chemist brands in fact - so full of chemicals that its likely they are making the situation worse!

I would thoroughly recommend Weleda products too, organic and chemical free they really are wonderful. Anything else will make DS's skin flare up with eczema type rashes. They have a great facebook page (Weleda UK) and will give advice on their products / point you in the right direction.

Aqueous cream is a very gentle moisteriser that can also be used as a soap, I use it now for my body moisteriser as its not fragranced in any way which irritates my skin - can get on script from the Dr.

We were nail nibblers too, emery boards can be useful too when their fingers are so itty bitty.

Agree wit hall of the above. Please please please keep your DCs skin well moisturised (frankly olive oil is fine in the short term but nice natural products all also good) and watch out for weepy skin. If this happens get straight back to doctor and get tested for staph infections. We had a staph infection that wasn't diagnosed quickly enough and ended up having 3 courses of antibiotics before it got sorted. Had I moisturised better earlier I think this could have been avoided! (But best to do the antibiotics than leave weepy sking on its own!).

Allergies thread here is good (but don't get too paranoid. Most eczema is just random and baby will just grow out of it, though some is food allergy related).

I'm mildly curious about whether anyone's ever told Johnsons that their products cause so many problems for babies!

Thanks for all your help. What is weepy skin?

Olive oil is good, but can cause a problem in some. My DD had eczema for the first time in reaction to olive oil. We have used Halo's and Horns baby bath and shampoo successfully it is free of most of the nasties. I use Aveeno/Cetraben cream to moisturise, Emollient 50 after a bath and Cetraben bath emollient. Also we only use water and cotton wool to change her nappy as she reacted to even the most senstive of baby wipes, GP said she sees lots of babies who have reacted to baby wipes. Some of them can strip paint from a surface so no wonder they cause a reaction .