5.5 month baby boy heat rash / eczema

[Gem2981]

Hi,

My 5 and half month baby boy has developed patches of eczema on his legs and has what appears to be a heat rash all over his back, and especially around his neck and chins. He also has dry red cheeks that seem to flare up and then go back down once we have been on a long walk in the fresh air. (4 days now) He's a chunky baby and dribbles a hell of allot (2 teeth already) so i'm constantly wiping his chin and face area. I took him to docs and was prescribed Oilatum which doesnt seem to making much difference. I've done all the usual, non bio washing powder, scrubbed the house clean, allowed plenty of fresh air to cirulate. kept him cool, tried not to let him sleep on his stomach face down/turned but nothing appears to be working.

He has recently started on solids so not sure whether this as made a difference as his body gets used to the different foods.

As anybody else experienced the above and can you recommend any alternative methods/medication that may help

Many thanks

Eczema is one of those annoying skin complaints that has lots of remedies and its a trial and error thing i'm afraid... one of the best things I found was aqueous cream, the dermatologist said to use it instead of soap for washing and then as a cream once dry x

Hi, both my dcs suffer with eczema, I was prescribed Hydromol ointment which I find keeps it under control well along with Balneum bath oil. I was prescribed oilatum to start with but found it made the condition worse, as did e45. HTH!

Our DS always scratched when the summer came and at first the Doctor said it was eczema and gave us some oily ointment that did nothing, When I then took him back another doc said it wasn?t Eczema but him just getting hot and scratching, so he now has an anti-histamine medicine he has every night before bed and Aveno cream and oil for the bath, which has worked amazing, we now have it on prescription. It's worth a try

Aveeno here too. Try it and if it works get it on prescription. All the eczema-y kids I know use it.
Solids may be making a difference, so may hot weather, change of routine and pretty much anything else you can think of. All the externals usually settle down as long as you have a good moisturising regime. And its trial and error to find what works for your individual. 5.5 months is quite young so dr should take it seriously. What really helped me was getting a referral to a dermatology specialist nurse - is there something like that locally to you? Hassle the dr and the health visitor to find out - it will save you lots of angst and your son lots of itching

Hello, don't use aqueous cream as an emollient as it contains a soap (and I have heard it can even make ezcema worse). It is fine for washing with though.
www.eczema.org/aqueous_cream.html

Equally E45 contains lanolin which a lot of young children react to.

My kids need moisturising every day with something like Diprobase or Doublebase and use steroids when it's flared up (plus Oilatum in the bath) and piriton when they can't sleep for the itch. DS2 has quite severe eczema and at the height of it I was told by the hospital to moisturise 6 times a day all over (so nappy changes work as a good reminder to moisturise), plus use a stronger steroid cream.

You will need to go back to your doctor if what he's given hasn't helped. I would expect them to play around with trying to find the right emollient (it can take several tries to get the right one) and probably prescribe a steroid cream like hydrocortisone.

Many thanks for all you advice, its really appreciated. The Aveeno was an absolute god send! Doc hadnt even heard of it but definitely worked xx