Eczema in 15m old not clearing

[feekerry]

Ds 15m has patches of eczema. Never really an issue until he turned 1 when it started to get worse. Tried aquaus cream etc then went to docs who first prescribed cetraben but he had some kind of reaction to it and it made it worse. She then prescribed aveeno which worked really well but it's been a few weeks now and it seems to flair up really badly every 4-5 days even tho I still use the aveeno cream. Then it calms down again, then few days later it's red raw and itchy again. Repeat.
The doc said if we can't stop it flairing up we will need to consider steroids etc. is there anything else we can try or is steroid based cream the best way forward?

What do you wash his clothes in? And what do you put in his bath? You should avoid anything with perfume, so for the bath just look at ingredients and make sure it doesn't say perfume or parfum. For the washing we use Surcare washing liquid and conditioner you can get it from tesco and its made for people with ezcema. This and lots of double base moisturiser in the morning and before bed and a little bit of sunshine on their skin really helps. My DH has it and we basically do the same for DS and DS (apart from DH occasionally uses a subbed to clear up a flare up)

HTH X

DS is three and has had eczema since he was young. We use steroid cream but very very sparingly and as a last resort. Sometimes needs must, especially if it flares up badly. Often one application is enough to clear problem areas and then manage it with Diprobase cream. We also use Oilatum in the bath which seems to help.

I appreciate your reservations about steroid cream but you have to weigh up the risk of it become prone to infection and also if they scratch it and it scars.

I find it flares up sometimes when the weather changes i.e warm to cold spell or vice versa.

Aqueous cream is a soap. Not an emollient.
Wash DC rarely. Oats in bath. Use much more of the emollient than you think and very very frequently. Once or twice a day won't cut it.
Cut nails short abc avoid overheating.
Try another emollient?

Dd has bad patches of excess occasionally and doctor prescribed hydrocortisone ointment. It cleared them within 2 weeks when nothing else would and dd is so much happier. If the patches had been somewhere sensitive eg faith I would have been more hesitant.

I don't use soap etc with him. He has an aveeno bath oil that I put in the bath and just kinda wash him with that water.
I do wash our clothes with various smelling powders and fabric softners so maybe I will wash his clothes in something else before getting the steroid cream.
The doc said we could have it on a prescription to be used sparingly when a flair up is bad so maybe it's worth getting

Oh and def def seems worse when the weather is warmer

We use fairy non bio here. Never bio.
I really would try another emollient. Aveeno doesn't work for everyone.

Have you thought about allergies? My dd had a cpmi and once we stopped dairy her eczema cleared up.

Try applying coconut oil, it has worked wonders for mine and DDs eczema. Her face was covered in patches of it and it has totally disappeared now. I keep putting it on once per week to keep skin lovely and soft and we've not had a flare up for 6 weeks and counting now.

We also use aveno bath products, expensive but worth it.

My D's got excema when I stopped bf and gave him a bottle at just over a year. I put him on soya formula but don't think I had 'expert* advice just reading about allergies. It got much better after that. Also soft toys can have dust mites that irritate. D's had lots but used to throw them out of his cot as if he knew! Putting them in freezer is supposed to kill them ....

with dd2's eczema we use steroids, a decent covering, until the flare-ups are gone. we then use emollients 2x daily and avoidance of triggers (soaps particularly) as our daily routine when her skin is back to a good condition. we generally only find that we use steroids around once a year, for say a week at most.

Start washing clothes in fragrance free washing powder, e.g. Surcare with an extra rinse and not using fabric softener for a while. That worked wonders for us.

If you find en emollient that works for you, keep using it as prevention even when his skin looks good.

If the flare-ups carry on, it's worth asking for a referral to an eczema specialist. One hour with the eczema nurse at our nearest children's hospital taught me more about dealing with DD1's eczema than five years of our GP treating it.