Baby Eczema - tips and advice?

[MillieP]

Hello,

My daughter is 4 months old and developed eczema at about 2.5 months. I'm posting as I've had quite a bit of conflicting advice about how to manage it so hoping for some advice and support from some mums who have experienced it first hand.

LO was first perscribed Aveeno but it didn't really help and is now on Hydromol which tends to 'hold' things for a while but doesn't cut it when she has a flare up. I finished a course of steroid cream yesterday and already her skin is flaring. She tends to get it first on her trunk (especially the dribble area!) then knees then arms. Naturally we want to avoid over-use of steroid cream.

So far I've tried the following to manage it - Oilatum in bath and only bathing 2-3 times per week. Change of wash powder and now using Ecover (not using fab conditioner). Using anti-dribble bibs to keep upper chest dry. Cutting out dairy as recomended by HV ( but not convinced it's helping!). Dressing her in cool, cotton based clothing.

I know every baby is different but if anyone has any advice I'd really appreciatte it. Any other creams/lotions that have worked? I'm starting to feel a bit down anout it now

Sounds like you are doing a lot already. It's very difficult, when my DS was about that age I would smother him in cream and then sudocrem on top and put him in a baby grow and found that helped in soak in.

I would limit bath time and make sure they aren't too hot as that can dry out skin. you can also put socks on hands to stop any itching.

Thanks Cookiecake :) Just realised I didn't post the last part of my message for some reason! Was just saying it was getting me down as so many factors seem to be at play and feel a bit overwhelmed. Also wanted to add that my daughter is teething and also has a bit if cradlecap if that is helpful for any advice.

Thanks so much x

DD got it when we were weaning.

Agree with the minimal bathing - they don't really need it. Moisturise at every a available opportunity. Summer (ha!) helped. DD is 2 and friends 3 and 5 next door find the same.

Don't be afraid of the steroid cream, but equally I had to rein dh back. It's rotten for them.

My ds started with eczema at almost exactly your dd's age and we tried everything, Certaben, Doublebase,Diprobase......In the end we asked to be referred to a dermatologist but instead got sent to the gp with a special interest in dermatology. He was fantastic- we'd tried a short but fairly intensive course of steroids, 3 times a day, moderate steroids every day for 10 days (rather than a weaker one ad hoc to control flare ups). When it didn't completely clear the eczema up he suggested we try ProTopic (it's an ointment) and within a few days the eczema was gone.This was from him having about 3/4 patches on his body where the skin was completely rubbed raw- absolutely awful.

We also found E45 bath oil to be far better than Oilatum. The best piece of advice I could give you is don't be fobbed off. Keep going back- I had months of being told to just try another moisturiser. when I finally talked to the dermatology gp he said that there was no way my son's eczema would be controlled with just moisturisers. Ds now has very occasional tiny patches of eczema and we just put on some of the Pro Topic and it's gone in a day or two.

My ds gets it but only a little bit on his cheek under his chin and in the creases behind his leg, I tried e45 but it didn't do anything. I has some fucidin cream which older ds was given and it worked straight away as in over night

My ds got eczema around the same age. It was very bad. He had lots of weeping open sore skin, he couldn't sleep for itching for more than 15 minutes at a time. It was awful. And not helped by confusing and contradictory advice from our gp practice.
So we went to see a professor of paediatric dermatology privately and his regime transformed the skin of my son. In case it helps others it was approx as follows:
Bath every day with oilatum in water, use aqueous cream for cleaning (don't dip into the main container, put what you need for each bath into separate container. Use your hands, not a flannel or sponge - both to prevent infection).
Put steroids on twice a day at least 30 mins before moisturiser.
Use steroids to treat and completely get rid of all eczema and then zap every tiny bit you see whenever it returns. (No gp ever seemed to have this as a possibility. It took v strong creams and a good while but it has transformed his life. He barely had any a month or two after we started.)
Moisturise in an almost massage way- get it really in.
We also had antihistamines at its worst.
No polyester sleeping bags. Not too hot at night. Bath not too hot either.

As I keep saying, it changed his life. He could sleep and take off the scratch mitts, and I stopped feeling guilty for not being able to work out how to help him.

Nb Fucidin is an antibiotic cream, so perhaps your son's skin was infected. Infections do need to be treated and are easy to get when you have open sore skin.

Yes to the Fucidin- ds also had that plus oral anti biotic when he was first sent to the dermatology gp. Those with the original steroids and anti biotics were a "fire fighting" stage to try and clear it up. I think one of the important things to bear in mind is if something doesn't work you need to try something else- your lo shouldn't have to just live with it until she grows out of it, an attitude which I sadly found quite common.
Also don't be afraid of steroid use. I was very nervous about skin thinning but that's a bit of a myth. It was a side effect of massive use of incredibly strong steroids years ago. It's better to have a stronger steroid and get it cleared up rather than using little and often weak steroid and never really getting on top of it.

Thanks so much for all this advice, I really appreciate it. In particular about the use of steroid cream as I've been giving myself a hard time about it. Going to go to clinic today and adk for some new treatment.

Could i also ask what you dress your LO's in at night to keep them cool? I've got my LO in a sleepsuit and a breathable blanket doubled up. However she's teething (and restless) and ended up putting her in a lightweight sleeping bag last night because she kept kicking the blankets off. However, she seemed hot and her skin looked worse for it.

Thanks again for your posts x

I tended not to worry about bedding as much- he was always in a gro bag. Sometimes the eczema looked worse when he was hot, especially just out of the bath hot, but it calmed down to its normal but bad state when he cooled down. He had patches on his body which we had to dress as they were raw but the rest of the eczema was on his face and head so not too badly affected by bedding. Unless it's actually bothering her more being warm I'd keep her warm in a gro bag, if it does bother her more I'd keep the room slight;y warmer and stick with just a cellular blanket. Or try a 1 tog gro bag plus blanket if it's cold?

Yeah, we were actually told to slightly underdress him and just use cellular blankets, but that was impossible. He wriggles way too much. So we bought merino grobags, which are expensive, but work across more temperatures. Sadly he now thinks he can walk with them on, which is a very unwelcome development!

Dd is nearly two and has had eczema since around 3 months. Here are some of the things I've learnt:

• you can't over-emolliate them! A pharmacist told me this and it's so true. Slather the stuff on many many times a day. Keep trying different ones til you find the best one. We settled on Epaderm (which is disturbingly like lard in texture but clings to the skin and keeps the moisture in).

• get referred to someone who can educate you. It took us months before we realised that we needed to understand the different lotions and potions (in our case, we have a 4 steroid hierarchy that we now understand how and when to use). Before we understood this, we just applied whatever was prescribed as per prescription. Now, with the knowledge, we can react quickly to the smallest hint of a flare up and catch it early. This has made a huge difference.

• keep an eye out for infection. Get straight to the gp at the first sign - we had multiple rounds of impetigo last year which caused it to flare hugely and took us months to get on top of.

• once LO can take off scratch mitts, look at scratch sleeves. These are like a little bolero jacket thing and stay on at night to avoid scratching.

• everyone has a miracle cure to tell you about ("awww, my next door neigbour's niece had that - get some goats milk cheese / stop eating dairy & egg & gluten / bathe her in blood under the full moon"). Grit your teeth and smile. We did have a "miracle cure list" that we added the less bonkers suggestions to. Ultimately, they are all different. Keep trying stuff and you will eventually get somewhere (or LO will grow out of it and you'll at least feel

Like you're doing stuff!)

And take some comfort in the fact that the vast vast majority of them grow out of it.

My little boy had it and we went down the emolients and steroid route with my gp. It was horrendous and nothing really helped and so I just used coconut oil in the end and and he grew out of it after a year. I felt awful the whole time, so I was really dismayed when my new baby daughter was diagnosed with it too. This time I did my research into natural products and luckily so. The Aveeno my doctor prescribed made her so much worse that I'm convinced she had seborrheic dermatitis. I had ordered a completely natural product called MooGoo which was good to treat eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis and it was AMAZING! She was soothed immediately. It smelt lovely and was so natural that if the little darlings ate it, it wouldn't do them harm! I am addicted to all their products now and it is now apparently available on prescription so demand it from your doctors!!! p.s I don't work for MooGoo

I felt exactly like you OP. My son developed eczema on his arms and face at 5 months. GP prescribed steroid creams and diprobase. These have worked in calming down his flare ups, but like previous posters as soon as I've stopped using the steroid cream his eczema has flared up again.
The past week I have used nothing but coconut oil exclusively and it seems to be making a difference. Plus it smells delicious.
Second what others have said by using some oil in your baby's cool bath. We've tried aveeno oil and it seems to be making a little difference.
Keep going back to your doctor too, we were fobbed off a few times and asked to see a different doc each time until someone stops and listens properly

Thanks for all the messages everyone, I really appreciate it! We've now moved on from Hydromol and using Diprobase and I think it is making a difference. We are only a couple of days in but the eczema is not getting worse so I'm taking that as a positive. Also, your comments on here gave me the confidence to ask/insist on a referral to dermatology and we now have an appointment for November. Really hoping it will make a difference! In the meantime GP advised to use steroid cream to keep things under control but will try and avoid it wherever possible.

Hello. It is a struggle. We've had this and at 6 months dds skin now near perfect, what worked for us was:
Embrace the steroid use, use it on eczema, we used it twice a day till it cleared, reluctantly but gps advice and it worked
Ditch the baths, not needed and not helpful. Top and tail to clean, can always reintroduce once cleared
Lush dream cream each night massages everywhere as part of bedtime routine, amazing
No other creams, especially no petrol based ones, my husband says they sting and my son reacts to them so not using them on my baby.
Good luck!

Blankie you are so right!
OP do not be afraid of the steroid cream. I use weak stuff when I can but I'm not afraid to roll out the big guns! A few days of strong stuff used sparingly is better than weeks of infected eczema.
Find the right emollient. Kids use dermol but diprobase works for me.
Aqueous cream great as a soap. (NOT a cream!)
Use the emollient. As often as possible. Slather it on. Loads!

Just seconding other posters on the steroid cream - much, much better to use it when the eczema is present, in the right amounts (usually a lot more than you think - read the insert) and twice a day (or more if prescribed). We were told to continue this regime for several days after all visible signs of flare up had disappeared to ensure it was properly under control before reverting to an emollient based management regime. You use far less steroid long term by hitting it hard and fast and thoroughly like this than by trying to use only the bare minimum as infrequently as possible.

Also, we are all naturally cautious of the steroids in an attempt to do what's best for our lo. What I wish someone had said to me, is we also need to medicate appropriately to protect them from the potential for harm that comes from living with your skin permanently open to infection. We were following a cautious with steroids approach and our lo's skin was only showing very minor signs of eczema, but unfortunately we got unlucky and the virus that got in caused a whole-body infection that needed three nights in-patient stay in hospital on intravenous antibiotics and antivirals to get it under control. His skin blistered over 70% of his body, he had a high fever and was moaning and screaming in pain and it was awful. He is now thankfully fully recovered ( though there is potential for recurrence for life :( I wish now I'd been less cautious with the steroids, but I had (wrongly) thought the worst that could happen was his eczema flared up a bit :(