Itchy toddler

[Lacystacie]

My 1 yr old DD is continuously itchy, she has suffered from eczema from about a month old and things are mostly under control but night times are the hardest. She can't just be put in her cot she has to be put in her buggy or driven around until she falls asleep otherwise she scratches until she's raw and bleeding. Mainly her cheeks, neck and genitals. We've tried numerous amounts of different creams (I could open a chemists) nothing seems to make a difference, she's on piriton daily to deal with hives from hayfever. I've spent the last 9 months having to physically stop her scratching and doctors keep fobbing me off with creams rather than refer her to a dermatologist. Its a continuous nightmare I just want her to be comfortable, if anyone can suggest anything new that would help I'd really appreciate it

What creams are you using? My daughter had a really horrible rash on her bottom when she was a baby and I bought a natural beeswax product (I think it was called Just Bee) which really helped. I haven't really had to use it again since.

It does sound as if she's fallen into a habit of falling asleep by being walked and you probably won't be able to tackle that until you sort out her skin. Look into natural skin remedies - my daughter's dermatitis cleared up immediately so it does work

How often do you bath her and what products do you use? The itching can be made a lot worse with perfumed stuff.

What is her skin looking like? Is it just red or is it raised too?

We got some fitted cotton 'pyjamas' (long sleeved, high necked top and long johns) prescribed by the gp for our itchy dd, she was the same and clawing holes in herself at night. They help because her fingernails can't get purchase. Could be worth asking gp about?

Also, in our area there is a specialist health visitor led clinic for eczema where they went through loads of helpful causes and triggers such as diet, environment and emotional. Could be worth asking your hv if there is a similar service in your area?

We figured out that dd was actually reacting to any treatment that was petroleum or ointment based. She now has a bath with oats in (inside a sock and squeezed under running water) then aveeno cream. If she's having a bad flare up we use steroid cream at bedtime and the aveeno throughout the day (as shouldn't be used together as the aveeno acts as a barrier). She wears the fitted pj's.

Things like keeping her room cool and cool bath could help as our dd gets more itchy when she gets warm and apparently children with eczema tend to run at a higher temperature than those without.

Ooh, forgot to mention that when she was really bad we put socks on her hands so she couldn't scratch as much.

The German company 'Sebamed' do a wide range of neutral Ph5.5 products, including wash and shampoo for babies.

They are more expensive than other brands, and you would probably need to order on line, or find a chemist who can obtain them:

sebamedshop.co.uk/

sebamedshop.co.uk/6-baby-sebamed

sebamedshop.co.uk/content/4-about-us

I might try the beeswax I've heard of that before!
She's bathed only 1-2 a week all depends on her skin, water is a big trigger for her skin so we minimise baths and when she does have them they are tepid and very short. We use aveeno too I smother her with it several times daily as for down below I'm convinced its her dry skin any bum cream causes the skin to go hard an peel off leaving completely raw patches and I can't leave her without a nappy on as she tears herself apart ! I've just invested in scratchsleeves they kinda look like baby straight jackets so kinda put off by that but they are being delivered in 2 days so time will tell.
Yeah she's hot all the time too always been a hot bubba !

Sorry new to this not sure how to highlight names etc

Oh fogot to put we only bath her in plain water or one with Averno oil we can't use any wash or shampoo it causes weeks of agony if we do
She would happily sleep on her own if she didn't scratch I only put her in her buggy because it distracts her she used to wear mitts until she figured out how to pull them off

I had been known to tape the mitts on to ds's hands.

If the GP won't refer her, is there any way you could raise the funds for a private consultation?

I'm going down Monday to harass for a referral again but also emailed a few places myself about costs etc just waiting on replies now .
Also consulting them about strange hive looking lumps that keep coming up on rare occasions (already been a&e about this and they said it was palvo, should go within 6 weeks. Its been 2½ months an they still appear) seen several health professionals who had never seen it before

I had a bad eczema as a child. I had a test for allergies and it turned out that the only fruit I could eat safely was a green apple. I was allergic to many things, including feathers, wool, pets hair, fish, dust mites, grass etc.
Definitely push for the referral and blood test to identify the allergens.

The latest of lumps :S
I'm expecting her to be allergic to many things too :(

My eldest DD suffered with terrible eczema from newborn. She also used to scratch until she bled, especially at night. We eventually saw a dermatologist and although we had to persist with the steroid creams, the mist important thing was moisturising. He said we should slap it on every time we thought about it as it's the drying out of the skin which triggers the itching. He also recommended Dermasilk pajamas which were fantastic, although that won't help with her face. She finally grew out of it at about 5, and now aged 8, only gets small patches occasionally if she's run down. Push for the referral though!

Forgot to say, we had to experiment with which moisturiser worked for her - Double base made it worse, and Epaderm worked a treat

dippy I'm pushing to see a dermatologist , had a lovely doctor give me some advice today he said she needs blood tests done because of the weird lumps to look at white blood count something to do with immune system and vitamin levels. The eczema is a secondary problem he reckons ! Definitely pushing my gp on Monday sounds more serious than i first thought but at least I've finally found someone who might have an idea what this is all down to. Poor baby has gotta have more blood test

Have you tried Scratch Sleeves? they have silk over the hands so even if they scratch they can't do much damage. My ds is similarly always itchy and these have helped a lot.

If the eczema is raw and bleeding maybe see if the GP thinks a round of antibiotics would help.
I hope they give you the referral to a derm. Good luck

OP, have you tried Oilatum? You can get it in supermarkets, they do a few different types of product, I have one for the bath for DS. He gets eczema that looks like burn marks all up his legs, it's horrifying - Oilatum was the only thing that helped, might be worth a try, even if it just soothes your poor DDs skin a little

www.oilatum.co.uk

Hi everyone sorry been a long few days, didn't get a referral ..... Went back to the doctors today she had another flare and saw a different Dr , she got to see the rash for herself and wasn't impressed no referral has been put through so making a complaint against other Dr !! I suppose that's a start I'm now waiting until the 18th to see yet another Dr to sort it all out when he's back off holiday.
ilikedogs I got a pair 3 days ago and they've worked wonders she wants them put on ! I'd recommend scratch sleeves to anyone I feel like a new woman its the first time since she was a newborn that I've actually slept for more than 1hr without getting up to stop her scratching !
Erica oilatum makes her skin peel off only aveeno works, hers looks like she's had her body dragged across carpet!
I managed to get a steroid cream for her itchy lady bits so fingers crossed she will stop scratching, I might be able to put her in her cot alone for bed time in a few days I'm feeling positive I've spent months stressing about this