Bad eczema in a 6 week old?

[Cheekychops84]

my DD is 6 weeks and has developed bad eczema on her face and very bad round her neck and behind ears like it's raised and very red there is not one patch of smooth skin there it's also a bit down her back and chest. We have been given cetreben but I think it's making it more inflamed ? Anyone have experience in this field ?

try the allergy section of this site.

what has the gp advised so far?

any allergies in the family?

My DD is now 5 months and suffers badly from eczema on her face and body. Only thing that helps is 1% hydrocortisone applied very thinly twice a day when it is bad. WE have seen gp and paediatrician in the hospital and although I was extremely nervous about using steroid creams on her at such a young age, it is better to use a mild one more frequently than need strong steroids creams AND antibiotics if it gets infected. (gps thoughts and mine now too) definitely see your gp again. We also have an emollient to use as much as possible, and bathe her in too as plain water and soaps are really bad for making hers worse. Can be trial and error til you find what works for you. Hth x

Thankyou for replies. Hubby and eldest had an allergy to
Cows milk when young. Although they canndrinknit
Now it still can upset their stomach of they have too much. In
Breastfeeding and she has had 2 bottles of SMa in the v early days which she was fine with. I also don't eat a lot of dairy anyway.
It started off as what seemed to b baby acne but as they dried up I think it's turned into eczema. So I'm still not 100% sure that it's the right cream. Will go back

Given the strong family history of cows milk protein allergy in childhood and the fact your baby had some formula early on (this can be a trigger) I would cut out every trace of dairy from your diet and see if things improve. Also soy, as this is a common cross-allergen. YOu have to be really careful to read labels. You need to do the exclusion for at least two weeks and possibly longer before you can judge whether that's the problem.

If it works, then I would see a dietician as you will need to make sure you're getting adequate calcium, vits and minerals.

I used flaxseed (linseed) oil on my baby's skin and it cleared it up, but perhaps see your GP before trying this.

Thanks everyone will give it a go , can I have lactofree milk? So I can at least have a cup of tea ?

No, no lactofree , sorry :( . It is the cows milk protein that may be the problem, not the lactose. Lactofree still has the protein in. Breastmilk is chock full of lactose in any case.

you also need to cut out anything that has whey , caesin , soy leicithin etc in. You can have eggs tho.

Oat or almond milk for your tea?

Oh well I will scrap the tea !

DD had this around that age. GP prescribed hydrocortisone 1% and told me to bath her twice a day.

DO NOT bath more often. It dries out the skin. I went down to twice a week and that added to putting on the cream the eczema cleared up completely and she hasnt had it since. She doesnt have any allergies.

Its trial and error really. Definately look into the allergies and anything else you think. I just wanted to share my experience!

I used Hopes Relief cream on my DS at 10 weeks. He had awful eczema and it cleared it up completely. He doesn't have any allergies though. My friend used it when she had a bad flare up when she was pregnant and it worked for her.

hopes relief

I had to cut out dairy too, (only for a few weeks) and its easier than you first think. All big supermarkets have a "free from" section so you don't have to miss out on treats, and health food shops stock dairy free chocolate which isn't to bad. I used rice milk as its nicer in cereal than soya but very watery so you need loads in your cuppa- I too couldn't do without my tea!

If its atopic eczema regular bathing and covering the skin in a very simple barrier cream (50/50 liquid parrafin in soft parrafin- from GP or £5 for huge pot in chemist) while STILL WET from bath will lock moisture in the skin and protect it from further irritation. If you don't moisturise heavily while skin is still wet then bathing will dry the skin further. Atopic eczema happens when the skin's natural barriers aren't working as they should to keep moisture in and irritants out. The 50/50 cream acts as a barrier to help this. If it doesn't clear up then see a children's dermatologist, push your GP for a referral or go private (about £100- we went to David Atherton at Great Ormond Street). Steroids cream is sometimes the only option, much of the scare stories are based on older steroid creams that were prescribed 20 years ago and the modern ones are very mild. Eczema can be a nightmare, I was constantly worried for the first 8 months of DS's life, he couldn't sleep for scratching and the eczema on his little checks got infected twice. I went back and forth to GP for months and finally went private. I wish I'd done it sooner! Good luck. X