Eczema? Dribble rash? Who knows?

[MotherOfDragon20]

My 6 month old daughter has had this rash on and under her neck for about 6 weeks and I just can’t seem to get on top of it. During this time we have had 2 courses of steroid creams (once with added fungal cream) both times this cleared it up beautifully but it just comes back immediately (these pictures were taken 48hours after stopping the steroid/fungal cream).

Things I have tried-
Vaseline
Sudocrem and Vaseline
Epaderm ointment
50/50 ointment
Aveeno emollient
Oilatum in bath
No soaps or anything that foams near her
No fragrance anywhere
Surcare laundry liquid
Lots of tummy time to let air get to it
A few days topless incase of friction from clothes
Lots and lots of bibs changes
No bibs and try and keep the area dry.

Also note although she has been teething recently she really isn’t dribbling much at all and the area never really seems wet.

Nothings seems to make it better and it just gets worse and worse every day. the rest of her skin is perfect.

Anyone any ideas I’m at an absolute lose and the doctor is no help whatsoever.

If it was warmer weather I would say heat rash but I doubt it's that at the moment (presuming you live in the UK), my DS had a bad rash when he was around 5/6 that got worse and worse, we ended up at the walk in centre who said it was an allergic reaction and to give him piriton, this didn't work and we ended up in A&E who said it was parvovirus and he had antibiotics. Go back to the GP if you can and push for more investigation. X

I have wondered about a heat rash given it’s location and she does have a lovely baby double chin but I do tend to have the house on the cooled side and I’m generally very careful about room temps for sleeping etc so I’m not sure. I do wonder if it’s just here to stay until she’s sitting independently and crawling and will have less friction in that area.

@Kijaji yes I think I will call the doctor back on Monday.

Milk allergy?

DS has had various skin conditions. Bepanthen had been effective on occasion as well as sudocrem but not the chalky big tub version. It's a small purple tube one.

@orangejuicer the doctor suggested not likely to be a milk allergy given that it’s very localised, said if it was a milk allergy it would be wide spread over the whole body and would have appeared prior to 6 weeks ago

OP, my son is 6 months and is suffering the exact same thing and has been for about the last month or so. I think originally it started out as dribble rash but then has turned into something more severe. I've tried so many different things but none of them are helping.

My latest assumption is heat rash because its always hot to touch, and I found that trialling Epaderm ointment, in case it was eczema, made it worse. After I'd bought the Epaderm I read that creams and ointments shouldn't be used in heat rash as sweat gets trapped beneath the cream and makes it worse.

Does the rash affect her sleep? My son wakes and then can't get himself back to sleep because he can't stop scratching it. I've found that a cool, damp face cloth stops that and he will nod back off after I've cooled the area for a minute or so.
I am taking him to GP on Monday so will hopefully get some answers.
It's so stressful isn't it, because you just feel so helpless?!

@Patty101thats interesting, I guess I never considered that the ointments and things I have been doing have been making it worse, I will try a few days of keeping it clean and cool and dry and see how it goes! That’s such a shame your son is so uncomfortable thankfully my daughter doesn’t seem bothered by it but I worry about it breaking down completely. Hopefully your gp will have some answers for you.

My DS has something similar due to teething and dribbling (not quite as bad your poor DD tho)! And cetraben cream is the only thing that helps! You can buy it from supermarkets!

Our health visitor recommended the vaseline method but that made it worse, it's trial and error a lot of the time I think unfortunately. Hope things improve for you both soon.

After putting nothing on it for a few hours yesterday it really flared out of control, I went to a very helpful pharmacist who suggested it looks like an allergy but recommended bepanthen to try until I can get to a doctor and I honestly can’t believe the different after just 2 thin layers! Of course she still needs investigated for allergies but I’m so pleased with the different in 12 hours! Thought I would share for anyone else struggling with this.

@MotherOfDragon20 I'm glad you've found some relief for your little girl. That's one thing I've not tried but I do have some somewhere, so will give it a go. Thanks for the update.

In exactly the same boat with my daughter who is 7 months. It's really distressing her today and sudocreme isnt touching it

Hi OP
I think it looks like eczema that has got very sore/ irritated. DS skin was like this from around 5 months and we had to use a combination of mild steroid and moisturiser for months. Interestingly he also went on to develop lactose intolerance around the same time - very common to have both apparently. The moisturising creams from the Drs weren't great to be honest - I found something else but can't recommend as sadly the company has stopped making it. Worth going on the National Eczema Society website for their information on various products.

I know this is an old thread but wondering how the rashes cleared up and what the outcome was? My 6mo has the same. Thought it was a dribble rash to begin with but bepanthen and keeping it dry hasn't helped. Pharmacist said he thought yeast rash and gave me canesten which seemed to make it worse, Dr said eczema and gave epaderm but that seems to be making it worse. Poor little fella is in a lot of discomfort :'(

Hi,

the same thing is happening to my baby. How did you manage it to heal it ?