Any eczema experts here? I have a six month old who has been suffering with eczema for a while. It is mainly a particularly bad patch on his chest, and some more on his belly which doesn't seem to bother him as much. I paid to see a dermatologist who prescribed eumovate, a moderate steroid, and said to use for up to 2 weeks until it was gone ("not better, gone"). Then step down to hydrocortisone for four days, then hydrocortisone only twice a week. She also gave me elocon, a potent steroid, and said we could use that if the eumovate wasn't effective.
On the day he saw the dermatologist it was looking better so i thought I'd leave it another day or so before starting to see if it would improve any more. Instead it massively flared up, possibly due to the hot weather. I started the eumovate two days after seeing the dermatologist. It has really calmed it down. But now after 6 days it doesn't seem to be improving any more, it's still a little red and inflamed. I don't see it disappearing completely within two weeks. I am massively scared to use the elocon, the leaflet is terrifying, says not to use on children under 2 and gives developmental delays as a side effect. I also stupidly didn't ask the dermatologist for more info on how to use the elocon, for how long, how to step down - do I use the eumovate again after or go straight to hydrocortisone?
I just don't know what to do and I feel like either way I'm putting my baby at risk.
I'm not sure what I'm hoping for - has anyone used elocon on such a small baby and has it been ok? Any other wisdom on steroid use?