Hi all, my baby has had a rash on his face since about 4 weeks old (see photo). Since then it has never really gone away, only gotten worse and spread to the rest of his body (though it is not as severe as on his face.) I was prescribed hydrocortisone 1% which did make it disappear but then it only came back worse as soon as I stopped using it. The doctors keep telling me how common it is yet I’ve never seen another baby with a rash like it - does anyone have any experience with baby eczema on the face like this and have any advice on how to get rid or when it could go away?!
I feel very alone with this and like I’ve basically watched my baby suffer with it every day of his life.
The back story is quite long but basically…I was told it was a viral rash for my first 2 appointments at the doctors. I explicitly asked whether it could be eczema, I was told no. I told the NP that I had been using Vaseline on it and it had helped but she told me that it wouldn’t be doing any good and that I should use Johnson’s, when I questioned her on the perfume irritating his skin she simply replied ‘perfume was invented for babies.’ 🤷♀️
on my third visit the rash had gotten worse and his eyelid was affected and swollen, then she told me actually it WAS eczema and told me not to use soap or moisturisers on his skin and to just wash him in water. She also gave me hydrocortisone 0.5% to get rid of it.
When I tried to get the cream it was out of stock and all of the pharmacy’s so a GP prescribed me 1% cream instead but explicitly told me not to use it on his face. So I just used it on the red patch in the crease of his neck. This still cleared up the rash on his face for a few days but then it came back worse.
On my 5th visit the GP told me to use emollients on his skin twice a day (double base) and that I could use the hydrocortisone on his face. So I did this and again it cleared up only to come back worse as soon as I stopped using it.
my baby is 5.5 months by this point and I was starting to give his first tastes of food to which he had an allergic reaction to eggs: the doctor confirmed it that it was an allergy and told me he would get referred to the allergy clinic if he kept reacting. However I read online that if a child has one reaction the second can be even worse so I went back to the GP AGAIN to find out whether I should be continuing to expose my baby to a known allergen. Told no but that they wouldn’t refer him to the allergy clinic because there wasn’t much point.
His skin is still bad and I had no idea how to manage it so I went back again and was prescribed dairy free formula to see if he is allergic to cows milk and that’s what’s causing the rash. He is a breastfed baby and wouldn’t drink the formula.
I had cut out milk about 6 weeks ago anyway along with nuts and eggs so I knew it wasn’t that anyway.
I then went back again and saw a different GP who said that I should have been moisturising him about 10 times a day before I tried hydrocortisone and I have to take him off it completely.
Now all I do is moisturise him and give him piriton, which I was prescribed to calm the itch and his face is really sensitive
Now that he is weaning and had allergies I have been referred to a dietician which could take forever; the health visitor told me to ask for a referral to the dermatologist but the GP said no, that he didn’t need it yet.
I have had so much bad advice and disappointing appointments that I just want to know whether anybody has any valuable experience or advice which could help us plz plz ?!?!