Infantile Acne / Baby Acne at 5 months

[anonymous0011]

Please can someone help! literally at a loss with what to do.
My son is nearly 5 months old and started with acne at around 3.5 months. He had perfectly clear porcelain skin until he hit 3 months old. He started with small red pimples on his cheeks which then started to fill with pus like a white head. Since then more spots have appeared on his cheeks and it is progressively getting worse, a new one is appearing each day and sometimes the old ones are refilling. I have taken him to the doctors countless times because i’ve never seen acne on a baby this young, i was told it is called ‘infantile acne’ and it can last until they are 1 years old and babies can get it from 3 months - 1 year. I personally have never heard of this or seen it before and I can’t find any information online anywhere about it. I have had to push and push to be referred to a dermatologist which I was told ‘there isn’t much point as it will probably go within a month and you will be waiting for months to be seen’ yet it’s getting worse and started nearly 2 months ago! All I have been using on his face since birth is cooled boiled water (to clean any sick up) I haven’t used any products on his face. GP prescribed dermol 500, which didn’t work clogged up his skin and small little blackheads appeared. Then GP prescribed an antibacterial cream for some of the larger spots which again didn’t work.
i am at a loss of what to do whilst waiting for this referral because I don’t want this to scar his skin. i don’t know what is causing it or why it has only appeared at 3 months. He has a bath every evening just in water and a mild baby soap 3 nights a week, change his sheets regularly. Only wash his clothes/muslins in baby detergent and he is on hypoallergenic milk for his cmpa so it can’t be caused by an allergy as he has already been on prescription milk since 8 weeks. They don’t seem to be bothering him but is very upsetting as a parent to see your baby with severe acne at this age and without any help of what to do. I have read online that infantile acne is genetic and it will just go eventually on its own, but the spots are becoming very aggressive and I am concerned they will leave behind marks!

Has anyone been through anything similar?

Hello!

we have a 10.5 month old and he has been getting similar but slightly milder than what you describe. I’m wondering if you’ve had any progress with your baby? Has it gotten better or have you seen a dermatologist? I had awful skin as a teenager so I’m worried this is my fault somehow :(

xx

Hello, I was wondering if this ever cleared up for you baby? My 6 month old has had acne worse than this since he was 1 month old. We have seen a dermatologist and have started a treatment but I was wondering how long it took to clear up? Thank you!

Hi, my son is 1 tomorrow and he still gets them! it’s not cleared up but we’ve been told that between the age of 1-2 it will go away but will probably come back very severe as a teen! We went private in the end as i’m still waiting for the NHS referral been told it can be up to a year wait! He was first prescribed zineryt which worked really well, but he had a lot of red scars from some of the big cysts so now he is on Trecilin gel every night which helps to fade the scars and they aren’t as noticeable anymore. It is definitely working so we’re glad we went private if we left it any longe fit would have run the risk of the scars becoming permanent. We were also told it was genetic as his dad has severe scars on his chest and back from acne. I will attach some pictures of what it looks like now, he still has some red marks which we have been told will fade in time but his skin is worlds better than it used to be! He doesn’t get any cysts or whiteheads or any spots anymore. The trecilin gel has really really helped!

Thank you for responding! I may have to ask for the trecilin gel because my son’s skin has gotten worse on the clindamycin. It makes me so sad seeing all of the spots on his face and I already know he will have scars from some of the cysts. Attached is a photo of his left cheek and the other is just as bad and it also is under his chin but not as bad there. I hate how there is literally like no information anywhere on the internet about this.

theres no info at all it’s all just regarding baby acne it’s so frustrating! but don’t worry at all my sons skin looked like that but with the trecilin it’s slowly fading. Zineryt also really helped too, and he was given oral antibiotics which have the same contents that zineryt has so it was double the effect, external and internal which I think really helped!

The first 2 pictures are from when he was getting the big breakouts and the last two is his face now, it’s quite red just due to him teething but the marks have reduced a lot compared to what they were like! There is still some post inflammatory marks but he said they should go, I would definitively push for a retinoid just because that’s the only thing that will remove any scars!

This gives me such hope! His skin has cleared up so much!! Thank you for all of the advice! It’s wild that there really is no information on this or why it happens. Anyway, thank you for your response!

Hello. My son also has baby acne since he was 4 months old. Now he is a year and 2 months old and still has it. I've been applying benzoyl peroxide 5% every night for 2 weeks and I think it's working. During the day I apply Aven moisturizing cream. The doctor told us it would take time to get better.

sounds like infantile acne aswell if it didn’t start until he was 4 months, i was told by the specialist that baby acne is from birth and lasts until they are around 3 months old max. anything after that is slightly more severe. glad that the benzoyl peroxide is working just push your doctor for anymore treatment if you think he’s got scars from it!
I’ve just had my referral letter come through for the NHS and they weren’t helpful at all, just kept saying it will go on its own so i’m glad I saw someone private as I was told it would of eventually went away but the scars would of remained without any treatment. He even said it was the most severe infantile acne he’s ever seen so i’m glad i didn’t wait for the referral now! They don’t seem to want to treat it but I just think it prevents long term issues such as scars or pits when they are older! x

How is your son's face right now? How old is he now and are you still using the creams?
Turns out benzoyl peroxide doesn't remove scars. Since we live in Europe, I did not find the cream you are using, so I am looking at the active ingredients. I have found that creams with the active ingredients clindamycin, benzoyl peroxide and retinoid help the treatment.
My son is currently 1 year and 5 months old and has only scars on his face with no pimples. People on the street keep asking me where this rash came from and every time I feel terrible....
We visit a dermatologist several times and no one takes the case seriously. One dermatologist told us it was probably an endocrine disease (probably an adrenal problem). We decided to take our son to a pediatric endocrinologist. The moment we explained the problem, he literally laughed at us. He decided that the problem was skin, not hormonal.
I have a feeling that it really is a hormonal issue based on internet articles I come across such as: https://dermnetnz.org/topics/infantile-acne

I also think it may be a hormonal problem that is causing my son to have acne but our dermatologist said that unless he continues to have it past the the age of 2, then he doesn’t feel the need to test his bloods until then. he’s 18 months old now and still has active acne so I think that a blood test will be needed in a few months! at the moment our dermatologist thinks it is just a genetic issue as his dad suffered from severe acne scars as a teenager (he did not have acne as a baby which is why i am concerned for my son as to why he has it so early on).
The trecilin gel is the antibiotic clindamycin and the retinoid tretinoin, which is really working the scars are massively reduced from what they used to be! he still has them but they are barely noticeable now, and i’m sure over time they will keep decreasing. He’s been using the gel for nearly a year now so we are starting to wean him off it and start back on the Zineryt again just to keep any new spots from appearing as the dermatologist doesn’t think he needs the retinoid anymore.
What has your dermatologist advised to do? Can he prescribe you a retinoids for the scars?

Just wanted to add that my 12 month old has had infantile acne since 3 weeks old and it has not improved even with oral antibiotics, clindamycin, benzoyl peroxide, and tretinoin. My son had his hormones tested at 10 months and everything came back in range so they haven’t been able to tell us why it’s happening. It’s super frustrating but I was told that it should improve with time and he should have little to no scarring. He has blackheads as well as large cystic spots on his cheeks and I’ve had people asking us what was wrong with his skin before and it just hurts so bad when people point it out. I hope it improves for your little one soon!

The dermatologist only prescribed benzoyl peroxide and a moisturizing cream. No pimples at the moment, just scars, so I put retinoid cream on it to get rid of the scars as well. That is why I wanted to know if there is any improvement in your case and if there will ever be an end.
My husband and I didn't have severe acne as teenagers, and I have no memory of it being uncontrollable.
I know from our pediatrician that until the age of 3, children's hormones are regulated (that is, it will subside with time). Also, I read in many articles that between 1 and 2 years this acne will subside.
I would wait until the age of 3 and if pimples start to appear again by then I will repeat the hormone tests.
Last time we launched DHEAS, testosterone and 4-androstenedione.We are concerned that the endocrinologist did not consider them, did not even look at them, as he felt that the problem was not within his scope....

Hello, I had been reading this thread a lot over the last few months and we seem to have found the cause of our little boys acne so thought I’d comment. I totally agree that there really is not a lot of information out there for babies with acne past the newborn stage!

My little boy developed acne on his cheeks at 6months which consisted of pimples and blackheads which broke my heart to look at. We took him to the GP who diagnosed it as infantile acne and prescribed benzoyl peroxide. I felt really reluctant to use this on his skin after the pharmacist seemed shocked it had been prescribed for a baby and warned it could bleach his clothes and really dangerous if he got it in his eyes. I did lots of research online for an alternative and came across lots of studies of cows milk linked to acne breakouts.

We did think it was strange that the acne appeared when we started weaning but the GP assured us this was just a coincidence. I’ve now cut out cows milk from his diet and switched to oat milk for my coffees/ cereals (he is bf) and I can’t believe the difference! It’s been 3 weeks of no cows milk and he has no new spots, just marks from old ones that are slowly disappearing too. His cheeks are so soft and clear again.

I know this may not be the case for everyone but I felt it could be worth a try for some of your little ones.

You are right about the milk. I have also heard that many people stop consuming milk and dairy products because of acne. But I had not thought that it could affect babies under 1 year so much.
Thank you for raising the topic of acne, as I have been hoping for a long time that someone would write if there was an improvement in the condition. My son is currently 1 year and 9 months old. At the moment there are only a few scars left that are more noticeable when he starts crying and his skin turns red, or when we go outside and it is colder. When he is calm they are almost not noticeable.

Our GP said that by the age of 3 all hormones normalize and there should be an improvement by then.

I will attach a few photos to show you what it was before, and what it is now. There were huge milia and blackheads that turned into pus-filled pimples. And it was all intermittent. They would break out, then shrink, then new pimples would break out again, and so on, until I started using benzoyl peroxide with clindamycin. The only salvation for me was a cream with the active ingredients Benzoyl peroxide and Clindamycin. As for the scars, I still can't find a product that will erase and remove them. I think that with time the skin will improve on its own.