Baby eczema

[hm4912]

Hi all… daughter is 7 months old and has had eczema/dry skin since she’s been a few months old. We have managed to control it at home and it did start to improve however past few months it had gotten really bad on her back and shoulders. Raised, red blotches and her shoulders are so dry they feel like sandpaper bless her.
we have tried epaderm, dermal 500, aveeno dermexma, childs farm moisturer. None seem to work. Have also limited her baths.

does anyone else have any suggestions please?

Has she had a steroid cream yet? Once it's out of control I've found a steroid cream is the only way to get a handle on it again. Once the flare ups cleared you can then go back to trying to control with a moisturiser. Finding the right moisturiser is a case of trial and error, seems to be different for each kid! Aveeno Dermexa is keeping my little ones eczema at bay at the moment, have been through loads of creams including all the other aveenos and this is the only one that's worked for him!

My DD is the same and still gets odd patches which are a nightmare to shift. The winter is always trickier too.

We've found that zero base from the GP applied twice a day at least helps to keep it at bay. The patches that come out have often needed some hydrocortisone cream to get on top of.

It got a lot better once I stopped bathing her every night. A shame as she loves the bath but the GP was very keen that she didn't and it's done her skin the world of good!

I had this issue with DD between 5-10 months and had everything on prescription and tried all the over the counter creams. The only thing I found useful was a bit of steroid ointment rather than the cream for the bad flare ups and for day to day maintenance the La Roche Posay Baby Lipikar cream which I would put on morning and night. Pricey but soothed her skin until she grew out of it at 11ish months. I still only bath her using just water and she's almost 16 months and don't use anything on her skin now just in case it becomes irritated.

Have you looked at diet triggers? Daisy products can be a huge trigger - especially as you say it’s got worse recently when she is presumably eating dairy directly weaning. Also look at household habits, washing powders, cleaning products and purfumes. Strip back as much as you can

My DD had such bad eczema too. She's 3.5 now and it's mostly under control. After a lot of trial and error we found these things helped the most:

• emollient/moisturiser: dermol lotion in bath water and on skin as a soap replacement (it's antimicrobial and even proven to kill covid and flu viruses). We don't use any other soaps/body wash and only started using shampoo in the last year or so. Hydromol ointment is great straight after a bath to seal in the moisture.
• steroid cream: I'd suggest hydrocortisone to start. We found it didn't really do anything and a pediatrician prescribed eumovate for face and mometasone for body. They're strong but a tiny bit works wonders. Steroids aren't great for young skin, but neither is constant irritation and cuts/sores risking infection.
• wash clothing/bedding using non-scented non-bio and no fabric conditioner. Our machine has an allergy steam wash which I always use, although I don't really know if it makes much difference.
• humidifier in the bedroom.
• if she's scratching we found scratchsleeves were great at night.

Hope some of this helps!

(Edited to sort out bullet point formatting)

Have you been to the doctor?

We ended up being referred to a registrar who put together a really good care plan for our young dd- which surprisingly included daily baths (just goes to show what a minefield eczema care is).

She's nearly 2 and her eczema is almost all gone now and we really keep on top of the skincare. Go to your gp and get the ball rolling. Good luck and I'm happy to answer questions

Hello - following this thread as my 4 months old also has eczema all over her body and I am trying to figure out what to do. I have already used the hydrocortisone 3 times in the space of a couple of months and the flare ups keep coming back.
The GP gave me epimax but I don't think it works well. So now I am using a light glycerine based cream that should help with the irritation in the morning and in the evening. After few minutes I also put Shea butter just to seal the moisture. During the day I am still using Epimax but I am keen to get something else from the GP.

@Frankincense88 is the la Roche poysay cream that you recommend suitable for small babies? I keep seeing this highly recommended.

@youreallyarefantastic I use the hydromol for baby's cradle cap and for the eczema on baby's head. it's indeed really good. Would you recommend to use it on her body as well? Also why do you suggest to use a humidifier?

@bakewellbride what skincare were you recommended out of curiosity?

My understanding is that with eczema it's a lot of trial and error with creams so I am trying to understand what are the most common products that people use and try them.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

@Francesmalin yes it's specifically for babies. We still use it occasionally and she's 2.5 now!

https://www.boots.com/la-roche-posay-baby-lipikar-moisturising-balm-apm-400ml-10276823?srsltid=AfmBOor3m2ak6rmrRqbU3GC8PkExx_iaiOxyRa8fncwpB15nY-mCO8hK

@Francesmalin hyromol ointment is so thick and greasy, but I think that's why it's so good! we still use it on her face and body probably 3/4 times a week. The humidifier just adds extra moisture to the air which can slow down moisture loss from the skin. I don't know how effective it is and to be honest we don't use one anymore.

Don't be shy about using a steroid cream like hydrocortisone. I know it's advised to use it sparingly, but if it does it's job managing flare ups it can save a while load of unnecessary itchy, broken skin. We still use a strong steroid (mometasone) once a week or so on areas that need it.

Eczema on a small baby is difficult, but it tends to get better as they get older and I've always found winter the worst. Hopefully your daughters will improve soon!

Hello @youreallyarefantastic those are all great recommendations. We are seeing a pediatric dermatologist next week because the baby's head keep flaring up even with the cortisone. I just finished another round of cortisone on the body but we got into a good moisturing routing with Shea butter and la Roche posay cream that @Frankincense88 recommended and hopefully she won't flare up! So hard but hopefully it's all for the best.