Sun cream for child eczema

[BeGratefulOfGlimmers]

Which sunscreen is best for children with severe eczema?

Looking for advice and suggestions for sun cream for my son who has severe eczema. We go through a cycle of antibiotics, steroid cream plus all the others which go along with the routine.

we’ve tried:
p20 spf50 for kids
p20 spf59 sensitive
asda spf50 sensitive for kids
Nivea spf50 sensitive for kids
Nivea spf50 play and protect

All result in the skin blistering and burning. It’s so painful and sore. Then the steroid cream is back out again.

I’ve got to the point where I avoid using sun cream. It’s hats and long sleeves and trousers, swimwear with long arms.

Any advice would be gratefully received!

ps I did ask the doctor but said they couldn’t recommend anything!

Everyone is different but we use the soltan once factor 50. I noticed it is in a spray this year. We still have to use steroid and emollient at either end of the day but no irritation or burning 4 years in.

I stuck with Childs farm spf as their emollient suited my scaly child!

The E45 sensitive kids suncream has been great for my little one, though theirs is not severe. We had a spray bottle, it’s greasy yet light at the same time.

Soltan kids sensitive & sun allergy protect. Factor 50.
we also use the soltan once factor 50 and his skin is ok with that.

Sunsense factor 50 was recommended to me years ago by Gt Ormond Street dermatologist for my DS. I still use it on his siblings - the roll on one is great though slightly less easy to find.

Altruist

Sunsense sensitive is the one recommended by my dermatologist. Works great. It's Australian as far as I remember. It used to be available on prescription, but now I have to buy it online. Haven't looked in shops for it though.

There are two types of suncream - mineral and chemical and you seem to have tried all chemical ones.

Baby suncream tends to be mineral - it leaves a white cast on the skin after. Could be worth giving it a go.

Same issue with myself and my son, try a mineral sunscreen - the ones I have found are very expensive though (have bought online as don't tend to find in boots), but as thick don't need so much. Have tried Blue Lizard, MD Molar sciences, ultra sun.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions, I’ll try anything at this point - regardless of cost because that goes out the window when you see how much discomfort your child is in. I’m open to anything at this point as I don’t think no screen is a sensible option.

I have eczema and also have skin that is sensitive to certain ingredients. Nivea, Soltan and the supermarket brands I've tried all cause red irritated skin and soreness for me.

I've been using Ultrasun happily for three years. I use the specific face sunscreen for my face and then the 'family' range spf30 for body.

It costs a bomb so I only buy it on offer but it's a brilliant sunscreen that does the job well and seems to be well water resistant and not stain clothes.

The only one dd's skin will tolerate is La Roche Posay.

Child's farm. It's not cheap but it's the only one my's son's skin tolerates. It does stain clothes so you need to be careful with it but I'd never use anything else on him now.

Soltan and child's farm seem the best for my dcs. Soltan have a small stick spf (like a deodorant) which my dcs like as they say it doesn't sting them.

Thanks all, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your advice!

Nappy cream slathered on. The zinc acts as a sunblock

Both my DC have v reactive skin even though only one has eczema. The only one they could tolerate is Green People. My oldest DC who is 18 still swears by their shower gel too - v boring and unscented but the only one that doesn't give her eczema flare up.

Have you tried a spf 30 moisturiser designed for facial application? I find I get on with this the best (so long as I don’t actually try using it on my face - oh the irony). It’s great for the rest of my body, and actually seems to absorb properly rather than leaving me as a greasy, itchy mess.

La Roche Posey.

My dc has bad eczema. We use Ultrasun 30. Apparently, there isn't a big difference between factor 30 and factor 50 in terms of protection from sun/uv rays. Apparently 50 is more likely to block pores and make eczema worse. So we use spf 30. I feel your pain OP, it's not easy seeing your child getting so sore and having to whip out the steroid cream. It's like a vicious cycle. I hope our little ones grow out of it soon

Child's Farm for us. We've tried others and she reacts

I think you are doing the right thing with using long sleeves as much as possible. I would choose long sleeves over suncream, it's much safer (although vitamin D is very important for eczema kids!).

Anyway i did once find one on amazon that was pure zinc oxide, try to look for as few ingredients as possible and no food ingredients (eg coconut) as putting food on eczema skin causes allergies.

btw the antibiotics/ steroid cycle wont get to the root cause, you need to rebuild gut health with meat stock & probiotics. There is a rather intense Facebook group called "Erasing Eczema (natural eczema help)" if you want to explore this more.

good luck i have been where you are and it's horrible seeing your child suffer.

Altruist - designed by a dermatologist. Fantastic stuff.

https://amzn.eu/d/goBl2Rf

Used the E45 one this year and its been really good, noreaction at all. Before that used Ultrasun which was good but pricey.
DD only had mild exczema but reacts to suncreams.__

My child reacts to all mainstream suncream and even Child's Farm on occasion, but we've used Bioderma for two years now with no issues at all. Expensive but totally with it!