My baby’s eczema

[Jodiereeves]

My baby has had eczema from being around 2 month old he is now 8 month. I have been to the doctors multiple times and all they prescribe is steroid creams I have tried them they make it a little bit better but soon as I stop using it the eczema comes back a lot worse. Steroids are something I’m refusing to use from now on as I don’t want him to go though steroid withdrawal. The doctor referred my baby to a community nurse at the hospital he has had 2 appointments there the first women he seen prescribed elidel cream and told me to moisturise him 4 times a day none of it worked the elidel was the same worked abit soon as I stopped using the eczema came back a lot worse. The second women I seen is now telling me it’s not eczema it’s a fungal infection and has prescribed a fungal cream that has a steroid in it. At this rate I’m just clueless to what it is, he’s so itchy no cream I try helps the eczema just gets worse and never calms down it’s always weeping I just feel so hopeless and feel so bad on my boy. Does anyone have any tips or any clue on if this is actually eczema. Thanks

If you are worried it's fungal/infected, you need the GP to swab it and send it for testing (and make sure they request fungal as well as bacterial because sometimes they forget to order the right tests).

My ds had eczema like that. We spent months with creams and treatments to no avail. I cut out egg from my diet (as was breastfeeding) and it cleared up in a week.

My son had similar when he was small. I used a goats milk soap and lotion, it cleared up lovely. Sending hugs to you both, its horrible seeing your little one poorly

Oh gosh your poor babe. Both my boys had it. My youngest 18month had it much worse and especially over the shoulders like your little one. Steriod cream would help but would come back. We used aproderm for my eldest and it was life changing over night. We have that prescribed by the GP and also bath emollient. Its really greasy but really hydrates the skin. It would clear up with steroid cream but would leave behind terribly dry skin. Aproderm helped that

My son had really awful eczema as a baby, totally everywhere even on eye lids etc. I slowly went through different possible allergens to see if anything was causing a reaction. Dairy is a common one so we cut out all dairy first and then slowly reintroduced different types of dairy products. Cows milk had the biggest reaction for him but I’m sure it can be different things. Aged ten now he only rarely has flare ups and copes with all dairy including cows milk (we just keep the cows milk products lower in his diet). We also use a lot of oilatum junior bath and cream products. Good luck with your little one. It’s so horrid to see them distressed with eczema.

Try Aveeno anti scratch you can get it on prescription. And ask to be referred to a consultant

My son breaks out into similar eczema patches. But he’s allergic/intolerant to milk. He also gets bad eczema if he has soya due to the similarity’s to the milk/soya protein.

Not saying he has, but might be worth considering cutting out specific foods etc. and keeping a food diary 🤷‍♀️

I hope your little one feels better soon.

Please don’t cover your baby in the massive tubs of doctor prescribed emolients that are mainly paraffin.. covering yourself or your child in anything labelled ‘highly flammable’ is heart breaking. I had chronic eczema from birth and my toddler also has it. Steroids are a necessary evil but do find another emollient (Bioderma atoderm is a good one that doesn’t sting) but the main thing is to look at removing dairy, fragrance from anything like washing powder, no scent boosters or fabric conditioner, no kiddy fun bubble bath . As they get older, sugar and artificial colouring in food etc is one to watch out for xx it’s really hard

Could it be due to washing powder. A dermatologist advised me to use Bio D powder which has helped.
Avoid anything with fragrance including baby wipes.
Check ingredients on all skin products even if they are supposed to be skin kind.
Emollients are good for moisurising and can be used instead of soap, check they are suitable for baby though.
If you haven't been referred already ask for a dermatology referral.

I had terrible eczema as a child and adult and the only thing which made a difference was not drying my clothes outside and using an airer inside. Since I changed this about 10 years ago, I have had no problems.

I have hayfever so think pollen was getting all over my clothes and causing the skin reaction. Also could be pollution as live by a main road.

Apologies, if you already do this but thought worth a mention.

Don't use food based creams (oats, olive oil etc) on the open sores because it can trigger allergies.

Aww poor baby! My little one had it really bad until 18 months, I think a combination of things helped us get on top of it:

• multiple applications of Aveeno Dermexa a day- keeping well moisturised is definitely key and this is the only one that he didn’t reach to
• an antihistamine when in a bad flare up
• our summer holiday last year was literally a miracle, not sure if it was the sun or the swimming pool but it completely cleared whilst we were away. I’ve heard other people say that Milton baths can have a similar effect to chlorine https://www.southtees.nhs.uk/resources/bleach-baths-for-eczema/

He’s had a couple of patches over the last year but literally just the size of 2p coin at most- for those I’ve just been liberal with the moisturiser, a dose of antihistamine in case it’s a reaction to something and sometimes used a Viscopaste bandage to stop him scratching it.

hope this helps!

That looks infected to me on the chest. You need fucidin to clear up the infection. A few things that's helped my baby:

• surcare washing liquid
• piriton (1yr+) but prescribed by doctor less than a year old
• scratch sleeves to stop them itching
• moogoo creams
• canesten fungal cream
• check out Zoe Bee charcoal and oat cream

For us it doesn't seem to be a food allergy, but maybe a skin barrier problem / environmental

Hope it clears up x

GP here, OP - obviously I can’t diagnose him over the internet but to me that looks like infected eczema, he will need antibiotics to sort it. Get him seen by a doctor as soon as you can.

I was going to suggest to look at diet.
I had an eczema and psoriasis flare a few years ago. Went on an anti-inflammatory diet and it cleared up. Possibly a coincidence.
Anyway, it was no refined sugar, no simple carbs, limited red meat, no nightshade vegetables, no processed food.

Insist on seeing a skin specialist. My son suffered for about 9 month like this. Got an appointment with a skin specialist and he was like a different child within a few weeks and we never looked back. That was 30 years ago though.

Hi OP, I'm so sorry your baby is going through this - I remember how horrible it is for them when they are so young.
Has anyone suggested a dermatology referral? We got allergy testing through dermatology and found DD was allergic to milk, eggs and cats - cutting the food out and rehousing the cats helped massively.
Dermatology also advised against creams like Aveeno as there are lots of ingredients, and oats can also be a trigger (though, GP advice the month before was to use it 🙄!).
Scratch sleeves helped massively and antihistamines to help with sleep, though you need a prescription at your child's age.
We did use steroids, but I have had psoriasis my whole life so knew how to use them properly and was well guided by dermatology.
DD is now 5 and rarely flares anymore. The only cream we use now is protopic which is not a steroid. She's had this cream from 4 montgs old, but you can only get it from a consultant as it's not registered for under 2s.
If nothing the GP or the nurses gives you work, please push for dermatology appointment- they are the specialists and are up to date with all the new treatments.

Hi @ConstantlyTired312! would you mind sharing how you use Protopic? We have Elidel but just can’t seem to be able to come off it x

Hey, hope the eczema has cleared up by now but if not then one tip i'd reccommend with his eczema is to stop the emollients to begin with. You probably might've noticed that the emollient is relieving his eczema temporarily but not making much difference and like you said, worsens after stopping it. I had the same thing with my sister.

We were recommended to stop all paraffin creams, and only to use steroids if skin was broken badly, but even then in really small small doses. Look up HappySkin if you're based in the UK, they helped my family out alot!

In the meantime switch to Sanex 0% bodywash and try the Rejuvaskin repair cream! Worked like a miracle. Hope this helps!

Steroids and protopic/elidel are really NOT necessary evils. They are a sticking plaster and clear the symptom not the root cause, ending up with the eczema bouncing back, and if you are unlucky like my DC, with TSW (topical steroid withdrawal), where the skin ends up being disrupted by the topical steroids and the rash becomes widespread, way beyond the original eczema. Withdrawal from protopic/elidel is often worse. Please google TSW and look at ITSAN.org which is a fantastic resource.
Lighter creams rather than ointment, Dead Sea salt baths, sudocrem/zinc oxide on open wounds, and antibiotics for infection. Kids generally grow out of eczema if it isn’t over-treated, which is why the older generations didn’t have much adult eczema.
A helpful FB group is TSA caregivers rock
Good luck xx

I’m so sorry you’re going through this, OP and I hope your little one finds some relief soon. I also recommend pushing for a dermatology referral. My dd also had severe eczema that was constantly getting infected, steriods was the only thing that would clear it up but the day after we would stop using it, it would return and get infected again. The GP tried all creams available to them, including antibiotics, emollients etc and finally she got a referral. We were told to eliminate dairy for a min of 8 weeks as it takes about 5 weeks for dairy to completely leave the body and also prescribed Protopic tacrolimus. Now that she’s dairy free, her eczema is SO much better. It’s still there slightly but no longer getting infected and we rarely even use the protopic. Wishing you all the best

A few things worth trying that made a real difference for us:

Strip back everything synthetic that touches his skin. Polyester in clothing, bedding and soft toys is a major hidden trigger, it traps heat and irritates sensitive skin constantly.
Switch to 100% organic cotton wherever possible.
Check every product that touches him, wipes, washing powder, moisturiser. Fragrance and preservatives like methylisothiazolinone are common eczema triggers that doctors rarely mention.

Oat baths, colloidal oatmeal in lukewarm water daily. Cheap and genuinely soothing for weeping eczema.

Worth asking for a patch test referral to identify specific triggers rather than just treating symptoms.

The fact that it comes back worse after steroids is classic rebound, his skin barrier is struggling to regulate itself. Getting to the root trigger is more important than the cream.
Hope he gets some relief soon ❤️