HOW DO I TREAT BABY ECZEMA?

[HeyBaby07]

DS is 7 months old, has had eczema behind his knees since he was tiny but lately it has got worse (redder) and is spreading to his thighs. Any advice on the best way to treat it? creams etc....?

sea salt in the bATH WATER CAN HELP. SORRY BABY TYPING TOOIM

Ask your GP/HV for Epaderm cream. A simple emollient but worked wonders for ds. HTH

NJB - wouldn't salt exacerbate the problem by drying the skin out?

Put oats in a muslim bag (or I use a pillow case) and tie it with string, and put it in the bath water. It turns the water cloudy, but oats are so soothing, and helps stop the itch. It also softens the skin. I use it as soap in the bath for my dd as well.

I've seen this tip lots of times before on MN, so it can't be just dd that it works for!

I only used to bath my dd once per week as well. Obviously used to wash hands/face etc every day, but bathing used to dry her skin badly.

HTH

Thanks for these tips, I've just read some other threads recommending the oats and also not bathing so often (others say you should bath regularly so I bit of conflicting advice) I guess each baby is different and what works for one doesn't for another.

We found Oilatum bath oil made a huge difference for dd.

One other comment, if it has just started to spread, dd caught impetigo at one point, and we thought it was just the eczema spreading, and then made matters wirse by applying cream hence spreading it further - if there's a significant change in his skin may be worth a quick trip to the docs.

Yes, same for us Milkmade, the skin looked redder, and "bumpy", and then suddenly we realised it was impetigo when it spread rapidly. Good thinking...forgotten all about impetigo.

What is impetigo? the spreading on the thighs is 2 very round patches of red skin, slightly raised

Hi again, Impetigo is an infection of the skin(staphylococcus aureus I think but don't quote me) where it starts from one point and spreads outwards and the rash becomes crusty yellow scabs. But from what you describe those very round patches are classic eczema. I reckon it would be worth a trip to the GP's regardless, epaderm is a great emollient but ds also needed a mild hydrocortisone cream to properly knock it on the head (as it were He hardly uses it at all now (he's 18 months btw)

Ah I was right! Def don't think it's impetigo. HTH

i would def recommend getting referal to your local childrens excema clinic (if they have one) ask gp or health visitor.
different things work for different people.
i used elenas natural stuff see www.elenasnaturecollection.co.uk
also hydrocortisone creams for flare ups.
emollient in the bath is great too
i dont bath him every night. mixture of baths and showers.
salt i would think would be bad. having skin as moisturised as possible seems to help

For my ds all the creams he was prescribed were useless (he is the same age as your ds) I found pictures of him last summer where he is just covered bless him, and nothing seemed to work. I would second not washing him every day, we did like to give him a bath with dd but now it is a bath maybe 2 times a week which is plenty. My friend recommended Dream Cream and Dream Wash from Lush and it has done wonders for him (worth nothing though that my mum tried some on her excema after I wa sso enthusiastic about it and it gave her a nasty reaction). Make sure you dry him properly, and maybe have him bare legged when he is crawling about if the problem is behind his knees. Oats are also very good in the bath - I first tried this with dd when she had chicken pox and now we have regular afternoons where we get a massive pack of primark cheapy tights and fill them with oats- great fun. Hope he is feeling a bit better soon

I swear by hemp oil.