Can anyone recommend something for infantile eczema?

[mabel1973]

DD is coming up to 5 months and has suffered with this almost since she was born. It got particularly bad a month or so ago, and looked really sore, so I took her to see my HV about it. Origianlly the dctor had given me an aqueous cream to use, whihc was doing nothing. The HV prescribed a hydrocortzone cream to use short term. I agreed to this, as I had used it on DS1 when he had it and it cleared it up straight away.
I used it on DD and it cleared up over night, however I was told not to use it for longer than a week. As soon as i stopped using it, the eczema has returned, just as bad.
I also have a big pot of Hydromol, which I have to grease her up with before she goes in the bath, it doesn't seem to do a lot though.
I have tried Oilatum cream and also a Weleda one, but nothing seesm to be getting on top of it.
I am reluctant to take her back to the doctors as I don't want a stronger hydrocortizone cream
If anyone has used anything they can recommend, i would be very interested.
Thanks

tree delivery - our water is hard. My mum mentioned something the other day about a study she had read recently saying that eczema was worse in hard water areas and getting a water softener can help no end.

The Weleda cream I have is based on Calendula, it seems better than everything else I have used, but is so expensive for a small tube. I have heard about the oats thing beofre, so might give it ago, I also heard about cutting a potato in half and rubbing that on your skin I remember trying this years ago, as both me and my mum suffer with eczema periodically, so it is obviously genetic.

Katie - i agree with everyone else re: standard baby oil. They say the are dematalogically tested (which they are), but full of chemicals. I think the issue with hydrocortizone is thinning of the skin. Also I think it is advisable to stay out of the sun of you do use it.

Thanks for the advice everyone - will look for some of the alternative bath oils mentioned, and just experiment with natural products, once the hydrocortizone has cleared up this angry-looking outbreak.

Does eczema hurt babies? Will my dd be feeling sore, itchy or uncomfortable with it?

So far as I can tell, she's not aware, and is as chirpy as ever, but it's hard to know!

Ds had bleeding eczmea at that age. I used Oilatum in the bath and Hydromol the rest of the time. Twice a day he would be covered head to foot in it. Not heard of using it before having a bath. I used it after a bath so ds was coated in it and again first thing in the morning. Made him a bit slippery but it was the only thing that helped. We tried everything and even now it is the only thing I will use on his face.

Ds didn't seem to be bothered by his eczema at all at that age although it looked truly horrible. I can't remember what age but I remember it was young enough to have to use a syringe, we were prescribed an antihistamine which ds still takes from about Feb to Oct/Nov every year.

Should add that we are near the Chilterns so our water is very very hard.

The other thing that I did was only bath ds every third day (as recommended by paediatrician).

We are also near the Chilterns and have only recently moved here which probably explains why DD and DS's eczema has deteriorated recently. They now only get a bath every other day.

I am going to give the porridge oats thing a try. I have an appointment with the GP for DS for a review as his molloscum has gone crazy too Oh and DH found he also has an irregular heart beat - it's all going on here!!!!

The French brand Avène is very good indeed for eczema - they have a huge range of products.

Stop giving dairy and use goats milk instead which you can buy in any supermarket. Apparently there is something in cows milk that triggers off eczema.

MrsFreedy that is a very sweeping statement and not one that should be followed without medical supervision. Cows' milk can be one trigger for eczema in some people but certainly not in all, and goats' milk is not considered suitable for babies.

Mabel1973 -you might not want to hear this, but it may be worth you giving up dairy if you are BFing exclusively. Dairy is a common trigger for excema - even through BM. (It worked for dd1)

We use Aveeno in the bath and on the skin when needed, found it works really well. I also use Sudocrem sometimes as well. Same as TheShipsCat re the hydrocortisone.

MegBusset I know that it is a sweeping statement and I know that is not considered suitable for babies but then neither is cows milk under the age of 1.

However reading what some mums have written I am sure they would love to stop seeing their children suffering and to stop using emollients on their childrens skins. My DS has goats milk (for other reasons) and on the side of the carltons are success stories of children who have had bad eczema and changed from cows to goats milk and their skin has improved. If my sweeping statement helps just one child then its been worth it. Check out www.sthelensfarm.co.uk

I used purepotions skin salvation which was fab. It contains hemp. Can buy it from their website or some health food shops stock it.

Just been to the gp and have been prescribed more diprobase, doublebase for nighttime and diprobath. Will see if this helps!

Doublebase here, with hydrocortisone occasionally if it gets really bad. Have found that we need to use hydrocortisone less frequently as he's getting older. I found Avent magic cream lovely, but I think it has milk protein in, so not suitable if there are issues with milk allergy. It's not available on prescription and is expensive, but I use it on his face as double base would run into his eyes if he sweated, and as a bonus it smells lovely!