Will he grow out of it?

[Lehman]

My son is just 4 months old and in the last couple of weeks he has developed eczema on his face chest hands and knees i have had it checked by the doc and have a cream for moisture and washing - I have heard that babies can grow out of it- is this true and if so, does anyone have any experience of this happening and at what age?

I can't help feeling like I haven't helped because whilst I am breastfeeding I do give him one formula feed at night and he was topped up with formula in the first few weeks following doctors advice. I have read that eczema may be prevented by breastfeeding so feeling a bit guilty.

Hi there, I had bad eczema as child...here are some things that my mum has shared with me about it over the years...

• don't bath your son every day as this dries the skin out
• only put him in loose cotton clothing
• being too hot will agrrevate the eczema
• use non-biological washing powder - and watch how much you use

Also have you recently got/been in contact with pets? My eczema would flare up when around cats/dogs etc (but not anymore funnily enough).

And don't be feeling bad about the bottle feeding!! Yes they do say that breastfeeding is supposed to help with stuff like that, but I can't imagine how topping your son up with formula can do him harm?!? Unless he is allergic to the formula...have you tried using a different brand?

Anyway, hope that helps. Good luck!

x

Many thanks Xx

My daughter was fully breastfed and developed eczema at around 6 months. There is a history of allergies/asthma/eczema in our family. She grew out of it in the last 4 years - she is nearly 13 now. She still gets itchy when too hot or stressed, and the odd flare up that needs hyrdocortisone, but the need for creams and lots of moisturisers has gone. I'd say,don't have too many baths, use gentle everything( washing powder/shampoo etc), avoid bubble bath, don't let him get too hot, watch out for fabrics too - my daughter's first skin reaction was to a toy kangaroo with a baby in it;s pouch - the baby was removable and we put it round her wrist so she could play with it and shortly after the skin under had gone red. It must have been the dye in the fabric. Seams can be itchy too and cause a flare up.

My son also flares up around cats and dogs, though he doesn't have eczema, he still has a skin reaction.
The breastfeeding you have done will still be good for your son, so try not to beat yourself up about the formula. You can always replace the formula feed at night with a breastfeed if you can bear it - your supply will soon adjust - and see if it makes a difference.

my DD2 had terrible eczema that started at 4 weeks when she was exclusively breast fed

she is now 8 and it has mostly gone

my family has a strong history of asthma/eczema/hayfever and allergies
I had severe eczema as a child, it pretty much went by the time I hit secondary school but I get the occasional flare up if I'm stressed

I would follow what lozwp recommends in terms of washing but what i found made a huge difference is consistency of temperature at it was the shifts from warm to cold and vice versa that made it worse so if you can afford it keep your heating on but low so the bedroom doesn't drop temp in the middle of the night etc

have they given you aqueous cream?
be religious about applying it, even if the skin doesn't look bad and if you don't see an improvement within 4 weeks then go back and ask for a different moisturiser -there are loads out there and different people find some work and not others

my DD used Dermol lotion and it worked better than any other we had tried but I think it must be more expensive as we didn't get it until the hospital prescribed it

We use aqueous cream and an emollient for bathing. The doctor mentioned that they can also try steroid cream but I am a bit nervous about that idea but don't really know enough about it. I have to say I am very sad about him developing eczema as its quite heartbreaking seeing his little hands clutching at his chest to try and scratch himself.

don't be nervous about using steroid cream and used in short bursts it can be really effective -but do take advice about using it on his face (most say don't use it unless it's really bad)

the problem with the steroid creams is prolonged use can cause thining of the skin but there are different strengths available and you generally only need to use it for a few days

the best way to use steroid cream (according to hospital dermatology reg) is put a really thin layer on, and then a thick layer of the moisturiser over the top of the steroid cream -my GP didn't tell me, I thought it was one cream or the other

My ds had terrible eczema as a baby which started at three months, I used to have to bandage one of his legs to stop him scratching it as it was weeping. However he mostly grew out of it by the time he was 18 months old. He's 3.5 now and still has very sensitive skin and the odd patch here and there but I don't have to treat it as such. I still use non perfumed bath products like Simple though. When he had it bad I stopped bathing him as much which helped immensely and used aqueous cream in massive doses! When it was really bad I never hesitated in using steroid cream sparingly. It worked miracles.