eczema

[Lilia]

HI!

My DD is 4.5 months old and has eczema on her face. Sometimes it gets really bad. She itches it all the time sometimes until it starts bleeding. We tried using Sudocrem & Infaderm, have room temperature on the lowest and she wears only cotton. Our Health Visitor said to use Sudocrem and wash the face regularly, but it does not do anything (apart from relieves itching a little bit). Have you got any tips on how to make it better and what else we shoud try.

Thank you very much

My son started getting eczema at about 7 months, really badly covering his whole body. Turned out to be an allergy to wheat, so cutting that out of his diet really helped him (not saying it is your problem though).

Getting the remaining eczema calmed down took a couple of weeks of various attempts, but what seems to work for him is "unguentum m" cream which is in a pump dispenser and spreads like lard, combined with a 1% hydrocortisone cream (used thinly for a couple of days). This brings him back to his lovely soft self and lets him sleep again.

Other things we tried were Diprobase cream and hydrocortisone of only 0.5%, but these werent strong enough for him. Oilatum in the bath is also worth trying, as it cleans as well as moisturises. Ds paediatrician said also avoid shampoo and soap.

As a last resort if the eczema is keeping her awake and she is scratching a lot at night then if she is old enough you could get a prescription for an anti histamine to ease the itching and help her sleep. I did this when ds had it from the soles of his feet to his face and it worked. From having 10 minutes of sleep the whole night (!) we both managed to get through the best part of the night without too much trouble.

Hope this is helpful and good luck.

our son has very mild eczema. Its not bad enough to need anything strong but we dont find that only bathing him with acqueous cream keeps it from getting worse.

I can only advise that you read the "Elena Schalburg cream does it work" thread...
It has worked for me and lots of other mums, 3 on Mumsnet said they would try it...so we'll see !

poor you!

we had horrible eczema on the face with our 9 month when she was 2 months and it was so frustrating as she would calw her face to redness and soreness and it was horrible, we used to have to satnd over her in the cot until pinning her hands back to stop herself from scratching until she went to sleep...

fortunately/unfortunatley (depends on your views to medical creams) our dr prescribed, oilatum, diprobase and hydrocortisone 0.5% and it slowly cleared up... she's now virtually clear but we have to keep it at bay with a smear now and again... but i am now looking at alternatives (now that we seeem to be over the worst of it!)

good luck and it gets better... i used to get so frustrated and cheated when i saw all thsoe ads with 'baby soft skin' and then look at mine... all red and sore! poor baby!

Bea- you were the one asking about Elena's cream - have you tried it ?

Lilia my son has atopic ezcema which we now have under control. Get your doctor to refer you to the hospital. We now only use 50/50 cream, which is like vaseline, and steroid cream on flare ups. We also use stuff for the bath and cream as soft soap, cant remember what its called I will have a look when I go upstairs. He is now a happy child who very rarely itches and sleeps. He has just had a stinker of a cold which made him itch very slightly. We have tried everything, sudocream, diprobase the lot and nothing moistrised enough but the 50/50 has been brilliant. Good luck.

My 11 month old ds has had eczema for 7 months or so and a combination of what others have already said has it under control: diprobase EVERY time I change his nappy, aqueous cream all over just before bath, oilatum (adult strength) in the bath and hydrocortisone for one week only if he has a flare up. Dermatologist said to really get him creamed/oiled up big time before bed and change his nighttime babygrow/vest only when they could walk themselves to the dirty clothes basket so that as much cream as possible stays in his clothes.
The other thing that was amazing was staying at my mother's for 11 days where there is soft water. His eczema virtually disappeared so his creaming routine has been purely to keep things at bay and not had one bad flare up since. If you don't already have soft water, you could maybe see if you can get something to change that - apparently you can put something in your tank (it's something I keep meaning to talk to the plumber about!).
Finally, for face and hands which are so hard to keep cream on, I have found that wiping them after food with Johnsons baby wipes instead of a flannel and water has been so much better.
Good luck.

Hi Lilia

My dd had eczema as a baby and still has flare-ups mostly in skin creases but sometimes on her face too...(she is now 5 yrs).

We find the hydrocortisone (I think hers is 0.1% ointment) is the best thing (used very sparingly once a day) when it is at it's worst, it works very quickly. I also agree that aqueous cream is excellent both as a soap substitute and as a moisturiser. I would be careful with the babywipes tinkerbell has suggested as most contain perfumes and can actually aggravate sensitive skin.

We have been trying chickweed oil, in a cream made with aloe vera and tea tree oil...seems to help the itching and inflammation, not sure how suitable it would be for the face of a little one. Evening primrose oil is very good, there are some thoughts that eczema is due to a deficiency of GLA which is found in evening primrose... You can buy the capsules and just snip them open, applying it directly to the skin (you only need a drop). Oatmeal in the bath is soothing too.

With the scratching, try to keep her nails short and maybe try little mittens, or rompers with the fold-over sleeves, esp when she sleeps. Just one last question - is she on solids yet?

Hang in there Lilia, I know it's tough. And I know just what you mean bea, about seeing other babies with perfect smooth "baby skin" and then you look at your own baby with red patchy dry skin...it just doesn't seem fair somehow.

Anyway, Lilia, sorry to go on so long but I HTH, let us know how things are going...

Hi Lilia - my nephew suffered from chronic excema from 3mths old. At about a year old, my sister had finally had enough. she'd tried every cream/lotion/potion available, with no success. We finally carted him off to a childrens homeopath. she asked lots of wierd questions, and we thought she was a bit odd. However, she prescribed sulphur tablets based on our responses, and within a week he was clear - never to be seen again.

My 6 month old daughter suffered from eczema from 2 weeks old and it was all over her body.
It starts as a rash with her and then the neck, cheeks, elbows and behind the knees go really red and scaly and if we don't treat it, really cracks. We've found instead of using steroids that Unguentum cream used first thing in the morning, last thing at night is really good. We then smear her with Aqueous cream evreything we look at her. She is forever slipping out of our hands (-:
Seriously though, the trick is, two 15 minute baths, morning and evening, filled with aqueous cream, plain water will dry the skin out even more, and smear Unguentum all over the body before the baby gets in the bath, so that any moisture that gets in the skin in locked in.
That has made our daughter stop scratching until she bled. To look at her now, you wouldn't even know she still has ezcema. But, if we miss even a couple of days, you can tell. Have hope, they may yet grow out of it!!!
Good luck

I'd just add that its worth trying to find a cause for the eczema. For our ds (eczema from 20weeks-head, face, back, tummy, plus leg patches)it was aptimil formula, bananas and sweetcorn. We changed to using Nanny goat milk, which is very similar in "make-up" to the formula, ie vits and minerals etc, but thought to be closer to breastmilk and more easily digested. Stopped using softner in the clothes wash. Added softners to the bath water, eg oilatum, infaderm, stopped using soap or anything else of that makeup on his skin. Then smothered him, twice a day, in Epaderm.
We got away with only 24hours of a 0.1%hydrocortisone to calm things down, and have kept things under control since.

If you are still bf, it might be worth trying to reduce your dairy intake, as cowsmilk intolerance is a common cause of eczema. We also avoided introducing wheat until 6months, just in case of further intolerance, but there is no scientific link to suggest that this is essential.

ds is now 17months and clear of eczema. We re-introduced cowsmilk, slowly, at 1yr. Followed by bananas and occassionally sweetcorn, but he's not keen on this so havent persisted. Touch wood, so far so good.

Good luck with your dd, hope things start to improve soon. Don't forget to involve the Gp, mine was very helpful, and was happy to refer on to a specialist if things hadn't improved.

pupuce... not yet, got my samples and will give them a go soon!

Hello!!!

Thank you for all your messages. Just wanted to say that my DD had hers from 2 weeks old. She had it all over her face. I started using Infaderm (read an article in Mother and Baby magazine) and the eczema cleared from her forehead, but it never went from her cheeks. After I introduced solids (at 4 months) she got her eczema around her mouth and now it's getting worse every day. So, I wonder if she's allergic to something (although I give her very plain food like carrots, apples, broccoli, bananas, pears, potatoes etc). Today I bought aqueus (sorry, can't remeber how it's spelt) and oilatum creams. Give it a try.

Lilia

TOTALLY agree with Honeybunny... without wanting to sound harsh - we all try to find a cure - but what is the cause ??? Eczema is a symptom of a problem (not a disease itself) - so by removing the symptom you do not resolve the problem.
I have a lot of sympathies for those who have tried and couldn't find the cause but I know too many who just use creams to fix the visual appearance...

My ds is allergic to dairy ,soya and wheat, but it is the wheat that gives him eczema. It flares up within hours and is really uncomfortable for him.

Dairy and soya produce a rash and diarrhoea with stomach pain for him instead. Recent attempts to reintroduce dairy has resulted in a 2 week bout of the runs from only 1 tiny fromage frais!

His paediatrician told me not to bother looking for the cause of his eczema because we wouldn't find it, which I thought a bit arrogant. It was obvious that wheat was his problem so I just spoke to his dietician instead and cut it out under her supervision. It's surprising how many things have wheat in them, and finding prepared food with no wheat , dairy or soya can be a bit of a nightmare, so 99% of his food is homemade now so I can control what he is eating.

If it is caused by a food allergy and you have an idea of what type of food it might be, cutting it out would give an improvement in a couple of days (in my experience).

Lilia

If your dd has eczema around her mouth since starting solids, I would look very closely at what seems to aggravate it. Go back to the beginning, trying only one food at a time, and be sure she is fine with something before adding/changing a food. It may mean a fairly uninteresting diet for her for a while but I think it would be worth it. At 4.5 months, she is still quite young to be eating alot of solids anyway...I would go back to rice cereal mixed with water or breastmilk, then pureed vegetables like carrot, pumpkin and potato (one at a time, not altogether or all in the same day), then pureed fruit like apple, pear and banana (which you can mix with rice ceral if she likes it), followed by other vegies, meats and cereals one at a time. Write it all down and make note of any reactions as you go so you don't lose track. I know it seems very drawn out and monotonous but it really is the only way. And remember as babies they have heaps more taste buds than we do, so what seems bland to us might seem like a taste sensation to them!

Also, avoid citrus, strawberries, fish and corn until around 9 months, eggs and cows milk until 12 months (although yoghurt is good to try at around 9 months as it is easier to digest), and be very wary of peanut butter.

HTH Good luck with the aqueous etc, let us know if it makes any difference...

Forgot to add - Lou33, I know how you feel, as my dd's GP said we might never find the cause of her eczema (we know it is at least partly hereditary as my dh had severe asthma as a child and they are linked), but I insisited on a referral to a specialist and finally got to a paediatric allergist who did some blood tests and skinprick tests and found she was allergic to dustmites and house dust, peanuts, tuna, dogs and eggs. We suspected the peanuts and dust, but thought it was cats not dogs, and she wasn't allergic to grasses and cows milk like we thought, and tuna was a big surprise! Still as he said, some reactions are "gut" ones, which don't always show up accurately in skin or blood tests, and things like wheat, tomatoes and citrus are best diagnosed through observation after actually consuming them. Sometimes mums just know these things don't they?! Glad to hear things are better now

Word of warning, certain creams made ds worse, aquous (sp) cream is a big no no.

Lilia,

My dd started having eczema at about 8 weeks and now has it quite badly mainly around her mouth and on her cheeks, hands and back of the neck, also lower arm. It seems to be most prolific in the places that are always getting wet (she has been dribbling like mad / teething since 8 weeks). I think a lot of her may be teeth related. Perhaps your dd's is too if it is around her mouth especially.

Re:eczema: For red cheeks try Elena's Trinity soap/shampoo(a liquid,antiinflammatory and antibacterial) leave on for 5-10mins,wash off and apply Elena's Eureka cream. All ingredients are natural, Elena runs an 80-90% success rate. Her speciality is atopic eczema in young children and babies.Elena offers a helpline, free advice, and prompt service. Phone her or email for free samples and info.

Anniethenannie, what's the number for Elena ? Does she have a website ?

It's all under the Elena Schalburg thread... just below this one...
Anniethenannie-glad to find another Mumsnetter who likes Elena's creams !!!

Thanks Pupuce. I will give it a try. She has just been given a new cortizone cream which does seem to blast it out but it always comes back. Such a shame. I have kept her off all other dairy but my doc said not to change her milk - she is currently having Hipp Organic follow on milk. Should I change to Soya I wonder ?? It's so difficult to know.

Why not try Nanny Goat milk - several of us use it for babies... It's a powder and 8 GBP a can... so not cheap but it made a huge difference to my son. It seems to be the same for Honeybunny.
You can talk to Elena and discuss it with her. She is very friendly and not pushy (I found).

Thanks Pupuce. I will do. Did you find fish caused a reaction ? She seems to quite like it but I think I read somewhere that fish should be avoided. I have also started giving her bread - maybe I shouldn't because of the wheat ? Did you see a homeopath. Where can I buy the Goats Milk ?