What does exema look like?

[Purp]

I don't know how to spell it either. I've never suffered with skin complaints so feel rather ignorant about them. DD, 8 months, keeps getting red marks on her chin after eating and the last two days have been worse, there are two circular marks about the size of a 5p, and they look rather like burns, ie puckered skin. They look quite sore.

She really hates it when you wipe her face so I don't know if it is food irritating the skin if I haven't wiped her properly. But these marks I've just described have lasted since yesterday. She started getting red marks on her chin quite soon after starting to eat solids but she's still only on fruit and vegetables most of the time and is still avoiding common allergens like potato, tomato, wheat etc so I don't know what causes the marks. Does anyone know what they might be? Thanks

Eczema first appears as redness and swelling, which can be very itchy. If it flares up, small blisters of clear fluid develop under the surface of the skin, and when these rupture and start to ooze they are really itchy. The skin ends up very scaly-looking, with flakes of skin coming off - in really long-term and serious cases this can cause permanent or semi-permanent damage to the skin.

Having said this, does your dd have particularly sensitive skin? My ds was a dribbly baby and for the first year of his life always seemed to have sore red patches on his chin where the skin was getting chapped or irritated. Putting E45 or vaseline on his skin seemed to help.

thanks Azzie. I don't think her marks are serious enough for eczema from your description, thank goodness. I'll try the vaseline, see if that protects the area. Thanks again.

Dd (when she was 8 months) used to get marks like this on her face when she ate cheese (esp strongish cheddar) tomatoes, and marmite. I think its just where their skin is very sensitive and some things can be irritating/acidic. It wasn't excema, I kept giving everything as normal and she seem to adjust quite quickly. It could be from acidic fruits if she is teething and therefore dribbling more than usual. HTH.

Purp, just a thought, are you using wipes? My ds also used to get this between 8-12months old. I found that wipes exacerbated it; the sensitive skin wipes were better for his face, or best of all just cotton wool & water. It seemed to start when he was eating juicy fruits, or dribbling when teething, and came and went periodically, but by 14 months it had cleared up. I also found a small amount of non-scented moisturiser helped the soreness.

If you would like a good cream recommendation that won't clog up the skin, I found Weleda Calendula cream really good for dry/irritated skin. Although it is scented (it smells divine!), it always seemed to soothe dd's sore patches. I got it from my local health food shop, it has bright orange packaging.

Sorry, just to agree with bettys that wipes are the worst thing to use on sore skin. I've got stains out of carpets with wipes, so god knows what they do to skin on the face!!

Thanks you people. Actually no I don't use wipes, not even on dd's bottom because I don't like the thought of them. And I have got some Weleda calendula cream in the drawer so I'll try that on her, I was wondering what would help and not make it worse. I'm trying to think what fruits she may have had recently. I think I shall write a few days' food down and see if I can make a connection. Anyway, it's good to know this is quite a common thing. It's sad for them though isn't it? Thanks again.

I've just discovered something. My dd's excema appeared to be getting worse around her face, then I suddenly realised that I have been using sun-cream around the time that she first staring getting it on her face. So a word of warning not to use suncream on their faces, I will just have to try and keep her covered up from now on! Pity as we had bought one made with zinc, which we were told was preferable for children, and it cost a small fortune!