piriton for a 4 month old and exzema

[littlesheriff]

hello,
our DS is 4 months old and has exzema. we have been to the doctor on several occasions, and have been applying various things, including sudocrem, aquious cream and epiderm. have now reluctantly started applying steroid cream to small areas on the body where skin is unbroken, but on his cheeks which he scratches (even with scratch mits, which themselves are a bit scratchy...) the skin is broken, therefore steroid cream not suitable. we obviously are anxious about avoiding infection, and getting to a point where we can manage the situation better. the doctor this week prescribed some antibiotics to get rid of infection (we are not sure he is infected, and the doctor did not do a full examination or take temperature), and also prescribed piriton, the equivalent dose for a 2-6 year old, to ease the irritation. he is only 4 months old, we are very reluctant to give him something where the box specifically states not suitable for under 1 year old. has anyone had similar experience? could the doctor have messed up? does anyone have good experience with other remedies for exzema (we is combination breast and bottle fed)
many thanks

My dd had chicken pox at 10 months old chemist would not sell me piriton for her out of desperation to help her with the itching went to docs who prescribed piriton! When I questioned it he said was OK if prescribed by doc. I only gave her half the recommended dose but it did help.

Not had much expericance of exzema but my friend swears by aloe vera her dd drinks a shot of it each day and since then ezxema has gone - didn't take on holiday and it came back. She takes a peach flavoured one you an get like people sell avon but if you google aloe vera the company comes up.

thanks sunshine.
would be tempted to do the same (half dose), but then 4 months seems a lot younger than 10 months. its just very stressful as he is so pained and frustrated all the time, and the scratching makes it worse, viscous cycle...

Dear little sheriff,
My LO is 4 months old and has been suffering from eczema for the last 5 wks, went to the GP weekly and antibiotics didn't work, I think it means skin is infected if it weeps... we eventually saw a private paediatrician and he is now on other antibiotics and cream that contains antibiotics and I am also putting on hydrocortisone 1%. Do you find your little one is more itchy at night? Did you try the piriton, the paediatrician prescribed 3ml of piriton at night, but am also nervous to give him as even the pharmacist said they shouldn't dispense to an under 1 yr old. Hope you LO is doing better since your post.

see patient info leaflet....www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/16105should not be given to under 12months. double check with surgery

Usual dose for 1 month to 1 year is 1mg - it is probably being used 'off license' but it is widely prescribed for under 1's. Not available over the counter for under 1's though. hth

I had a similar experience with DD, GP also diagnosed it as Excema, but nothing prescribed worked at all

Thankfully I was pointed in the right direction by a good friend who works in alternative health, specialising in babies & Children

turned out my own DDs problem was actually intolerance to food additives, taken in via my breast milk, once I'd cut all those out of my diet, her skin cleared up very quickly :) -

she is 8 & still has the problem now, but so long as we keep her diet additive free, her skin is beautiful - its something the NHS now take seriously, as at a recent dietician appointment I was impressed to be taken seriously, & they even had print outs of all the main culprit additives

with DD its Azo Dyes, Benzoate preservatives & MSG - sweeteners also effect her, but usually her stomach.....realised afterwards that DDs flare ups coincided with my hormonal cravings for cheap jelly sweeys

There is also a natural cream - Zambesia Botanicus - AKA Sausage Tree cream, you can buy it in most health stores, it really helped with DDs skin & a friend in the US stocks up on it for her own DD who has true excema - this is a mild natural steroid, but not anything like as much of a worry as the prescribed stuff, but worked better for us & friends DD

We also found that Epsom Salt bath, with added oats & lavender oil helped sooth both her skin & her frayed nerves & helped her sleep too

Also not bathing too much - we were advised once a week or risk drying her skin & making it worse - this did help too

I'm curious - has he had antibiotics?? - I ask as DDs problems got FAR worse after anti B's for Bronchiolitis & later worse still after pneumonia - & more so after another chest infection - & I've seen another thread on here where others had noticed a link too

I hope you find some relief for him soon poor mite, I bet your nerves are frayed with it too :(

FWIW, I think piriton is one of the oldest (ie longest used, most known) antihistamines, and dd2 was prescribed it aged 7 months for allergic reaction to something or other. I think the 'box' refers to over the counter, as opposed to prescribed, use.

Poor little DS, hope it improves soon - my dd1 had bad eczema at times as a baby, definitely improved with age.

note to self - read post properly just spotted he HAS had antibiotics

DS is prescribed Aveeno cream for his eczema. I can't say for sure which did it, but at the same time we started using that, and using Fairy Non Bio to wash his clothes, his eczema got a lot lot better.

He's 2.5 now and as long as we moisturise him every day it's pretty much under control. It was really bad when he was tiny (lots of steroid cream), so it does get better.

My dd had piriton for eczema from very early on (I can't remember the age) and it's fine. I also found the E45 range of creams and soaps better than aquous cream.

yy piriton fine, we had same experience and concerns, ended up seeing allergy nurse at hospital (later - aged about 18 mo.) for food allergies who said dosages on Piriton package were on the low side of safety and they are able to prescribe higher dosages at younger ages safely. And it can help them sleep too if the itching is bothering them.

Don't be scared of steroid cream either (hydrocortisone I guess?), the side effects (skin thinning etc) from steroid creams that people worry about are from older formulations and higher dosages, hc is very safe used properly and it is a real blessing to have something available that will hopefully clear it up quickly (it's worth using it for a couple of extra days after the eczema has cleared up to make sure skin heals at lower levels).

Also use the moisturising creams very regularly (at every nappy change - you can't overuse them) and be prepared to try different ones till you find one that suits, there are loads. Diprobase was what worked for us in the end, and Aveeno oil in the bath (both from Mumsnet recommendations of course!)

what else ... Surcare washing powder is good too, no fabric conditioners. Good luck, I know it's miserable, hope you get on top of it soon.

Hi all, thanks for your replies! I am new to mumsnet so I thought I might receive an email alert so I just logged in now.
The new antibiotics seem to be working and the hydrocortisone 1% worked straightway. We were finally dispensed piriton but my DH had to counter sign and as DS skin is no longer weeping we thought we'd leave it for now.
I have eczema so I think he might have it, I just hope it is baby eczema and I have heard babies suddenly have much less severe and sometimes no outbreaks after their 1st bday.

He is using cetreben in the bath as treatment suggested by paed but I am planning on trying aveeno as have heard such positive feedback.

Rockinhippy - how old was your LO when they did the allergy test? As I am combine feeding breast and aptamil formula it could be dairy aggravating his skin. I will cut out dairy to see if makes a difference but the non dairy formula the paed suggested is not available on NHS and I have never seen it in stores... I would prefer to use natural cream as much as possible thanks for the recommendation.

It is comforting to know a lot of babies go through this and get past it. Sometimes it feels like once you feel like everything is settling something else pops up... !

Thanks again all for your advice

Ooh yes we use Aveeno bath oil as well :-) Brilliant to get it all on prescription, it's very expensive otherwise.

She didn't have hospital allergy tests until later at about 5 & they came back clear.

Intolerance won't show up in an allergy test, only true allergies but is trial & error & observation I'm afraid, though you have good dvice above from several posters, which will give you a head start...

I was lucky to have a friend who could point me in the right direction, personally I would look at cutting additives out of your own diet, or looking at washing powders, soaps, shampoos etc etc, before cutting out diary,....though maybe asking for a referral to a hospital for testing for dairy allergy would be a good idea, I'm fairly certain they can test very young .... & if its positive you will then get help with formula

my own DD was fine with diary, still is if not in a flare up, but she is definitely lactose & additive intolerant, something our GP wouldn't accept until much more recently, when its become part of hospital protocol for skin & stomach problems :)