infant excema - advice required please...

[Joseyjo]

hello!!

my ds is 6 weeks old and had developed icky spots all over his face, head and neck. they have now turned into a dry rash that the doctor (last week) gave me some emollient cream for. my dh thinks that it looks like excema which he had as a child. what should i do and not do to make him more comfortable? the cream is supposed to be used twice a day, but should i wash it off inbetween? my baby care book says not to use soap - not even johnsons baby all over wash? help required please as i can't bear to think that i am making it worse, especially if (as dh says it is really itchy and horrible). also, he has yellow crusty bits in his eyebrows... is that related?
sorry for being a panicky new mum, but it is to be expected i suppose!!!
thanks.

The yellow crusty bits... seems to me as if they were craddle cap.

I think you had very good advice there, avoid any baby soap (particularly Johnsons Baby products and supermarket's own), just use water or, if you wish, put some oats in a sock and run hot water through them when you are filling the bath. The oats are fantastic to soothe dry skin.

Some people use aqueous cream to bath their children although I have double feelings about it because some children react to it (It used to make DS's eczema worse, but now he is older -almost 3 yrs old-, we have used it in the bath and DS's skin is fantastic... so I'm not sure)

About the emollient, I don't know what you are using, but be aware that you need to apply it as many times as the skin starts to feel/look dry. Some times it could be more than 3 times a day. Aveeno cream has made a big difference to many of us, it is sold by Boots, comes in a bottle with a pump (the one with the green band). MAybe worth a try?

Hope it is only craddle cap, but if it turns into eczema, there are lots of good advice in the Allergies topic.

Absolutely DO NOT use aqueous cream. My GP told me on last visit it has been proven in some studies to make eczma WORSE.

Use the emollient - dont wash it off - in fact use more if you think it needs it. Dont bath daily, or if you wish too - get your GP to prescribe oilatum for the bath water - its really good. If the emollient doesnt work go back to the GP and get him to recommend another one - there are plenty of types.

Dont be scare to use hydrocortisone if the doc prescribes it - the scratching of skin can be more harmful than using the steroid creams.

Dont use soaps or other creams.

Use persil nonbio and comfort pure with your washing (although another newer one i have seen is called surcare). Dont use too much washing powder - use the minimum amount.

HTH.

Ask GP for some Diprobase (comes in a gel or a cream). My DS suffered badly with excema as a baby (until I discovered he was allergic to bananas - I was eating loads while breastfeeding and it was one of the first weaning foods I gave him).

If it is excema, your GP might prescribe a mild hydrocortisone which will probably clear it up. Use it sparingly and only when necessary (ie not every day if his skin improves but just to get him over the worst of it).

Don't wash his face with water, just clean his eyes as usual.

I found only bathing him once a week helped it heal too.

He is now an excema-free 4 year old but when I look at his baby photos I could cry, his face was red raw.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Diprobase is what we have used for 2 years. Its good.

Diprobase is good, particularly when the skin is broken as it doesn't sting. In our case it was insuficient, we needed to apply it 8 times a day, hence my suggestion for Aveeno.

Cradle cap? Molloscum?

If not, check out Sharon Trotter's website - she is a midwife who has published extensively on this topic.

Bathe only in water - absolutely no washes or shampoos that contain SLS. If you are desperate for a wash, Halo Baby (Tesco) is a brand that is SLS-free. SLS is a very harsh detergent added to all washes etc - even those for a baby

Aveeno cream is used a lot by mums here.

Don't ever use baby wipes on your baby's bum. They also contain detergents that de-fat the skin. Cotton wool and water is all that's required (it's all I've ever used). If you find the poop is staining the skin - wipe the worst off with loo roll then use a slather of mineral or olive oil to lift the rest. Finish with cotton wool and water as normal.

My dd has/had baby eczema - and does seem to have grown out of it. When it was bad (usually back of knees) I just used waterin the bath - don't use perfumed stuff. I now use Oilutum Junior in the bath and the GP prescribed some Epiderm (sp) which I apply to areas when needed - it can also be added to bath water. I used Detonox shampoo for cradle cap - as dd has loads of hair so applying olive oil would make her look a slaphead.

DD has just turned one and seems to be clear from eczema just has a bit of dry skin. HTH

Crusty yellow bits do sound a lot like cradle cap...does she have any flaky bits on her scalp, by any chance? My DD developed cradle cap at around 8 weeks, and it looked awful for a few weeks (but did'nt bother her at all). On her scalp, I used sweet almond oil twice a day - a friend of mine used olive oil, but it smells more - and it cleared up after a few weeks. She then developed baby eczema at about 5 months...never on her face, but in patches on her body. Hers was mild to moderate: we used various prescribed emollients but settled on Doublebase (like the pump action, goes on easier than Diprobase) and a very very mild steroid ointment for flare-ups. I got some great feedback about using the steroid ointment: use it at first sign of flare-up, don't be too sparing with it, and you won't have to use it for long. It worked - DD never scratched, never got infected, and her ezcema never lasted long. She's pretty much grown out of it now (22 months) but occasionally has dry patches, so I moisturize her post-bath with Doublebase. My friend's DS had it much more severely, and was seen by the hospital, but the treatment was identical to ours.

For what its worth, I think the first six months were DD's most pimply, spotty, ezcema-y, cradle-cap-y by far - I read somewhere that all their hormones are doing weird things, and their digestive systems too, and it all shows up on their skin.

Hope it settles down for your DD soon!

Forgot - yes, used Oilatum Junior in bath too (not at 6 weeks though, only from about 5 months) and cradle cap shampoo.

thank you all for your prompt responses!!!

i think he is developing cradle cap as well - just to make him look even more appealing with his scabby red face!

the wierd thing is that he doesn't have a single mark anywhere else on his body. i thought that excema was most likely to occur in the creases?

do you think that a 6 week old has the co-ordination to scratch himself deliberately? should i put him into scratch mitts? (he is still sleeping fully swaddled - well, until he escapes!!)

should i be putting the emollient in his hair? seems a bit icky to me...

if (as seems to be the case) he has really sensitive skin, am i still ok using something like sweet almond oil on his cradle cap? will it make his excema worse?

also, i have been wanting to massage him and have got both plain baby oil and sweet almond oil ready to do so. given that there is no excema on his body, am i ok to start this with either oil? I don't want to make it spread.

also, will have a look in the allergies topic - sorry if i posted this in the wrong place!!

I would avoid the almond oil and use something else. I think olive oil is ok? Im sure someone will verify that though. The almond oil might be why just the skin on the face is affected.

i haven't used any of either yet!!

My pal used olive oil on her little boy who had really severe eczema - on his scalp, for cradle cap. The sweet almond was fine on my DD, who also had eczema - but she was a lot older (5 months) when it started. I used it on her scalp, and also for baby massage - having checked with the teacher that it was ok to use. Perhaps if you're worried, you could try a little of either on one arm, or one leg, and see if she had any reaction the next day?

Also, if you're worried about her face, don't hesitate to double check again with a GP....there might be one in your practice who knows about skin conditions, maybe give you a clearer idea about whether its really eczema or not?? I found it so much easier treating DD's once I knew for sure that was what it was!

Eczema can occur anywhere although often shows up in skin creases. Ds had it badly as a baby and we applied creams to his skin at every nappy change (with clean hands, obviously). Went through several different creams before finding the one that worked for him - diprobase. Also used Oilatum in the bath - get it on prescription as it is expensive. And used the 1% hydrocortisone the doctor prescribed for the patches that were really bad. When he had patches that were weepy we used hydrocortisone cream that also contained antibiotics.

Good news is eczema does get a lot better for most babies - it is really common in babies but lots grow out of it and even if they still have it, it tends to be much milder. Certainly the case for ds (which is a relief as dh had severe eczema throughout childhood).