Eczema flare up in 15 month old

[Needalifeagain]

My DD has basically gone overnight from having dry skin to a horrible flare up. We have in the past been given epaderm, avenno and oilatum bath oil by our lovely GP.
We are visiting family in Ireland and have seen GP as an emergency and been given a topical steroid ointment and amoxicillin.
I think the recent good weather in UK and sun cream are to blame. Have been using Nivea childrens sun cream.
We have been advised by Irish GP to use topical steroid directly onto affected areas without underlying moisturiser, is this correct? Thought it was not? Did question her.
Can anyone suggest any alternative sun creams?( not likely to need in Ireland!)
Any suggestions to stop itching and hopefully speed recovery?
Really difficult to see her so distressed.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Not moisturising before means that the steroid once applied is not diluted. It worked wonders on my DD and she was 3mths so def try it and don't be nervous. I tended to cover my DD up rather than put suncream on as it made her eczema much worse and kept her out the sun when hottest part of the day etc. Can you buy some piriton medicine - it's a anti itch medicine which aids sleep.

Sorry your DD is suffering and i hope it clears up soon

Thanks LadyInLife. really helpful.
Is diluting the steroid cream a positive or negative?
Obviously don't want to do any long term damage.

Not diluting it makes it work all the more fast and it's what i did with my 3mth old at a skin specialists suggestion - the gp didn't want to give it. I only needed to use it for 3 days and it zapped it pretty promptly. Once clear i used emolients in her bath and moisterised her skin afterwards. I bath every other day even now and still use the same routine and at 7yrs old she is clear skinned although she does get the odd flare up when very hot. We did battle with it for a while and tried different creams so see what works for you.

Thanks again.
Difficult when you get conflicting advice. Severity took us by surprise.
Glad we did not holiday anywhere more exotic than Ireland this week!

The Green People children's sun cream.

Doublebase is an excellent moisturiser and can help with the excema. GP can prescribe.Great as an after sun too. I hope DD better soon.

Ds (15 months too) seems to be outgrowing his eczema, but still has sensitive skin. I am using Eucerin kids sun lotion, but bought it in France. You can't find it in the UK, not sure about Ireland?

For the flare ups, I am using the steroid cream on the affected patches - a few days and it clears them up. However, you need different strength steroids for different areas. We've seen a dermatologist who prescribed 1% strength for the face and Eumovate for the body, which I understand is pretty strong. I only had to use a tiny amount though.

Regarding moisturisation, it's trial and error, but I've read an excellent tip on MN: always apply the moisturiser on damp skin, and don't rub it in, just let it soak in a little bit. Doing this had amazing results for us. I'm using the Weleda baby lotion, which is quite expensive, but has no chemicals and lasts for ages. However it might not work for your DD, I've heard about many good moisturisers which worked wonders for other children but didn't help DS.

I hope your DD gets better soon and you'll enjoy your holiday.

Agree Doublebase.

Someone on another thread swears by Milton fluid in the bath. Worth a try - can't do any harm.

Been back to Irish GP this morning as even they dd quite well in herself patches spreading fairly rapidly and look so so angry, splitting etc
Been provisionally diagnosed with combination viral and bacterial eczema and given Acyclovir orally and back in 48 hours if not improved. Fingers crossed as really do not fancy a stay in hospital.
Dd is being so good though, real little trooper.
Was told that latest advice in Ireland is not to use Doublebase but were given an emollient based ointment.
Also found out her cousin who she was playing with a few days ago has hand foot and mouth disease.
Lots of holiday fun:(

Ah, your poor DD. My DD also had the infectious splitting type eczema and was in hospital with that as her head swelled up 3x as big and looked like a hideous tumour. The medication should reduce it quite quickly but keep her covered so she doesn't scratch and get more infections and keep your hands scrupulously clean too.

So sorry to hear it's got this bad tho

Thanks LadyInPink,
Seems much better today thankfully. Will really follow up though to prevent any reoccurrence.