Eczema baby..advice needed please

[Lovelise]

Hello all, i wondered if any of you had any advice or tips for dealing with very bad eczema in young babies.

My DD is 4 months old and has been suffering with this skin complaint for around 7 weeks. I have been constantly at the doctors trying to get it under control but nothing seems to be working.

We have tried..

Epiderm - made it worse
Hydrocortisone (on the bad bits) - no improvement
Diprobase - no improvement (although skin was less dry)

Then the doctor thought it was fungal so prescribed anti fungal stuff, which didnt work suprise surprise!

Just returned from the doc today who has re-confirmed it to be eczema and has prescribed Dermol and Fuciden H.

TBH im starting to think that this is never going to be sorted and its really starting to get me down.

Do you have any advice on what helps keep eczema under control? What worked for your LOs? When would you recommend seeing a specialist?

Any advice appreciated!

[thekitchenfairy]

What are the Aveeno bath packs or Hydromol? Never seen either.

The Oilatum we use is an ointment, so waxy, it is slippery stuff but we get on better with it than the Oilatum lotion.

Yes ^^ to allergies, my DS eczema appeared during weaning. After battling 11 years we now know he is v Allergic to apples, citrus, nightshade family vegetables, nuts. He is much better to manage when following a sugar free diet -- but that is hard now he is getting older.

[Theyaremysunshine]

Aveeno bath oil is excellent stuff thekitchenfairy

Hydromol. Haven't used this one but this is what is being referred to above.

HTH

[cansu]

Fucidin worked really well on bad patches with ds. We also used oil atom in the bath and avoided bathing him too much as it seemed to make skin more dry. If it is any comfort, he did grow out of it.

[WhatsMyAgeAgain]

Are you breastfeeding? We tried all the lotions and potions, till LO was 6 months and I realised he had food allergies. I was scoffing eggs, dairy and wheat every day and causing his eczema.

We are both now (almost entirely) dairy, egg, guten, soya and nut free and at 10 months his skin has never been better.

Still a little bit behind his knees, which might be doen to the milk I still have in tea, or yet another allergy that I haven't figured out yet.

(if your ff, your LO may still have a dairy allergy or intolerance which is causing eczema, in which case maybe ask GP for a prescription formula to try for a few weeks).

[Lovelise]

Hi Whatsmy, I'm FF as my DD rejected my boobies.

Her having a dairy allergy did cross my mind but we seem to have it under control with Dermol and Fucidin H.

Eczema runs in the family (on both sides) so the little mite had no chance!

I'll see how it goes and assess the situation in a few weeks time.

[Goldmandra]

The best way to treat eczema is using emollients to prevent the skin getting dry. There are lots of suggestions on this thread so it's just a case of trying them.

If the eczema becomes inflamed you can use hydrocortisone which is a steroid cream to bring it back down in combination with emollients then go back to just emollients afterwards. Avoid direct sunlight after applying hydrocortisone because it can apparently bleach the skin and use as little as possible to avoid it thinning the skin.

If the eczema becomes infected Fucidin is used to treat it. Fucidin H is a combination of Fucidin and Hydrocortisone. Neither or which should be used as prevention.

It is a good idea to try to work out the trigger so try fragrance free washing powder with extra rinses and no fabric conditioner for a start.

[DeadCert]

My son had awful eczema, all over his little body. We tried all the creams, the only thing that worked was water only at nappy changes, nothing in the bath, non bio washing powder and Lush Dream Cream. We still use it now on him and he has beautifully clear skin. If you have a lush near you, ask for a sample before you buy as it's £11.50 a pot.

So worth it for us, but as everyone says - you will only know what works for your child. Epiderm/Diprabase just made everything so much worse.

[ScreamIfYouWantToGoFaster]

Just throwing in my two cents - my DD had awful eczema all over her body from a few weeks old. We tried everything the doc prescribed but then I started doing my own research! I found numerous recommendations for olive oil and other natural oils, rather than the petroleum-based products the doc was suggesting.

We ended up using Neal's Yard Baby Balm twice a day (morning & night) plus after baths until DD was 12 months old - it completely cleared up her eczema within a couple of weeks. The Neal's Yard balm is rather expensive (I ended up using it partly because we had a Neal's Yard shop practically at the end of our road) but any olive, coconut and/or shea nut oil based products would work just as well. For me a good rule of thumb is to make sure I actually recognise all of the ingredients in any product I put on DD's skin!

Once DD was over a year old, and her eczema was under control (still twice daily application) we moved on to Aveeno. We use the bath oil and also the cream - beware the lotion is too thin to be of any use whatsoever!

I would second all the recommendations to restrict baths as much as possible. I bathe DD twice a week, and throw in an extra shower here or there if necessary (usually when she gets back from nursery covered in sand/paint/food!) The less time her skin spends in water the healthier it gets.

Hope that helps!

[ScreamIfYouWantToGoFaster]

Oh! I also second only using cotton wool & water, or WaterWipes, for nappy changes! I tried every "sensitive" wipe out there and they all irritated her skin - right up until she was potty trained.

[funchum8am]

Our DD had bad eczema from about 6 weeks but it has now completely gone. We went to the GP who thought it was caused by a food allergy so referred us to a paediatrician (we were lucky!)

Paed said it was not likely to be food related and prescribed Elocon (generic version called mometazole or similar) to use for 5 days on bad areas, then Aveeno cream on top, then 50/50 soft white paraffin/water mix.

We also only bathed her 2-3 times a week as I had childhood eczema and that really helped me.

It was almost all cleared after five days. There were a couple of flare ups but repeating the same regimen cleared them very quickly.

We still only bathe her 2-3 times a week but don't even use the Aveeno unless she gets a little dry patch.

We were very lucky that the eczema went but I think the Elocon was the secret. It is strong but I believe the new approach among experts is to blast eczema with strong steroids like Elocon for a short time, as there is evidence that this is better than longer term use of less effective steroids like hydrocortisone...unfortunately most GPs don't seem to have been made aware.