Struggling with eczema! Please HELP!!

[Florentina27]

Hi!
My daughter has had eczema since 2.5 months, now she is 5.5 mths old and she's never been clear if it ( except for when we used steroid cream but always comes Bach third day). I have used several creams and there are still so many more to try. So far oilatum was the best but it seems to work less and less for her face.

If anyone could please tell me what worked for them it will be really appreciated.
PS. Tried coconut oil, oats in bats, aveeno, dermalex, diprobase, epaderm, cetaphil,weleda calendula face cream and oil for extreme weather protection, e45, oilatum.

Thanks

Has anyone tried cerave? Is it any good?

Hi- my daughter was much like yours. Her eczema started around 2 months old. Bright red patches all over her legs, under her arms and on her spine. I would bath her in oilatum bath soak prescribed by the dr and smother her in creams non of which worked.
I started to use natural creams and found forever aloe. I was sceptical didn't think it would work, but to my surprise it did! I've been using the propolis creme on her for the last 8 months after 7 years of trying to find a treatment. Within 2 weeks it was almost invisible and after 8 you wouldn't even know she had it. I stopped using the cream for 2 weeks and it came back so it's definitely the cream that has made the difference.
I also use the face and hand soap to wash her with as I found childrens bath washes dried out her skin even more, this one hasn't.

I hope you find a good treatment for your little one, it really is an awful condition.

How bad is it? Is she bf or ff? If she's ff could you speak to your gp about trying a dairy free formula, quite a few small babies have problems with dairy (that they later grow out of) that manifest as eczema.

Bodyshop hemp body butter is miracle stuff! Was recommended it when struggling with dd(5)'s eczema and I haven't needed to use steroids since. Bloody expensive though and I've just run out!!

Forever products aren't licensed for medical use and they aren't allowed to make any medical claims about them
See here

Have you worked out what causes the eczema? My sons eczema improved almost overnight once we knew what food allergies caused it (and he was reacting to the foods even in my breastmilk)

You also need to keep using the steroid cream for a while after the eczema clears, then go down to every other day for a bit before stopping

Needs forever creams are expensive too! I feel your pain! I think I go through 1 tube a month ish!

No forever aren't licensed medically and aren't allowed to make claims they can cure conditions but it really has helped my daughter.
She would scratch herself red raw, looked like a cat had clawed all over her tummy and shoulders.
We've had countless steroid creams in different strengths, used many products prescribed by the dr like doublebase, diprobase, aqueous, hydromol and the oilatum stuff for the bath. Nothing touched it. The steroids would reduce the redness but not the dryness. I was worried about the skin thinning too with the steroids.

My ds developed bad eczema at around 2.5 months too. he had patches on his torso and loads on his head and cheeks. We tried all of the bath oils and moisturisers, Cetraben, double base etc before being referred to a gp with a special interest in dermatology. He gave ds antibiotics as some of the patches were bright red and a course of medium strength steroids. He'd had short courses of weaker steroids already that just cleared it up temporarily and never completely but this was 4 times a dy I think for 10 days. This reduced the eczema a lot but didn't fully clear it. He then prescribed a cream called Pro Topic (I'll have a look for the drug name when I get out from under dd!) which cleared it up completely. It was amazing. He's 2 now and gets small patches very occasionally which are sorted out over night with this cream.

Moisturising, bath oils etc are a first line of prevention but once eczema has become moderate/serious it needs to be treated with steroids, if they don't work after a week then you need stronger ones, if they still don't work then you need a referral to a dermatologist. The gp (who I now love!) said that no amount of emollient would have helped ds as it was so bad-it needed treating.

How often are you bathing her? My sons eczema improved when I bathed him less, around every third day.

Interestingly, I had an allergy patch test (through a reputable clinic as referred by a consultant dermatologist) this week and "Propolis" was one of the haptens tested which suggests that it is a ^relatively" common cause of contact dermatitis. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it can't cause a reaction unfortunately.

Also, the reason I was seeing the consultant dermatologist was because of persistent hand eczema which left my hands blistered and bleeding. The dermatologist suggested I switch from using fragrance free "baby wipes" to water wipes and it made an instant difference. So I'd urge others to ignore their bullshit "chemical free" marketing (and the ridiculous price). The important thing is they don't contain specific preservatives which you can become sensitised to which are included in even the most "sensitive skin" normal wipes.

I use forever wash and cream's on DD and her eczema has vanished.

My friend used to swear by goats milk moisturiser from eBay but her lo was a little older not sure about introducing it so young if there's potential allergies

Dream Cream from Lush worked for me. I use it daily on my own sensitive, eczema prone skin and have used it for everything from nappy rash to dd's baby acne. They do a Dream Wash too though I've not tried that.

Sweet it contains lanolin and I know a lot of people have allergies with lanolin products.
I can't use it as I have a sensitivity to lanolin based products. Found this out whilst breastfeeding and using the cream lansinon for my nipples!
I tried a tiny patch on my daughters foot left it there for 48 hours she didn't have a reaction to it. That's the only cream that has made any difference with her.
Doesn't work for everyone though.

With regard to bathing, I have also read it's not so much the frequency of the bathing that is the problem. The skin get dried as the water comes out of the skin so as soon as you get them out of the water apply moisturiser of whatever kind suits them. That locks in the moisture and helps. We bath our dd every day with no issues (now!)

Dd's also tends to get worse in the summer months, along with her hay fever, once we start giving her, her hay fever meds the eczema clears back up again. During those months we have to bath daily to get the pollen out of her hair and off her skin.

She is bf and didn't start solids yet so I doubt is a food allergy although I've been told it could get worse when starting solids but GP wouldn't refer us for for food allergy test as they can be false at this young age and her eczema is just moderate, she had a lot of dery patches of dry skin all over her body but it only itches her when she is naked or in the bath so I think is bad in contact with the air as it is dryer now in the winter. I use oilatum bath and moisturize after and is all under control. With her face I struggle the most as is always irritated and scaly lately. There are a few things mentioned here that I haven't tried yet hope it will help her. Thank you all for the advise

Lanolin is tested for separately Amy. I think it's more likely to be the anti fungals which can be great for clearing up eczema if that's what's causing it but not if you're sensitive to it in itself.

Good luck OP. I think you just have to do trial and error and if it persists push the GP for a referral.

I found a lot of goof reviews on the hemp body butter on baby centre, definitely going to give it a go. Hope is OK for the face. A couple of mothers used it on they're baby's face and it help but didn't completely go away