How do you look after your children's skin? Share with HappySkin for a chance to win a £300 voucher

[LucyBMumsnet]

This sponsored discussion is now closed. Thank you to everyone who commented below.

If your child has sensitive, dry or eczema-prone skin you’ve likely tried your fair share of moisturisers, creams and even homemade remedies with little success. This is why HappySkin® has created a range of base layer clothing – designed to soothe and protect their delicate skin. Whether you apply gentle topical treatments or ensure you choose comfortable clothes for your child to wear throughout the day, HappySkin® would like to hear your top parenting hacks for keeping your child’s skin happy and healthy.

Here’s what HappySkin has to say: “At HappySkin® we know how important it is to see your child comfortable in their own skin and HappySkin® base layer clothing is designed to help them do just that. For maximum comfort, the garments include off-set, flat seams to ensure minimal irritation. This uniquely designed clothing heals irritated areas for little ones with dry, sensitive or even mild-to-moderate eczema-prone skin.”

What skin condition does your DC have? What treatments have you tried in the past to manage this condition? What’s the strangest home remedy you have tried, and did it work? Is there a certain fabric or style of clothing that your child feels most comfortable in? What would be your top tip to parents of children with the same condition who are struggling to find a solution?

All who share their stories and opinions on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £300 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

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THE DREADED FLAKY ITCH

What skin condition does your DC have?
I have always suffered with eczema in the typical areas of elbows, knees, hairline, eyebrows and eyelids, and torso. Sadly my second child had the same, well i am guessing he may still have it but its under control.

What treatments have you tried in the past to manage this condition?
I personally have tried every kind of cream, lotion, and potion from the GP, most of which carry epic side effects or actually cause it to worsen to the point of bleeding. I have tried E45 oh man that one was the worse, i can still imagine the stinging soreness, I could have had less pain sticking my body in an acid bath. Also tried,

Bit of history... for every ailment mother nature provides a cure...

One day chatting to a family member about it my eczema and how painful, embarrassing epecially on my face it was and that NOTHING was helping! I felt doomed to be itching like a dog with fleas sitting in a snow shower of snowing flaky skin. Its just tough having had this curse, and getting to 15 where you want to start wearing more make up but cant because you just highlight it (some 23 years ago eeeek), anyway i digress... they mentioned my grans old tricks and tips of using a natural, non chemical ways of treating ailments.

What’s the strangest home remedy you have tried, and did it work?
What they told me was that she used to take oat baths, well i just thought this was ridiculous imaging oats floating in the water, with you stewing in a bath or porridge!, then you get up and you look like you've got even more scales than you started with! But i trusted the idea of it, and my Gran always did manage to treat everything, plus being so desperate to get ontop of the thing i hated I didnt have, it held me back from so many things that people take for granted. What did i have to loose other than a blocked plug hole and more scales than a mermaid.

So i thought what if they could be contained in something... a-ha light bulb moment... the sock tights i ended up getting by mistake once, you know when tights were the in thing in the 90's. I did some research and the benefit from oats seems promising... moisturizing [check], anti inflammatory [check], antioxidant [check] itch relieving [check],...

Pan in hand ... put in some oats and covered them just about with water... boiled until soft and water was absorbed. Popped the tights inside a cup to hold them open. scooped all of the oats into the tights and tied to secure them inside. I popped it into a running bath and swooshed around to release all of the goodness and sat inside while it moisturized and took away my itch. After not that long of doing this as often as i had a bath and not a shower, it started to heal, and within about 3 months it was under control. But i still did treat myself to a oat bath every week to fortnight. if i missed the bath, i was in for a awful return... Its all about breaking that cycle and keeping it at bay.I could manage after a year or so with no having the oat bath but instead making an oat cream with coconut oil, honey and olive oil. But i got a job in a childrens nursery and shared my tip with many families and it worked for them also, i felt like medicine woman, just not one that could have time to make the oat creams so i just made sure to apply coconut oil and aloe vera instead to keep me my skin moisturised.

Some years later, i had the patter of tiny feet, with just silky soft skin... i was so happy, i assumed that as my dear baby boy would not have been passed the curse of itch... Sadly within a year that baby soft skin was replaced with redness, scales, blood, and if not stopped infections... So that was it, penny swirling in those donation boxes... lack of sleep does that, ah ha the memory came back. raided the cereal cupboard and my sons backs of the knees in particular went from bleeding soreness that looked like he has been massacred in one of those horror movies you see on tv... to just bumpy within weeks, to completely gone in under a year. He is now 10 and i feel less guilty about passing this on to him and now teach him about looking after his skin so that he can share the knowledge with other.

So there it is a weird family tip for eczema, that actually worked! Plus this works to take out the itch for chicken pox, viral rashes etc etc...

Is there a certain fabric or style of clothing that your child feels most comfortable in?
Cotton cotton cotton or a slightly bigger size of clothes for air flow. A big no no is wool, especially jumpers and hats unless lined.

What would be your top tip to parents of children with the same condition who are struggling to find a solution?
At the first sight of finding a bump, only just faint sign of eczema, crack out the porridge and jump on it sooner, there is hope! If you 'want to make it yourself there are many companies that make natural oat based creams, i think typically if its not safe to eat it, don't put it on your little ones skin Plus try not to blame yourself, easy to say but you MUST try.

If you try this do let me know if it works for you! Thanks Grandma..

What skin condition does your DC have?exma and just very prone and sensitive to gdetting dry an chapped and it breaks easily.which is even worse during this time of hjigh washing.so after she washes her hands we make sure we cream up.neutral moisteriser and when washing dry dab not rub dry.after sun cream can work really well.
What treatments have you tried in the past to manage this condition? all of them yoyu could think of!
What’s the strangest home remedy you have tried, and did it work? tickling is a random one.when she gets strssed or is in high [peak of distress with soreness and itching we sit and tickle or stroke over her sore skin.it really blooody works!
Is there a certain fabric or style of clothing that your child feels most comfortable in?very soft cotton.boys t-shirts we have found and clothing ofnten tends to be in a softer cotton
What would be your top tip to parents of children with the same condition who are struggling to find a solution?dont give up that it can get better.
stress and upset really do seems to make it worse.and the more upset the more itching goes on.so try to keep eveeryone calm over it.

My 7 year old suffers from eczema, mostly on her hands and wrists. It tends to clear up in the summer and come back each winter. (With all the hand washing shes doing at the moment it's worse than ever before!)

When she was a little and I was still breastfeeding I was told to put a bit of breast milk on it which actually did help! She has tried prescribed creams such as epaderm, she's had oilatum bath oil in the past too. Neither seem to make much difference. We've used hydrocortisone cream which clears it up quickly but obviously we try not to use it too much. We've tried several non- prescription creams such as aveeno and e45. We find that Lucas paw paw ointment is fantastic. Vaseline applied before bed is helping at the moment too.

Dd had terrible eczema- we tried all sorts of creams and steroids but nothing helped. She was too itchy to sleep some nights

Cutting out dairy from her diet and washing her with la Roche possay sensitive wash and using their cream completely cleared it up.

We were really, really lucky as my son who suffered from eczema from being a tiny baby 'grew' out of it.

Many, many products tried over the years. Oilatum baths and Aveeno oatmeal cream were our greatest successes. Making sure skin was really dry in the creases was very important. Light cotton clothing too, to avoid hot & sweaty.

7 year old DS has some sort of dermatitis in his armpits that appears occasionally. It responds well to hydro cortisone and goes away again. We have no idea what brings it on, he is too young to perspire, use deodorants. He bathes in plain water, no soap

Our home made coconut and sugar scrub helps our two eczema sufferers in our house. I’ve found having a teenage daughter with skin issues problematic as she is constantly experimenting with lotions and potions. To much washing exacerbates all dry skin issues

These images make me laugh a lot, I love when they make memes of the movies, but if you see them they are funny, you can see these movies here
Cheers

DS has eczema, brought in by a nasty case of ringworm which took forever to go and then left us with this complication. Highly sensitive skin makes this a real issue; there are so few skin products that he will tolerate.

Bath emollients are the way forward for us. Luckily, he likes a good soak: the more natural the better.

He’s sports mad but we find that the tight, man made base layers really irritate. Natural fibres in sportswear, which allow angry skin to breathe would be an ideal remedy but they are near impossible to find.

My son has eczema. It's usually managed with e45. Have used Balneum recently which seems to have worked very well on his arms. Not his legs for some reason. He likes cotton and will not wear nylon type tops eg. football tops.
My advice would be to keep trying. It has lessened to some extent as he's grown. Also to use Ecover or a very gentle laundry powder. We switched from a well known brand and the difference was remarkable!

DC has eczema. I've tried e45 as well as natural remedies. I've tried apple cider vinegar which has worked wonders and I daresay may even cure it. DC loves anything cotton.

My top tip is to not turn away from natural remedies. Homeopathy can work.

DS (4 months) has eczema. The most effective thing has been breastmilk. A couple times a day I express onto a cotton wool pad and then wipe it over the affected area, and it usually clears up within three days. I started doing it after reading a study that found topical EBM to be as effective as a 1% steroid cream but without the side effects. Obviously not an option for everyone though.
The other thing is oatmeal in the bath. I put a scoop of oats into a small muslin and tie the corners tightly closed to make a sealed pouch. Soak the pouch in the bathwater, squeezing it out until the water goes milky. I also squeeze the oaty water directly onto his skin while he bathes.
To moisturize I use Aveeno (not the baby one as it's too heavily scented) or cetraben.

My youngest has eczema. It was really bad behind his knees and inside his elbows and wrists. They were pretty much open wounds. I was using aveeno and steroids but it didn't make any difference.

I switched him to tepid baths followed by baby oil on still wet skin, then moisturizer. Child's Farm moisturizers are more comfortable for him than aveeno which is very greasy. Also generic colloidal oat creams from the chemist are better than aveeno as they aren't as greasy. I use AproDerm. It helped a lot but the thing that really did the trick was giving him vitamin d daily in spray form. His eczema is gone and the skin behind his knees, crooks of elbows, wrists etc are beautifully soft and healthy.

Both my DC are prone to dry skin particularly on their hands, elbows & knees.
We use various creams & moisturisers but are yet to find the miracle cure!
We take other precautions too like not using fabric conditioner which can be an irritant, wearing gloves in cold weather & keeping skin as dey as possible.

Eczema here too. And the only solution we have found is to moisturise, moisturise, moisturise but it's been a bit trial and error to find the right cream that works.

My children get mild eczema around elbows and wrists. I've got so many different creams some prescription some not. We moisturise as often as needed and use minimal products in that bath which could irritate the skin.

What skin condition does your DC have?

He has Molluscum contagiosum, when he is run down, they appear on his joints.

What treatments have you tried in the past to manage this condition?

Normally E45 to stop itching, and wearing long sleeved tops to prevent staring and questions from others - it's not contagious, it was caused by a severe case of chicken pox a couple of years ago

What’s the strangest home remedy you have tried, and did it work?

not strange - but tea tree oils

Is there a certain fabric or style of clothing that your child feels most comfortable in?

Linen

What would be your top tip to parents of children with the same condition who are struggling to find a solution?

explain what is causing the rash, cover up with loose clothing if they feel self conscious,

my 3 children have eczema, it's worse at the moment with being indoors, and they are stressed, even though I keep any news updates from them.
I use a barrier cream, and have tried barrier clothing - bamboo clothing seems to work the best - pyjamas and mittens. I will definitely try HappySkin® base layer, thanks guys.

No strange home remedies here.

DD2 has eczema on her legs, and. I use silk derma pyjamas, a barrier cream (E45 usually), and eczema gloves to stop itching in the night. One remedy we use is a bag of oats in a muslin bag in the bath water before she gets in, and it seems to reduce the inflammation.

I don't know how warm a baselayer would be in bed - but will look into this.
DD2 does not really mind about her eczema, she's always had it and we explain to her why she needs the creams and oaty baths and she accepts and does not get worried by it.

After trying different remedies, what works for me - behind the knees with sudocreme, and a crepe bandage overnight, oilatum in the bath, cotton pyjamas, and non-bio washing detergent - and no conditioner.
I have tried the rolled oats in a jute bag in the bath, and it did seem to work, but as DS has got older the eczema has reduced to just behind the knees - which he scratches red raw.

My child suffers with eczema, we had it under control but it seems to be flaring up recently. Wondering now if it is because we are not getting out as much. We have been prescribed cetraben and some steroid cream for when it is really bad. We have also used Childs Farm as he loves to have bubbles in the bath.
My older son had horrific eczema as a baby and was hospitalised a few times. Eventually we were given silk suits for him to wear after night after we had creamed him up. He has completely outgrown it now!

Our DD has eczema & we avoid hot showers & baths. Also avoid lotions & creams that have perfume in them.

Both my children have eczema. Mostly managed with child's farm and lipikar and add hydrocortisone cream when needed.

My tip is to dress them in loose clothing and don't swear by one solution- we used exclusively child's farm in fragrances cream, but switching between two or three creams has a better result here. Add in oat baths and you can hardly notice the issue!

Hydrocortisone is needed if we've had a spell of swimming, or if DD is quite stressed. Otherwise we manage just fine

My two boys have suffered with eczema and dry skin the only thing I've found to work is Child's Farm nappy cream I only discovered this , this week and I'm really pleased I found it. Been sitting unopened in my cupboard for months

My son has eczema that is controlled by:

A long wash with persil non bio- no fabric conditioner
Baths with child's farm bath products
Oilatum cream

These are the only things that really work and woe betide if I think he's grown out of the eczema and try using a different washing powder or bubble bath. It'll soon come back with a vengeance.