My 4 month old's skin - pic attached

[fee1234]

Hi, I'm worried about my 4 months old DD's skin, I showed the nurse earlier this week when she was getting her jags and they think it's eczema and prescribed zeroveen emollient which I've been using every couple of hours but it seems to be getting worse. Clothes are washed in small amount of non bio, and she's formula fed. It's only really on her front and small amount on back.

Does this look like typical eczema and does anyone know how else I can treat it? She itches it at any chance she gets. Thanks

[mamakoukla]

Glad to see DD’s skin is improving nicely there Fee1234!

Our DD had similar eczema, responded to steroids well but bounced back horrendously the moments it was stopped. Rapidly got out of control and infected. In desperation, after trying so many things, I took the 10 most common allergens out of my diet as she was breastfed - her skin began to heal. I stayed on the diet for 18 months, until she was weaned. Allergies to milk, egg, tree nuts and reacted to soya, pears, sweet peppers and raw carrot.

Keep an eye open and monitor as you stop medicating. Make sure the eczema is fully resolved before stopping medication and then stay on top of it. And yes to the Weleda calendula cream. Highly rate the nappy cream! And the wash was nice too

[YukoandHiro]

Yes this is eczema -- as others have said could be allergy related.

Try Epaderm ointment and Aveeno baby daily

[YukoandHiro]

Ps: you definitely need to see a dr to check it's not infected

I would ask them for skin prick tests before weaning. Such an atopic child can have severe food reactions

[YukoandHiro]

Oh just seen your update.

Don't go cold turkey on the hydrocortisone. Wean off, so one day on one day off for a week, then ever three days, then just at weekends for a couple of weeks. GPS never tell you this, only dermatologists do, but otherwise you get in a cycle of flare up and treatment that you can't get off

[PandemicPalava]

This looks like the oat allergy dd had

[SillyOldMummy]

Poor baby, that angry skin must be so uncomfortable. Looks like eczema to me.

Both my kids have had flares of eczema. Plain water baths make dry skin itch like mad, especially when you get out. So always use a bath additive eg Oilatum or oatmeal or something. Also do not make the water too warm as that aggravates the skin even more.

If your baby gets on with petroleum based products, we found Diprobase Ointment (NOT the lotion) was fantastic. We applied it head to toe at every nappy change. The greasiness is unpleasant but it did work well for us.

At this time of year it is easy to overheat a baby, eg if you go for a walk or in the car. That will really feel uncomfortable as any trapped sweat will itch and sting and the eczema will worsen.
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Oh and anyone coming in contact with the baby should switch to fragrance free products - no perfumes, aftershave, use something like Sanex to shower with, switch to fragrance free roll on deodorant too.

Hope your GP takes you seriously, good luck x

[HappyThursdays]

Glad she so much better, what a relief!

[TrixieHeliotrope]

DS had eczema, it looked a bit like that.

[Straysocks]

Just seen your updates and what a turn-around! Great stuff, well done. Absolutely agree with winding down the steroid slowly so if usually twice per day then down to once for a week, alternate days for a week, 3 times for a weeks and so on. Like pp I was only taught this by a dermatologist, you have to lightly dose the lower layers of skin to shut down the flare. Keep up with the emollient though, often and jump back on if it flares again. My son will flare about 48 hrs before he gets ill every time, it's heraldic. Just one more thing is to be careful what products you use in the home - we can't use fragranced products and very, very little bleach or throng chemicals. Like you said, the egg for washing and microfibre clothes over polish all the way.

[Straysocks]

strong I have no idea where the throng came from

[fee1234]

Can I ask another question please - her skin is finally back at a manageable condition, on some days it looks almost back to complete normal but there are days where it flares up and I need to up the moisturising routine.

Our local swimming pool has started offering pre booked family swims and I'd like to take her along with my 18mo, but I don't know how this would affect her skin. I'm terrified that the chlorine might cause her pain and could take us back to square 1 or worse - I've no experience of this so really don't know what to expect. Is swimming a big no?

[lorisparkle]

My friends dd was a keen swimmer and had very bad eczema. She recommended putting on Vaseline before swimming then a good shower then emollient cream afterwards. She said that her dd's eczema got better when she swam more because it made her keep up the moisturising routine.

[copperoliver]

Child's farm is the best. X

[Vindo]

Mine was ok with swimming, but I had to do more application of her creams for the rest of the day as it did dry her out a bit.

Her skin looked identical to the pics you posted and she'd grown out of it by the time she turned 2 🙂

[YukoandHiro]

Swimming can be ok if you use a barrier moisturiser before you go in (epaderm) and wash completely and moisturise immediately when you get out. It can actually help some sufferers, as the chlorine kills the natural bacteria on the skin that can help eczema spread. It's like the "bleach baths" some dermatologists prescribe for patients.

I noted in your update that you have flare days which can be treated by moisturising more often... To avoid these flares you need to keep up the constant moisturising all the time, for many months. I'm talking 6-8 times a day. The skin needs to heal long term which takes time

[Okbutnotgreat]

DS had eczema badly as a baby and we live in a very hard water area. We actually had a water softener fitted to see if that helped and it did hugely, never had a problem since though we had to use steroid cream to get it under control initially.

[Rbukmum]

Hi there, I hope your Lo is doing well and is all clear from the ezcema now? My son has had flare ups and it keeps coming back after using steroid cream. Hows your little one?