Baby's Skin is Red Raw

[KylaKins]

Hi everyone,
My 4 month old baby has the worst skin. When he was 5 weeks old he was diagnosed with eczema and the cream initially worked.
However in the last 4 or 5 weeks his skin is continuously rashy, especially under his chin. It looks like he has burns. I will attach photos. I have been putting caldescene powder under his chin to soak up the dribble moisture. That has helped somewhat but his skin is still red and patchy with red speckles all over his body. I have been using the prescribed eczema Edaderm ointment and aveeno baby.
Could it be something I am eating as he is breastfed?
What should I put on it?
Thank you

Poor little thing! I'm not an expert but I have had eczema for my entire life so a bit of experience. I don't know what caldescene powder is but if youre using it to dry up dribble then it may well be drying the skin out too, which you absolutely do not want to do with eczema. Instead of that, I would try moisturising and then using a barrier ointment. Something oily which will act as a barrier between the skin and the dribble. Make sure it's an ointment (oil based) not a cream (water based). I'd probably use vaseline myself.

My 20 month old has eczema and we are still trying to get it under control. We've been back to the doctors multiple times and given different creams/ointments to try but they seem to only help for a short while.

We've finally been referred to a dermatologist and waiting for our appointment to cone through. I would encourage you to ask your GP the same as the wait list for a dermatologist is long. They may very well look at a possibility of an allergy.

In the meantime I've recently tried a few things I found on a mumsnet eczema thread which I have found has helped a bit:
-Moogoo creams - really has helped more than what the doctor has prescribed.

• put some porridge oats in a clean sock or cut off the foot of some tights and tie it up and put it in their bath. Seems to help relieve any itching for a while

Beautiful baby! Could it be contact dermatitis? What washing powered do you use? You

Have you tried oilatum bath wash and cream?

Have you removed dairy from your diet?

Fellow eczema sufferer here and I echo @Nothermothersdaughter. Vaseline is a life saver for me and I'd especially recommend it for a baby's delicate skin. The problem with powders is eczema needs moisture and it could be drying it out even more. Ask your health visitor or GP what they recommend.

I agree with @Nothermothersdaughter you need to add moisture not dry the skin so a barrier will probably be more effective.

Aveeno cream is normally only effective on mild skin conditions. Ointments like Epaderm or 50:50 are really messy but much more effective in keeping skin moisturised. You also need to apply them quite frequently (We apply 50:50 a minimum of 5/6 times a day).

What are you using in the bath? Never use plain water or soap. Add a bath additive such as oilatum or QV oil to the bath (or "melt" some of the epaderm into the water) and then use the epaderm as a soap substitute.

Are you using steroids? They get a lot of negativity but can be very effective and are often necessary to clear flare ups.

Finally, I can't see how extensive the eczema is but I would push to be referred to a dermatologist like @xxxemzyxxx says. They will give totally different advice than the GP and will also be open to trying different methods until something works.
If his eczema isn't acute enough then pay to see a private one, they are not that expensive and will be totally worth the expense.

Using too much washing powder and fabric softener made my sons skin terrible...
I cut out fabric softener and used half the amount of liquid non bio with no fragrance worked well and did an extra rinse for his clothes...
As well all the above advice

Push to see a paediatric dermatologist. We waited a long time (thanks Covid), but we were prescribed Protopic and it was a game changer. After three months of using it my daughter's skin had gone from absolutely raw to all but perfectly clear. You wouldn't know she had eczema now, and we only use it for the odd tiny flare up. Scratch mitts also a great help before we got the appointment.

Have you considered cows milk protein allergy? This was the first sign for my DD.