Eczema..

[Nat888]

At a loss how to help my nearly 5 month old and its making me quite sad.

He had real bad eczema on his face at about 12 weeks. Finally got rid of it just before his 16 week jabs and then after them it came back - on his back and tummy too. GP ruled out milk allergy and I think she is probably right. No other symptoms and gaining weight well.

Back is getting better with zeroderm (gp prescribed) and an oat based cream but his face is getting worse and worse. He is always rubbing it and I'm using sleeves and scratch mittens but he is still doing it quite aggressively. He isn't sleeping well at the moment and that makes him want to rub his fave even more

I've changed washing powder to fairy, use nothing in his baths and put cream on everyday. Numerous times a day

It's odd it got worse after the jabs and I stopped calpol just incase ...Is it stress..? The cold..?

GP wants to try what we are doing before giving steroid cream because of his age for a few more weeks but I dunno how to help him. I'm applying cream at every chance I get And he is bathed every other day in just water,n, or aveno wash

Hi mama,

eczema is horrible isn’t it. Only those who are going through it or have been through it will understand how upsetting and exhausting it is to watch your LO scratch away at their skin night and day.

some of the things I’ve found to be useful:

1. change laundry detergent to surecare. Only use a tiny amount.

2. wash clothing at 60 to kill dustmites.

3. wash with an extra rinse cycle to make sure all detergent had been removed.

4. stop using cleaning products to clean the area where baby come into contact such as the floor. My child reacts when I use cleaning sprays.

5. carpet is a breeding ground for dust mites. If possible remove all carpet.

6. wash bedding frequently and at 60.

7. you and your partner will need to stop using fragranced products. I was co-sleeping and found even my fragranced free shampoo flared up my child’s face.

8)your baby could be allergic to something such as milk which is a common one. My child has several allergies. If you are breastfeeding and your child had allergies you may notice a difference if you remove these foods from your own diet. Is your baby ok with oats? Aveeno contains oat. Also, be careful with using food based products as many people have found after using the food based products the baby then developed an allergy to it.

9. you can used bath salt. some people suggest apple cider vinegar baths or bleach baths when the eczema is too bad as it removes bacteria on the skin. Staphylococcus aureus is the bacteria on the skin which can lead to eczema. At our dermatology appointment we were advised to bath everyday during a flare.

10. finding the correct moisturiser is hard. Have you tried la roche pose lipikar balme?

11. some people find giving baby probiotics, vitamin d and fish oil helps the eczema as they are healing from the inside and strengthen the immune system.

12. you might have to use steroids if nothing else works.

13. if you are on Facebook please join a support group. They are sooo helpful.

This is amazing thank you so so much ❤️

Will definitely join a support group. Its really so tough. I never imagined how hard it would be. I am in actual tears every time I see him lift his arms to his face.

I'll give all of these suggestions a go

It’s distressing to watch your baby so uncomfortable. Our GP tried to help but they weren’t great tbh so I scoured the internet (mainly mumsnet and netmums) and tried a bit of trial and error. Some things that worked to clear my DDs eczema:

1. Switched to ecover non bio wash liquid plus an extra rinse at the end of the cycle
2. no fabric conditioner
3. plain bath water and baths every 3 days rather than every day
4. childs farm cream (worked brilliantly for us because it’s not greasy so stopped the itchiness). Use steroid cream to clear up the sore broken skin and then put child’s farm moisturising cream on after every nappy change. We only used steroid cream when we were desperate.
5. childs farm shampoo
6. we cut out egg and tomato, both of these things brought on flare ups until around 3 years old
7. try to wipe down the high chair (and later, potty) with hot plain water rather than cleaning products

It took a while to find the right balance but we got there in the end. I’ve also heard somebody recommend Dream Cream from Lush for eczema but we haven’t tried that ourselves. Keeping a food diary may help. Best of luck OP

Thank you so so much for taking the time to post these. Will be trying them all too ❤

I adore this community.

During bad flare ups you can also do “wet wrapping” where you put lots and lots of cream on then wrap a clean bandage over the cream and let it absorb in.
If a patch of eczema is particularly itchy then try tapping the area with your finger. It’s temporary relief for LO without scratching and damaging the skin further.

My son’s eczema flares up if I bath him more than once every few days, same with mine. Water can really dry out the skin.

try and skip the bath to every other night and moisturise straight after.

Thank you ❤ I've actually noticed bathing every day seemed to make it worse actually so have switched to every other day

I’m going to agree with all those who advise against bathing too frequently. Try just gently wiping any grubby bits. Ask for a referral to a dermatologist, I use protopic for my face there is an infant version and it’s not a steroid. It has revolutionised my life. Good luck Eczema is a bitch. X

Eggs used to irritate my eczema.

Try unrefined shea butter. It's quite thick and hard so melt it (bain-marie style) with a little olive oil and a couple of drops of lavender (and /or vitamin E if you have) to make it more supple and then leave it to set again. It will nourish the skin and sooth the itching plus heal the scars..I can vouch for this.

Omega oils will help the skin from the inside.
You may need the steroid a tiny bit to fight this initial outbreak and then use all of the previous recommendations.

Oats and baking soda in the bath..few drops of lavender and vit e oil in too.

It's distressing and relentless. All the best and hugs for your little one. Antihistamine helpes with itching too.

Use warm water for bathing and not too hot. The heat induces more itching.

Oh yes someone also suggested antihistamine. This does really help with the itching especially if baby can’t sleep at night due to the itching.

Nala's Baby has been a godsend for my LO eczema, and it's all natural ingredients

You really need steroid creams. I would ask for a teferral
to dermatology if they won't prescribe steroids. You need them to clear it and then work at keeping it away if possible.

I've asked for steroid cream but GP wants to wait and see another week or two.

It's just so frustrating it all went and then came back straight after his jabs.

I'll make the suggested changes you all have so kindly recommended and try to clear it again. Will call GP next week if its still bad.

I managed to get him to have a 6 hour stretch of sleep last night - had to sleep with me and hold him tightly to stop the scratching waking him up. Meant I'm a bit of a zombie today but at least he doesn't have lack of sleep to add to the problem

Just a heads up. A lot of people find the eczema returns after steroids use. Usually gp advises to use steroids for 2 weeks and then stop. This isn’t how it works with eczema. The dermatologist will usually tell you to wean off slowly. For example:

1. Use steroids twice daily for 2 weeks
2. Then use steroids once daily for a week
3. Then use twice a week.

you may even find that you need to maintain the skin by using steroids twice a week depending on the severity of the eczema.

This is why a lot of people don’t want to use steroids due to the eczema returning. I have chosen to use steroids as my child is covered from head to ankles and was trying to rip his skin off all day and all night.

Thank you for the info. I'll take that on board.
I'm not opposed to using steroid cream. Just the GP wants to wait a bit. I get her point but it doesn't help in the interim

Firstly i would recommend getting a hair test on tmi testing to find any food sensitivities and avoid those foods that come up on the list. you only need a small cutting of hair to send off and they email you the results. (just doing this can eliminate the problem so i recommend doing this, it wasnt available when my son was young, but i know people who sons have had eczema and just avoiding the foods, it has cleared it up, they may do an allergy test too so worth checking it out .) I would also try to encourage healthy baby foods plenty of veg and avoid the sugary deserts when weening. Certain creams would make my sons eczema worse try to find most natural ingredients green people are good but they are expensive. Only give baths once a week, use a sock and fill the sock with oats and put over the tap and run the bath, this helps sooth itching. i would also cover my son before bed in a cream that i found to work and cover area's where i could, check in the morning to see if it looks slightly better if it does then keep using the same cream, if it doesnt then try another. Be careful of steroids they do thin out the skin, and dry the skin to, so use as prescribed and avoid if you can, also i found would make it worse over time if i kept on using them. Try to gentley massage the area if he looks like wanting to itch, you have to try and break the itch cycle.

Hopeful placemaking, reading all the advice as my lo has bad eczema.