Eczema

[Sinriz]

Hello my 4 nearly 5 month old son has terrible eczema and my partner has been to the doctors and urgent care several times as he is scratching his skin so bad on his head and face we have woke up with him covered in blood more than once its awful for him and us we have been referred and the appointment isn't until September!

We have tried alot of moisturiser we have had steroid cream for his body too and the doctor said to use it on his head just for 1 week we have also been given an antihistamine though it's not even recommended for children under 1 anyway once again we have found him in a state once we have woken up we don't know what to do

we obviously put mits on him etc but he just uses the mits to rub his head and is still taking the skin off because of it has anyone experienced extreme eczema in babies and has any help to give it would be greatly appreciated!

Aww! I had extreme baby excema. Don't wash too much and don't use soap. Have non bio washing powder. Try excluding things in diet. Diary is a common allergen. My Mum and Dad used to sellotape socks up my arms. Good luck it is awful.

We had the same, the best advice I had was

Stop washing them, Literally once every week or two is fine, let their natural oils heal the skin.

When you do wash them put doublebase or similar barrier cream on BEFORE you wash them .

Antihistamines are perfectly safe for under 1s. It's just that they have to be prescribed rather than bought over the counter

You need the GP to refer you to a specialist. It's pointless asking on mumsnet as the advice varies hugely from child to child and only a medical professional can decide what's best for your own child.

Classic example- a poster before me has recommended washing less but the doctor we saw included daily bathing as part of the care plan and that's what's worked FOR HER. It's such an individual thing.

You will find everyone has great advice but what works for one dosnt work for another.

Nothing has ever worked for my DD, we’ve used various creams from doctors, hospitals etc.. over the counter recommendations, Bodyshop hemp cream, cows udder cream, aveeno and many more. She’s almost 7 now and still struggling.

cool packs help, we also have a supply of beauty rollers in our fridge she rubs on her skin when it’s irritating her. I tried the cosi star, but dd dosnt like it, it’s too big to get under her neck which is why I tried the face rollers.

Bathing in oats dose help sooth the irritation.

All DDs clothes and towels get an extra long water wash in the machine to remove any detergents. If not she flares badly. She also flares with dairy & some other foods we discovered she’s allergic to. Her allergies have developed and gotten worse with age. She didn’t develop eczema until after a bad reaction to prescription medication for something unrelated, when she was about 18 months old, it’s gone from bad to worse since then.

Keeping nails as short as possible.

Some say don’t bathe too much, others regularly in warm water. Our DDs eczema is worse if we don’t bath her regular. The last dermatologist also said regular warm not hot baths, the first said no… so we just do what we feels best. Showers no, she hates the water on her scratches and wounds. Warm bath with emollients or oats work well.

Wet bandages may help. They need to be applied a specific way which I was taught at the hospital. Before that I was slathering cream on my dd and winging it with bandages, these definitely helped.

Sudocrem has eased the pain too.

Our biggest problem now is dd associates creams with pain from how bad her eczema has been over the years, so no matter what we use she’s screaming and fighting us.

definitely give any creams recommended ago, if they don’t work, try something new.

I'd try Aveeno eczema relief cream ointment cream, my baby has sensitive skin and comes out in dry red patches if I use anything else. Also their shampoo for scalp conditions has been great for my dry itchy scalp so I rate their products. I'd try natural oat based products like Aveeno or other products instead of steroid creams. There are lots of moisturisers out there than claim to be good for it, so I'd get researching and reading reviews of products on Amazon.
Could be diet too, I know of 2 babies who have milk allergies and when they cut out milk the eczema went away.

for my little one we cut washing down to 1-2 times a week. Use oilatum only.

Non bio washing powder for clothes. Wash clothes separately to anything / anyone else

water never too warm when washing

child’s farm moisturiser helps. Ensure cream has totally absorbed before putting clothes on

we have keep arms covered at all time otherwise itching starts. Cotton clothes only on skin.

central heating used to a minimum

diet can play a part. I have extreme eCzema and too much sugar will make mine flair up

get seen by a specialist. Nip it in the bud asap. It’s honestly the worst I really feel for you and baby.

Thanks very much for all the replies and so quick I really appreciate the advice and support

Mine was like this. she was allergic to eggs in my breastmilk. As others said dairy is a common culprit too.

DS (3yo) has had it forever. No dairy helped us hugely. The number of baths didn't seem to matter much but no soaps/washes (even sensitive skin eczema ones) except the epaderm emollient. Steroid creams on the worst patches and smothering him with more epaderm to soak in overnight helped.

I had the same with both of mine and it was the steroid creams. In a very short space of time they had become addicted to the steroid hormone cream when I thought it was worsening eczema. The itch was a withdrawal itch looking for the next fix of cream. I had no idea that the adrenal glands slow right down when the body is receiving extra cortisole through the skin. They also affect the endocrine system and unbalances the immune system Th1/2 which is already compromised in eczema /asthma babies. Also it sent the hgE levels out of whack so they became allergic to things they never were before the longer they were on steroids.
With my daughter it affected her eyes as long term steroid use can affect eyes.

Read up on Topical Stetoid Addiction and look at the charity ITSAN. It saved us. Took my two off the steroids, they had withdrawal to go through which was horrible but they both healed. Healing is slow as the immune system has slowed right down from the steroid hormone but they got there in the end.
Also long term steroid use can have an effect on growth/height in children which I didn’t know so do read up on it all. It’s not just a harmless cream.

I had severe eczema from 3 months old, throughout my childhood and teenage years. I have tried absolutely everything over the years and for me the key things are to moisturise LOTS, tons more than you think, six times a day and extra after baths, and avoiding triggers - mine are dust and pet hair, eliminating those from my home were absolutely life changing. But I do think steroids have their place. If used for a limited time and sparingly the benefits far outweigh the risks. If the skin becomes too damaged it's easy to get infections. I was hospitalised several times with infections as a child and was pretty poorly. A short burst of steroid creams to get on top of flare ups is far better than that. And then loads of moisturising and avoiding triggers. I've tried every moisturiser out there and Aveeno has been best for me, but it's trial and error to find the one that best suits your child. The key is just to use it lots!

Also a lot of people say to reduce washing but I always found that sweat/dirt etc left on my skin irritates it far more than a daily shower/bath.

There's some good advice on this thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/childrens_health/5068127-eczema-really-need-help?reply=135017209

My youngest was also really bad since birth, we found these scratch sleeves helpful https://scratchsleeves.co.uk/, creams were a a bit hit and miss and we tried countless until we found a local one in a Spanish village with thermal springs made by the local pharmacy using their water and it was so good we stocked up when we visited again the following year. But I can't see it online so probably not an option! Also not bathing much, just with water, non-bio washing liquid and no fabric conditioner, keep room and house clean and free of dust and watch diet (mum's diet if breastfed) to see if you can identify trigger foods to cut out. Once ours started on food, we started giving goats milk and still drinks that years later. They did grow out of it with the years but still occasionally scratches behind knees and inside elbows. I feel your frustration and hope your baby gets better!

OMG I had forgotten we also used steroid cream as prescribed for a while, nor sure how long. We knew long term use is not good as we have a friend who is a pharmacist and said but never heard it could affect growth and actually this child is short for their age and much smaller than older sibling at same age so after reading your post I wonder if that may have caused it?! Well, and the fact they don't like eating 😅

You need to take them back to see the GP, they may need a dermatology referral. Although in our area paediatric dermatology has extremely long waiting lists, my DS was referred when he was about 18 months old and waited around 10 months for an appointment. Was such a shame as the dermatologist was fantastic and his eczema has been much better controlled since we saw them and started the new regime they prescribed.

I'd also keep a detailed diary once they start weaning, I wonder if baby could even have a milk allergy? Ask your GP for advice about that though.

Severe eczema often leads to food allergies so please talk to your GP about early weaning.

Ideally you'd be introducing peanut and egg from 4 months, to avoid allergies.

Try not to touch or kiss baby after having food as it's now thought that this causes allergies.

We had to use strong topical steroids for several weeks, tapering down.

GP was useless and we only saw improvement with a plan made by a dermatologist when he was 6 months old.

Once on the right plan he was better in days.
This was a baby who looked like a burns victim and who scratched and bled all the time. It was horrible and you have my sympathies.

Oh I forgot to add we also "swaddled" the baby, not completely but did wrap blanket around to keep arms down, although that didn't really work as they wriggled out of it! Sounds like dermatologist referral would be helpful, good luck!

We saw a private dermatologist, I think about £200
Worth every penny if affordable and they saw us that same week

DS had awful eczema as a baby and toddler. Spent a fortune on organic and perfume free creams and washes, special clothes detergents etc. NHS dermatology just kept given us more emollient and steroids and he slept with wet bandages on his legs. His first word was 'sore'. In despair I swapped cows milk for soya, and his skin cleared up within 2-3 weeks. It was explained by my health visitor that we were just treating the symptoms caused by the dairy allergy on the skin and not the cause. By the time he was 4 years old we could slowly introduce dairy and he's fine now. My DS was about one year old when we swapped to soya with health visitor's advice.

Both the consultants that saw my DC mentioned that 50% of those of have a dairy allergy will also have a soya allergy so with DD we switched to Oat milk, the one that saw DS (Dr Aron) did not see in the point in going dairy free and to be fair with his particular blend of steriod cream DS was cured for good within a few days.

I was also going to mention allergies - I ate a load of peanut butter when breastfeeding DC with eczema and now she carries epipens everywhere. It's likely she got peanut butter on her irritated skin and that was the source of her allergy. I had no idea at the time obviously!

Ask if any of the GPs in your surgery have a particular interest in skin. There's a great one at ours. She advised daily bathing, strong steroid to clear it up and then steroid every weekend to keep on top of it.

Completely agree with PP- get a referral to a specialist as they will advise tailored to your child. I went through everything GP prescribed- none of it worked. Some made it worse. Like you, ended up in urgent care multiple times. Baby couldn’t sleep as so uncomfortable. I feel for you, it’s really very tough. And people recommend all sorts. They are trying to help but imo it’s silly to recommend this that and the other. I had people insist I use amber beads and all sorts of things- wash more, wash less, this cream that cream etc etc. Reality is, it is a health condition and needs to be treated as such by a specialist. Not a generalist.

Dermatologist prescribed a strong steroid to be used for short sharp doses to zap the eczema rather than long doses of mild stuff. Plus QV cream emollient. And was referred for allergy testing. Ended up with CMPA, egg allergy and nut. Eczema cleared up immediately. 4 years later- allergies are cleared up too apart from but and eczema not an issue