Eczema

[NooBee]

I am Mum to baby boy who will be 4 months on 23rd Jan. He has terrible eczema all over his body. Is there anyone out there that can recommend anything. Oilatum and all the other things given to me by Dr seem to make it worse. I have had a bit of success will Aveeno - but it is always there.

He is also allergic to the protein in cows milk - and I suspect soya too. Any tips for this would be appreciated. I have come of dairy and soya myself now as I think I may be passing the protein onto him through my breast milk.

The only thing that works with DD (and indeed me) is steroid cream to get on top of it and then diprobase / olive oil to keep the skin moisturised in between. DD did not respond at all well to oilatum or aqueous cream or aveeno. You could try a homeopath?

Thanks for that. I will use the steroid cream to settle it, I am sure a little can't do any harm. Interesting what you say about oilatum and aqueous cream - it seems that we aren't the only ones that find they don't work. Does your DD still have eczema?

She gets it on her wrists and fingers and it's really sparked by touching (not eating) certain foods), the sun and sun cream (dreadful). She also gets it behind her ears. Steroid cream needs to be used sparingly as I'm sure you know but we just rub it in really well twice a day for a couple days usually and then it gets back in control and then we use the moisturising things. Also - it's been better since we cut down on baths (once every 3 nights unless very grubby) and no products (again unless very grubby and plain water isn't doing it).

Poor little things - I feel so sorry for them.

Noobe - My 4 mnth DD has eczema and we have diprobase and oilatum. Oilatum made it worse so we stopped using it.

Try not to give him too many baths. We have a sponge bath every morning and a proper bath maybe twice a week.

You'll find that he'll get it worse in the creases so you need to keep them moisturised. Use the diprobase morning and night and (as my doc said) use 3x as much as you think you should.

If this still isn't working go back to the docs and they can prescribe some stronger stuff - Or so my mum says - I used to have it till I was 3, now I rarely get it.

Noobee - DS had this problem, terrible 'singing detective' eczema all over. I tried everything-we got to the point where we wet bandaged him every day which was awful allround. He is allergic to lactose and milk and we did a few things that really helped-
you need to be off milk totally (and that is in anything at all) for 2 clear weeks to clear the 'footprint' that milk leaves in your body and his.
try taking a Vitamin E capsule,these are filled with oil. Split it open and rub this into the dry areas, my DSs miraculously healed with this
try not to use too much steroid cream, it will make the skin very weak indeed.
Really up your vitamins and diet to include lots of foods that are good for the skin. I looked great when I did this, but the change in my DS through my milk was amazing.
make sure he only wears cotton and use as little detergent as possible, rinse the clothes a lot to be sure.

Hope this helps. My DS was honestly in a truly terrible state, having convulsions with his constipation / trots, eczema all over, red raw and now he is super gorgeously well.

Good luck.

Good luck

Good advice thanks - I do bath him ever night as it is part of his night time routine. Will have to change that - clearly not good for him.

OneLieIn

Thank you so much for the advice. I hadn't even thought of taking things for the skin to "pass onto him" - too busy trying to get my head around not eating anything with even a trace of milk and soya in it. I have been so down about it all - really trying to avoid steroids - but it is stories like yours that make me think there is light at the end of the tunnel. Is your DS still allergic to cows milk - if so are you finding that hard??

Noobee - You can still have the bath type of thing - Do a "bed/sping" bath with him at night instead and use that as a calming down time. If you rub the cream in aswel then it'll be like a massage for him.

My dd has had terrible eczema too and she is almost 5 months, I felt terrible for her when I got her weighed one day and the HV confirmed it was that and ordered me to go docs with her!

Felt like such a bad mother, even though various HV's had tole me to persevere with aqueous cream which made it worse.

The steroid cream in my opnion is the way to go although it depends on how your ds responds to it. You have to use it sparingly though and I was told by the skin specialist doc that to wait 10 mins after bathing them before putting it on. Lol at that when your baby is so tired and hungry, waiting 10 mins is NOT an option for me! However, dd's skin is looking so much better apart from when she scratches it when she naked grrr!

hi- just like to endorse what everyone else is saying. If you do stop dairy products as I was advised to make sure you take care of your own health by eating a calcium rich diet or taking a supplement (your GP will be able to prescribe one). I remember being advised that naan and white bread were higher in calcium than brown breads. Kosher foods were a godsend too - especially chocolate biscuits which contained no milk.

NooBee, DS (now 5) still allergic / intolerant to cows milk. If he drinks it / has it, he always gets killer (and I mean killer) farts for starters. His skin still flares up. DH gave him chocolate milkshake on holiday, his skin went nuts within 30 mins and he threw it all up everywhere an hour later.

DS says "I don't drink normal milk, I have soil milk" - he hasn't got soya yet and soil is much better. You can get great Swedish Glace soya icecream and good soya deserts.

He is a different kid and has the best skin.

Keep with it, it will get better.

Noobee, I had 5 years of struggling with DS exzema until I persuaded the Dr to prescribe Aveeno bath powders and cream alongside the 1% hydrocortisone cream. This was the best mix of treatments. It even worked without the steroid cream on holiday, I forgot to pack the cream, and the salt in the sea was stinging DS, so we did daily baths with the powder followed by liberal application of the cream. At the end of 5 days there wasn't a mark on him. Sun screen acted as a moisturiser during the day.

Moisturisation is actually more important than using steroids, but the hydrocortisone cream at 1% is still a relatively mild dose, which is useful to apply at the start of a breakout to get it under control. The inflamed areas are actually overgrowth of normal skin, so will not be damaged or cause undue thinning of the skin. Only apply to the eczema patches themselves, and moisturise the whole child.

I would advise a daily bath with Aveeno powder during the warm weather,probably best done at night as it will help prevent itching/scratching that disturbs sleep. In the morning wash all over especially creases to remove sweat, the salts in it irritate considerably. I would add that to be most effective, the baby must "wallow" in the bath for more than 15 mins to get most benefit.

Also, absolutely no soap of any kind in the bath. Even special bubble baths for sensitive skin etc. should be out - water is all that's needed.

My daughter is 4 months and is suffering with excema, it's horrible. After visiting the doctor 3 times he eventually gave me DiproBase which does seem to be working although she still has reddness in her creases. I use doublebase to moisturise 3-4 times a day which helps a lot.

Need to go back to doc now as she has started scratching her head all the time! Difficult to get cream anywhere near as she has lots of hair. The scratching everywhere else does seem to have almost stopped since I started using the DiproBase twice a day.

Fingers crossed it carries on working and you find something that works for you xx

Was just looking at DD today and she has what looks like scales on the top of her head under her hair. I don't know if this is exczema or not.... Wonder whether I should try and dump some cream on her head too.

My 7 month old has fairly mild eczema though he was stratching lots. Aveeno has helped us. Also, washing with aqueous cream (rubbing it on dry skin did nothing).
We also put porridge oats in his bath. Put about a handful in an old pop sock and throw it in when running the bath. It has seemed to help but like I say, my son's eczema doesn't sound as bad as your son's. Still, worth a try though, as it's cheap and easy to do.

OneLieIn- stupid question time, but what foods are good for the skin? I'd like to get some of them into my son!

Hi, my 2 DC's both had eczema as babies. I found it got worse during teething and coughs and colds. They are now 2 and 5 and have pretty much grown out of it, so I hope that gives you a bit of positive news for the future.

I agree with what everyone has said, lots of moisturiser, avoid dairy (I rotate rice milk, oat milk and soya with my DC's, all with added calcium).

I have also noticed that whenever I am stressed, even though I try my best not to act any differently with the DC's, they seem to pick up on it anyway and sometimes have a mild flare up. So I would also advise you to look after yourself and try and get enough rest (easier said than done I know) and deal with any stress by talking about it etc.

Good Luck.

Foods good for your skin - all berries, especially strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.
Fish like salmon and tuna (it has the right oils init)
Awful tasting flax seed oil
Cold pressed olive oil (any olive oil really)
Any food high in selenium is really good for your skin too.

Green tea and water to drink.

I am still looking for that perfect bar of choc that makes my skin glow!

BTW, the Vitamin E capsules I suggested have also worked on warts and other skin ailments- they are fab,please try!

Good luck.

Thank you so much everyone. You have all given me so much useful information - so kind and caring - isn't Mums Net fab.

I have excema since I was a baby and am just in the middle of healing a big flare up, had to have oral steriods and anti biotics to clear it up.

I agree that Oilatum makes it worse, seems to dry me out.

I have been given a moisturiser by the doctor called, CETRABEN, and of the moistutrisers I have used its definatly the best.

You probably know this but use no soap, nothing thats perfumed. I hope your DC grows out of it, I think most do

Hi there, I've foun bathing my daughter every other day in FILTERED/BOTTLED water is the one thing that helped her skin soften and retain moisture. Oilatum and the aqueous cram and the other white waxy stuff from the doctor made her worse. I use aquaphor baby wash as well to bathe her and diprobase and vaseline to moisturize her, using 0.5% hydrocortizone for flare ups (only about a day, so two applications is enough to calm it down enough)these are the things that helped my daughter, but I cannot stress enough the use of bottled water as I live in a very had water area! The change has been great, and I've spent the first four months and how much money on different creams and lotions and she is niw 6 months old and her eczema has onlky been under control for about as month!

Diprobase ointment for her face worked well as well (the ointment not the cream, as it is heavier and moisturizes better)

Hi,

I had head-to-toe infantile eczema as a baby, and still get eczema occasionally so as am pregnant with first DS, have been doing some research & talking to my mum about things that worked...

1. Avoid any non-natural fibres AND animal fibres (wool, cashmere etc)... loose-fitting cotton all the way - or even silk if you can get it!

2. filtered water is good - especially in a hard water area as hard water can exacerbate the dryness & iritation

3. Aveeno is good... as are any colloidal oatmeal products (invariably a nightmare to find in the shops though - internet is better, and Waitrose are better than the other supermarkets (and even Boots) on this kind of stuff)
   ....or even a muslim "bag" of oatmeal or porridge oats in the bathwater (oatmeal is still the best thing for my skin!)

4. Eat good-skin-foods... berries are good, as is avocado - one of the best sources of vitamin E around. Brazil nuts are excellent for selenium.

5. Watch out for the aqueous creams & other "sensitive skin" products - I have never been able to use the E45 range as it always makes my skin worse.

6. to soothe iritation, particularly in warm weather which can exacerbate the problem, get a cool-pack (not wet just cold!) and wrap in something soft which can be stroked against the irritated skin.

Most children do grow out of it, but as it's a nightmare in the meantime that's probably not much consolation!

My son had terrible eczema for several years, it is now well under control, thank goodness. He just seemed to suddenly get so it was manageable. We tried MANY creams, but the best thing ever for us, was a referal to a dermalogical specialist nurse by our GP. She was fab. Could be worth a try.