Baby with severe eczema

[Hangzhou1234]

I’ve never posted here before but when my DS (now 10 months) was younger he had severe eczema and I used to trawl forums looking for advice and answers so wanted to share my advice and experiences with others in case it helps them. I know how isolating and desperate it can be having a baby with severe eczema.
My son first got diagnosed with eczema after getting a facial rash at 2 weeks old, this cleared up but then the eczema came back with vengeance at 3 months. Between 3-7 months it was awful and I was at my wits end trying to find an answer so I hope some of this advice reaches someone who needs it.

1. we followed all the usual eczema advice; removing wool and synthetic products (only dressing him in cotton), bamboo sheets for night and hypoallergenic mattress, cleaning/dusting regularly, no fragranced products (including the hand wash that we use when washing hands)
2. lukewarm warm daily bath for 5-10 minutes with emollient in the water
3. we removed dairy and went onto a hypoallergenic formula and this helped with reflux and flushing but the eczema was still bad
4. started early weaning at 4 months with egg and peanut per BDA advice, his eczema worsened with egg but he tolerates it when baked so we have been giving baked egg 2x weekly to avoid more severe allergies (we have seen GP, health visitor, NHS consultant and dermatology nurse and nobody informed us of the evidence between eczema and early weaning to avoid food allergies so do read into this yourself)
5. The weaning advice on the BDA advises to give boiled egg which is what we did initially but it did flare up his eczema significantly (and still does) so a private dermatology nurse told us to give him egg in baked food such as a healthy cake instead
6. we tried 10+ emollients and our son reacted to several of them (very sensitive skin!). Aproderm/aveeno caused sensitivities. He particularly didn’t like any of the heavy ointments that are always recommended such as hydromol and cetraben. We tried mustela stelatopia which was ok but not great. We also tried la Roche posay which was recommended by the dermatologist but didn’t work well for us. The dermatologist then recommended trying cerave hydratant baume which was a miracle cream for us and made a significant difference to his eczema. Everyone is different but if you have exhausted a lot of options this is worth a try.
7. our son had facial eczema and I was worried about what would happen at night when he was no longer swaddled. After lots of searching I found the cozeecoo which is a sleeping wearing blanket that babies can wear at night but doesn’t let them scratch their face. It was brilliant as they can still roll and move but can’t scratch the eczema. It is expensive but so worth it and i managed to sell mine on Vinted afterwards so you may be able to get a second hand one.
8. scratch sleeves for day time naps and turnover sleeves
9. I paid privately to have a consultation with a dermatology nurse and got loads of reassurance and advice which helped massively. The main take away from this was not to be scared of steroids. They also reiterated that although you’re often told to use steroid for 7 days and then stop, it’s difficult for a doctor to know the skin will be better in 7 days so it’s better for you as their mum to taper down when you can see it is under control and reduce slowly from there. You can’t put a timeline on eczema so it is about waking up and making a call as to whether they need a steroid that day or not. The dermatology nurse have me the confidence to trust my instincts on this.
10. the nurse also made it clear the progress wouldn’t be linear and it wasn’t a failure to go back to steroids after a period of improved skin
11. the consultant started my son on Elidel which is a steroid sparing cream. I couldn’t find much information about Elidel success online; for us it had been great, however it was a slow start and took about a month of the skin getting worse before it got better. During this time we had some bad flare ups and I had to use steroid and Elidel at the same time (different times of day). I struggled to find any information about whether this was ok. The dermatology nurse advised me that this was fine during a flare up and then once the skin improved to step back down to Elidel only. Moving to Elidel wasnt a quick fix but the dermatology nurse advised me that Elidel works best when used consistently and regularly, and over time it did start to work really well.
12. Weaning was a nightmare with the facial eczema, I used to moisturise before food and then use a bamboo cloth to gently dab away any food/water that went onto his face. Then after eating ensure his face was clean and moisturise again straight away.

i think that’s everything and hope it is useful for someone going through the same thing. my baby boy has beautiful skin now and only the odd mild flare up. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel, so hang on in there, you are doing a great job.

We also tried paste bandages from the dermatologist and these really helped to shift some stubborn patches of eczema on arms and legs

So glad that his skin is so much better. If he’s reacted to Aveeno, do you think he may also be allergic to oats?

thank you

So helpful! Thank you!

Query About point 6,
did you use this CeraVe hydrant baume, or was it the baby version of
it? https://www.asos.com/cerave/cerave-moisturising-cream-pot-with-hyaluronic-acid-ceramides-for-dry-to-very-dry-skin-454g/prd/12153845?CTARef=Saved+Items+Image#variantId-12153955

My 8 month olds eczema is driving us all insane and I’m willing to try anything at this point!

Thanks

Such a good post. I often post our eczema experience on Mumsnet threads as you’re right about the scrolling and willing to try anything, so if this helps one baby it’s worth the time to post 😊.

We were in a very similar position but it carries on until my little one was 4. It was horrific and ruled our lives as they couldn’t sleep due to it. We tried all the creams and steroid.

I then found Salcura online which is all natural. https://salcuraskincare.com

When the skin is cracked it stings for about 30 seconds when you put it on them but I’d strongly encourage anyone to persevere as within two weeks there was no more cracked skin! It was incredible. We tried it a few times before persevering through the stinging and I’m so pleased we did.

We had no eczema after 4 weeks then it seemed to come and go in a flare cycle every 3/4 weeks we’d get a mini breakout for about 4 months and then it stopped coming back. Life changer. We still use it years afterwards as it smells devine(!) and I just think why not, as it keeps their skin moisturised, but we just mainly use the spray and body wash now.

Hi, @ExplodingSmittens yes I think he has a sensitivity to oats and actually shouldn’t have been prescribed a food based product before weaning but I didn’t know this at the time.
@nonomo yes the same cream as in your link. The dermatologist recommended it as one they often see success with so fingers crossed for your little one. We were applying 8-10 times a day at his worst and now about 5 times a day as it’s under control
@Destinationundecided thanks for sharing, it’s great to hear what has worked for others. So much is trial and error!

Great post. Thanks for sharing. I’m an adult with eczema. So often people are petrified of using steroids. They are sometimes absolutely necessary.

Thank you for sharing. Have you seen a dietician ( or someone else?) in relation to the dairy?

My 8 month old has terrible ezcema (and worst on her face too) and has an intolerance to dairy, oats and oranges. I cut everything out and things improved but her skin flares up massively if we accidentally have something on this list. I have no idea how/ when to try re-introducing.

Can I throw another idea into the ring? Probiotic powder. We used the Proven brand. I firmly believe antibiotic use at 2 weeks old was the cause of our issues.

@Fourlittlepiggies sorry to hear your little one has eczema too. We were eventually referred to a dietitian but haven’t seen one yet so I’ve followed advice on NHS websites and started the ladders myself. I’m comfortable doing this as I work in healthcare as an allied health professional but it’s not ideal. My baby can’t get past the first step of the egg ladder, but he is doing really well on the dairy ladder and now tolerates cheese. I would recommend asking the GP/health visitor to refer you to a dietitian, they absolutely should if your baby has allergies.

Thank you. Can I also ask, how did you get allergies tested/ diagnosed? Was that through a GP referral?

Thank you so much for your post ❤️. Dont you have to keep child away from the sunlight if using Elidel please? How do you manage this during summer? my dd(8) has been prescribed elidel, but we havent used it as she has to stay away from the sun and its not doable with school and giving her a normal chilhood? or am i overthinking this? Is is not a requirement? My dd is riddled with eczema and it really gets us down, but she's very outdoorsy and wouldnt want to stay indoors hiding away from the sun

Hi, per my understanding there are no tests for a non IgE allergy, unfortunately. The dairy allergy was confirmed via the GP when trialling dairy free formula (the symptoms stopped) and then when we reintroduced dairy, the symptoms return. Egg allergy is similar but the GP wasn’t involved, i have just confirmed it through the presence of symptoms every time egg is introduced on the next step of the ladder and the eczema clears up when I remove egg.

Hi, yes, unfortunately you do need to keep them out of direct sunlight when they are on Elidel and the dermatology nurse stressed this to us so I have taken it seriously. I think it has been easier as my baby is still young so it is relatively easy to keep him covered (we have a pram with a really big hood, his car seat has a hood that protects him, he wears a big sun hat and luckily keeps it on, I keep light material clothes on him that cover the Elidel areas when it is warm). However, I think it will be much harder to maintain this as he gets older.
it probably depends where your daughters eczema is and whether you think you can keep it covered/protected? Perhaps speak to your prescriber and see if they think sun cream would be sufficient protection (we haven’t used sun cream as I’ve not wanted to add in any potential irritants but the dermatology nurse suggested la Roche posay anthelios was a good option for people with eczema prone skin)

My daughter (now 7) had terrible eczema as a baby. After trying all the usual stuff, we were referred to a paediatric dermatologist, who she saw when she was about 9 months old. They prescribed protopic (which is now not supposed to be prescribed below 2 years) which is different from steroids, and does come with its own risks. However, the speed and efficacy of the results was outstanding - she was more or less eczema free within a couple of months, and since then the flare ups are very sporadic and easily managed.

Had an eczema baby here too! So much of your advice is similar to what worked for us too. Heavy on the steroids and then tapering worked very well, plus doing emollient baths. Our best cream is zero base, and then the matching thick emollient. He’s 3 now and we still moisturise him twice a day and spot check with steroids as needed, but it’s been under control since he was one.
He also had an egg allergy, which he grew out of aged 2- might be worth getting more input from an allergy paediatrician as that’s where we got advice for doing the egg ladder. He needed to be over 18 months I think before we could trial starting it. Something like 80% of children grow out of egg allergies if that reassures you!