Share your tips for how to manage children’s eczema with La Roche-Posay

[EmmaMumsnet]

This activity is now closed.

Eczema is a common skin condition amongst children and at times can be very tricky to manage and keep your child’s skin from being dry, sore, and itchy. It can be especially difficult to keep in check at night and can affect your DCs sleep. La Roche-Posay would like you to share your tips for how you handle your child’s eczema or what has helped you manage your child’s eczema in the past.

Here’s what La Roche-Posay has to say: “Here at La Roche-Posay we understand how eczema can impact quality of life for your child and the whole family. We ran a clinical study which showed that 9 out of 10 children with eczema suffer with sleep issues, spending up to ¼ of the night scratching, which can easily take its toll on day-to-day life. As we are committed to a better life for sensitive skin, we are encouraging Mumsnetters to share their top tips on looking after their children’s dry, itchy or eczema-prone skin, including bedtime hacks to reduce itchiness during the night.”

So what things have helped manage your child’s eczema? Are there any particular creams, lotions, or balms that have worked particularly well at soothing the itch? Do you keep the window open at night and make sure your child is wearing light, loose pajamas to keep them cool and stop them scratching while they sleep? Perhaps you avoid scented washing detergent to prevent your child’s skin from flaring up?

Please share your tips for coping with your child’s eczema below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks

MNHQ

Terms and conditions apply

[Stickyjellybean]

My 6 month old had it al over her back, arms and face and we’ve been given hydromol by the GP. I stopped using that in her chin and cheeks though as that seemed to make it worse so switched to aveeno on those areas. I also put aveeno emollient in over the hydromol on her back. It’s helped a bit but she’s still covered in it and she’s struggling with the itchiness. She’s like a bear scratching its back against a tree when you put her in her high chair!

[lemony7]

Bath/shower twice a week with Oilatum bubble bath, then moisturise. We’ve tried doing it every day and six weeks later we were still dealing with the flare up. Aveeno had it under control for many years but this week we’re trying Child’s Farm; DD reckons it’s helping but we can’t see any change yet (except less scratching). Cream all the time, and send some to school too.

[kateb123]

Preventative for me is the main thing: Cooler baths, followed by a head-toe slathering of rich unscented skin cream afterwards, and again in the morning, which tends to fix it within a couple of days. 100% cotton PJs and sheets, and a cool room. Staying hydrated as much as possible (with limited fluids after 5pm - if he wakes eg for a wee, he tends to start scratching again, so we avoid as much as possible). And if he's itchy at night, Piriton - anything to avoid him scratching as it's a vicious cycle. So far we've managed to avoid steroid creams with that routine.
I suffered from eczema as a child and my mum would put white cotton gloves on me at night to minimise the damage. She also found some amazing stuff called Calendula powder from House of Mistry, which fills the cracks when skin is weeping and can't form a scab on its own. That was and is still a life saver for me when it flares up.

[Pinkginhelps]

Apply Aveeno often ..it doesn't form a barrier which means the skin doesn't heat up which is a common problem with children with eczema.
Bath as little as possible and use a water softener if you can afford one.
Avoid anything perfumed.
Stop shampoong hair. After 3 months it will self cleans. Just rinse it throughly whenever you bath or shower your child. It will get rid of scratchy scalps.
Keep your child as cool as possible. Don't force them to wear coats if they don't want to.
Try an elimination diet to determine what foods or additives cause a reaction. My daughter's skin reacts to:
Milk and any products with milk in, including Cadbury's choclolate.
Any food with red, yellow or orange colouring particulary sweets.
Tomato ketchup and baked beans.
Any product with cheese flavouring.
I expose her to small amounts of dairy as well as the other trigger foods so that she doesn't become too sensitive to it when she has it but I limit her consumption to avoid flare ups.
Elimination diaries work by noting everything eaten or drunk in a daily diary. Along with skin condition each day. Then eliminate as many suspect foods or additives as you can. Introduce each one , one at a time. Note the skin condition and any reaction. It will take a few months to pin point triggers and you obviously need to ensure that if you take away things like milk, you replace with a substitute such as sugar free coconut milk and plenty of green veg etc. You have to be really thorough and read the contents on anything not cooked from scratch and make a record of everything.

I hope this helps. My daughter was literally one big scab from her toes to the top of her head for her first two years until I discovered Aveeno and worked out what foods were triggers. Within a few months her skin was almost clear.
It's worth noting that many of the foods which trigger her flare ups did not test positive when she was allergy tested. This means that she has a sensitivity to as opposed to being allergic to them. In order to decrease the sensitivity, you need to expose your child to small amounts of the triggers every now and then in order to avoid an extreme reaction. I hope this makes sense .....

[Custardandnoodle]

We went dairy free with my daughter and that cleared the worst up. Used moogoo on the rest and it's really helped.

[maclinks]

I used a cold gel compress to take the itch out, when very itchy used small sparing amounts of 1% hydrocortizone with urea cream (alphaderm) for 48 hours . Maintenance i found Aveeno worked best.
What actually made it worse was Johnson's baby bath, loved the smell but seem to set a reaction off, as did a change in the seasons weather, so spring to summer and autumn to winter were the hot times, better now they are older but still need Aveeno after bathing

[HeyLala]

Daughter has E from early age, tried all creams but only ever relieved it but didn't fix it.
As she got older and could understand it, we tried to solve with diet.
She is 16 and dairy and gluten free, and cannot eat tomatoes at all. These are definitely her worse trigger.
She also takes a probiotic and works on her gut health.
She has dry skin and needs to moisturise but she only gets excema now if she decides she wants to eat anything on her trigger list.
She can now make informed choices.

[HeyLala]

*@Pinkginhelps
*
Totally agree with you. This is what I had to do and understanding the difference between allergies and sensitivity.

Tomatoes were our biggest trigger. Unfortunately as they are in so many foods that children adore.

[ElBandito]

Moisturise, don’t be afraid to try different ones until you find the right one.
Don’t be afraid of hydrocortisone, but use it sensibly.
Bath or shower less in the winter when the indoor air is dry, but more in the spring and summer to get rid of pollen and dust on the skin.
Use hydrocortisone and emollient immediately after a bath as this is when the skin is most receptive. But 20 minutes between the two types of cream.
Use cotton clothing, but for older boys football kits and under layers seem to work well
Do not line dry clothing, especially in the pollen seasons.
Avoid aquaceous cream, it is the work of the devil. See also a brand of baby lotion sold in a pinkish bottle.
Try to avoid the hot/cold itch cycle. DC put their pjs on quickly after a bath in front of a fan heater. Even though it is drying it’s just a couple of minutes and stops them itching after a bath.
Encourage pinching the skin rather than scratching. They can’t help it
Here endeth the lesson.

[amumreviewsUK]

We’ve tried dozens of creams and have found one balm that works better than all the others for our five year old daughter’s eczema. We use that even though it costs a fortune!

Other things that help her is not bathing too often and only using very mild bath products and drinking plenty of water.

[HRoosevelt]

Moisturise moisturise moisturise.....also cotton only next to the skin. Don't be afraid to use steroids when necessary

[twocats335]

Dd had dreadful eczema until she was around 9yrs. What worked best for us was frequent baths which gets rid of dirt/dust etc on the skin and to moisturise straight after with Hydromol emolient which acts as a barrier. Little bit of hydrocortisone cream on the worst bits. This routine always calmed it down.

[3boysandabump]

Don't bath too regularly. Wash with water only as much as possible. Use medicated washes etc when needed. Apply lotions and creams regularly. Be careful with soap powder and absolutely no fabric softener

[claza93]

All of my children have suffered with this but my fourth child, George had it terribly up until he was 18 months old. We tried so many different creams, he even wore silk suits to keep his skin soft and his hands away from his skin. I even used to put socks on his hands to stop him from scratching :(
The only thing that ever stopped it was steroid cream. We used it so sparingly until we got a referral to dermatology - they put nearly a tube full on him there and it soon started to clear up.
We had a very rough 18 months with hospital stays, infections and so many appointments and every cream you can imagine but now his skin is perfect!

[Lwmommy]

My DF suffered with ezcema behind her knees and at the elbow crease. At its worse she would stratch till she bled and had open wounds.

It was worse in the summer. We got in under control by:

• Bamboo or organic cotton leggings as thin as possibke and not skin tight.
• No products in her bath at all, if she was very itchy we added oats to a pair of tights and hung it under the hot tap while the bath was filling
• A thick waxy emolliant at night and zerobase moisturiser during the day
• When the skin looked particularly raw we used tubegrip elasticated tubes cut down so they were single layer. It stopped her scratching in her sleep.

Thankfully it looks like it was childhood ezema and she seems to have outgrown it now.

[becks213]

Keep on top of the eczema by moisturising even when flare ups are not as bad. Don't let you little one scratch even though it's hard to resist the itch.

[viagrafalls]

I haven't RTFT but I'm curious if anyone has tried adjusting / altering their child's diet with any positive effect? I used to suffer with eczema as a child and young adult, after cutting out dairy it has almost completely gone. In fact the only thing that makes it flare up now is if I use cheap sunscreen.

[squirat]

We have found my 4 year old daughter sensitive to some types of washing powder/ detergents. We use burts bees bath/ hair and epiderm cream after her bath which has helped. We try to only use 100% cotton sheets and clothes and make sure she doesn't overheat. I haven't kept a food diary as her eczema is mild. But my niece had very bad eczema and my SIL did use a food diary to try and figure out what would make it flare up. She did eventually seem to grow out of it by 6/7. We still get flareups, probably more in cold/dry weather than hot/humid weather. When she's itchy we keep ner nails short and filed and have encouraged her to rub gently over her clothes when she is really itchy, it's so hard when they get itchy. Hope everyone manages to find something that helps their LO xx

[Goingovertosusanshouse]

I’ve tried lots of different products and it has started to ease a little with age. The thing that made the most difference was to stop using fabric conditioner.

[Nameusernameuser]

Extra rinse of clothes in the washing machine. Every time it looks like it's starting to flare up, steroid cream. Moisturising before bed, but long enough before bed that it's dried out so it's not sticky and itchy. Long sleeve clothing to prevent itching at night. Prescription shower gel like dermol 500 lotion.

[SuzCG]

Always, always, always use the mildest/most natural laundry products that you can find - same applies to bathing/showering products. Dry skin properly after a bath/shower. Keep outbreaks moisturised with a good cream that suits your child (different products suit different children) and a weak steroid cream to control any serious outbreaks.

[joggingrunning]

Use non-biological washing powder when washing their clothes. Avoid using fabric softner too.

[aggga8]

i had 1 child with eczema, to be honest nothing really help. sometimes E45 litte helps but problem still coming back.

[Jendan75]

My daughter suffered terribly with flare ups as a child. I spent so many nights bathing her with a little Oilatum as it gave the most relief. I found lowering her stress levels to be most effective so pretty much bent over backwards giving her a stress free life. It was exhausting (and still is sometimes, she's 22 now) but it's easier than feeling powerless and sad when she is suffering. Horrible times.