How do you treat dry skin in children and babies? £200 voucher to be won

[LibbyMumsnet]

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We know anecdotally from threads on Mumsnet that dry skin can be very common, especially in children and babies, and it can be difficult to know what to do to treat it. With this in mind, E45 would like to hear your tips and tricks.

Here’s what E45 has to say: “Skin forms a natural barrier against allergens, viruses and bacteria, so it’s important to keep skin healthy by keeping it hydrated. That’s why we at E45 have been taking care of families’ dry skin needs for over 60 years. Given the prevalence of dry skin in babies and children, we’d love to understand more about how you are tackling their skin needs.”*

What products do you turn to? And how did you choose the products in the first place? Was there something or someone who influenced your choices? Is there anything that you avoid? Or perhaps you feel something is missing from the current product offering?

Share your experiences on this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).**

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Insight T&Cs apply

*E45 Cream for dry skin conditions. Always read the label. Suitable for children 1 month and older.
RB-M-37776

**The prize draw is eligible to registered Mumsnet users who are UK residents, 18 years and over. It will run for four weeks after the Mumsnet opening post date and time. Following this, a winner will be chosen at random within one week of the closing date.

I think people are over-obsessed with bathing babies and young children. They don't need one every day! And yes to limiting lotions and potions used!

What products do you turn to?
E45 has been in our families cupboards for years - so trust this totally

And how did you choose the products in the first place?
One's I know work, or are recommended my friends

My friend recommended dermexa moisturiser, and that also worked really well when i tried this.

Was there something or someone who influenced your choices?

Seeing my friends dry skin and eczema improve with dermexa moisturiser

Is there anything that you avoid? Or perhaps you feel something is missing from the current product offering?

I avoid anything I know nothing about - so new products- anything tested on animals or fragrances is a no-no

My daughter is 8 now but I have learnt not to use any other washing liquid/powder other than Persil non bio as other washing products are a major trigger.

Regular application of cream, not waiting until it was dry and itchy before applying. Our budget doesn't stretch to high end ranges, we used Lush for a while but haven't gone back to it as it's a faff to get to the shop and it wasn't worth the postage charge when the shop was closed. We're currently using a mixture of Vaseline and Nivea 48 hour, and slathering her damp skin after a bath, and a layer again every morning, so little and often.

I always use a little baby oil in the bath along with a gentle bubble bath, for backs of knees where the eczema is worse on DS2 I use sudocreme which soothes the redness and protects until this heals.
Always non-bio in the wash - I must admit I've never tried E45 cream, but once my sudocreme has been used up will try this

Aveeno all the way. Was recommended by a German doctor when you could only get it on prescription. Oil for the bath and cream for the after. Still working for him 14 years later.

We use doublebase day leave gel, after trying about a million different emollient, lotions and ointments! It's the only thing we've found that keeps my DDs eczema at bay and means we don't have to regularly resort to steroid creams.
It's fabulous stuff and I highly recommend it to anyone who's struggling.

My son has eczema and his skin is really dry, he only has s bath once a week as it seems to dry his skin out and make it more itchy. We use creams prescribed by his doctor but we also use coconut oil and boots do a good zinc and castor oil cream.

We tend to use aveeno, if skin is really dry I put some baby oil on when getting out of shower/bath before drying.
I also make sure DC drink enough water.

NOT E45!! For some reason it horribly exacerbates both my, and my son's, eczema.

Fewer baths and Aveeno Creamy Oil completely transformed my dc’s eczema prone skin.

We all use aveeno in our family. It works for us. We did try other lotions but nothing else seemed to absorb as nicely and some creams have produced rashes.

The most important thing that I’ve learned for dry skin/eczema is that you need to moisturise a lot more than you might think. DD has had terrible eczema since she was a baby and her skin only really improved when I stepped it up to moisturising 4 or 5 times per day, on the guidance of a dermatologist.

This does however mean that we go through a huge volume of emollient, but the bottles available in most supermarkets are very small. It would be great to be able to buy something that is big enough to last a few weeks.

My LO has quite bad eczema which I've struggled to help them with to be honest. We tried so many products but Child's Farm worked best for us and is great unless their skin really flares up. During a flare up we have to use an emollient and steroids (when needed). However there are some tips that I found helped a lot which are:
Don't use baby wipes on babies faces as it can dry the skin out
No products at all in the bath
Do not put Sudocrem on eczema as when you then moisturise the skin, the moisturiser won't be absorbed as the Sudocrem will have created a barrier
Moisturise morning and evening (or after a bath)

Less baths and also Burts Bees. I prefer more natural products.

Olive oil! Double base and oilatum both great too

What do those of you with eczema babies do about scalps?
My youngest's eczema is pretty much sorted on her body, but I just can't get the steroid ointment through her hair, or the emollient creams that I use on her body and face.
Is there some sort of scalp emollient you can use?

I've tried so many products when she was newborn. Bought the most expensive organic Virgin coconut oil, some pricey sunflower oil with something etc etc and she had a reaction to everything. Then I tried a cheaper baby oil from supermarket and she was fine. After she was a few months old I stopped using any creams.

@RockCrushesLizard olive oil or coconut oil is good on the scalp. Put it on 30 mins before a bath and then wash it off (but you have to shampoo before rinsing with water, if you put the water straight onto the oil I find it becomes really hard to get off!)

Thank you Motherlode, that's a useful tip

Johnson's baby moisturising cream.

I add oats to bath water (in an old pair of tights) to help during episodes of dry skin. I also make sure that I don’t bath them every day and keep products to a minimum.

Vaseline has been surprisingly effective as a barrier but when it gets bad we need steroid cream from doctor. When it’s something from the shelves I tend to go for simple child centred products eg aveeno- or stuff friends have w recommended

Both my children have eczema but I found different things worked for them. Childs farm is good for my 2 year old. I use the body wash and moisturiser. But for my 5 month old I tried zerobase from the drs, but found Aveeno dry skin relief has worked best at getting moisture back in to his very dry skin

My children all have dry skin - not eczema, but dry itchy skin that periodically flares up. We have used E45 since they were tiny and continue to do so - good for all the family, works well, easy to purchase from the supermarket.