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 have very dry skin on my face and it's super sensative, so I heard to use coconut water on my face and it really works and also drink packed with vitamins.

My 21 month old son has suffered from eczema since he was newborn and it’s only getting worse rather than better. Our best advice is the greasier the better so we use Epiderm Ointment, after a bath you have 3 minutes to apply for it to work and also wash their bodies in the bath with the same product.

With my daughter when she was a baby I used to do baby massage and hydrate her skin with olive oil. When she got older and for my son too, we used Aveeno.

When my daughter had very dry skin on her hands I found that Lucas Paw Paw ointment really helped. She had occasionally needed hydrocortisone cream previously but the Paw Paw put a stop to that.

My dry skin is on my face and I use superdrug vitamin E oil. My skin can be very sensitive since using a strong prescription acne treatment a few years ago, and the vitamin E oil doesn't effect that at all. Feels lovely too.

Have used Aveeno and also Childs Farm moisturiser is brilliant and is fantastic for eczema too.

Regular moisturiser, keeping the skin clean, it does normally get better as they get older.

I don't give them a daily bath as it is too drying. They have bubbles in the bath from more natural ranges and shampoo for their hair, but don't apply soap directly. For skin flare ups, salcura bio skin junior outbreak cream works miracles. I wouldn't use E45 as it is paraffin based.

We used Oilatum and it really aggravated MY eczema, in the end I just stopped bathing him and washing his hair, this really helped, cleaned the muck off with water and a flannel if necessary.

We cut out cows milk products and I breast fed him until he was nearly four.
Aveno was the only dry skin product that didn't seem to make things worse.
I did use organic coconut oil on his head of he was going swimming and after swimming was the only time we used shampoo, but it was a prescription one.

We use moisturiser on our daughters every night because their skin is prone of eczema. Aveeno works really well.

I apply extravirgin coconut oil just after a shower/bath but before stepping out. Then dab gently and fine to go. If required top it during the day with Shea butter (home.made raw organic Shea butter + olive oil+a fee drops of aromatherapy oil).

Rub Coconut oil on their skin whilst they are in the bath it leaves the skin really smooth and soft. really does work a treat.

When my daughter was a few months old she started to develop eczema. We tried absolutely everything on her, I could've started a shop with the sheer amount of creams our doctor prescribed or friends suggested that either didn't work or had worked for a little while and then stopped working all together. She was so unhappy and we'd always end up back on the steroid creams and using scratch sleeves because she'd scratch at herself so much. I used e45 on her once and her skin went red raw and started weeping, after a trip to the doctors we came to the conclusion she was possibly allergic to lanolin... the doctor told us there was a possible link between eczema and lanolin (I do wish he'd mentioned it earlier as it's in so many things!). I knew I couldn't keep her on the steroid creams forever and with nothing else helping and the options shrinking I started looking into more naturally derived creams (I was also very conscious of not changing creams too often so even if something didn't seem to work we'd still have to keep at it for a little while). I kept her baths to a minimum and someone suggested Childs Farm to us so we used that on her and it helped alot... when it was bad we applied it every few hours but as it cleared up we only had to use it once a day. Unfortunately the dry patches started coming back after a couple of weeks so it was back to the drawing board. Then I saw an article in the paper about Lush's Dream Cream and how amazing it was on eczema. I grabbed a tub and it was the right fit for her at last! This was all 2 years ago and we still use it now. Any sign of dry skin or a flare up and out comes the Dream Cream! She's not been on steroid Cream since and sometimes I even use it on myself! We still have to be careful with other products on her skin (sun cream for example, Childs Farm do a great one and recently I've tried her on a Boots one with no reaction) but she no longer suffers with it and I'm so grateful to Lush and the person who told me about it!

Oilatum which you can put in the bath then on the baby's skin at bedtime. This is what was prescribed by our doctor for eczema and I have used it ever since. Also, as they grow older make sure to avoid any toiletries with SLS's.

This has been a huge problem at the moment with my eldest washing her hands so much. I have no tips beyond moisturising constantly! All the hand sanitiser and soap is really harsh and constant moisturising is important to avoid her hands cracking. I used to use the cotton glove trick for my own hands (smother in hand cream and put on cotton gloves for the night) but she hates the feel of it at night. Works though!

We changed bath product and cream to a scented product and found it dried skin out so we switched back to Aveeno Baby products and it solved the problem.

I have psoriasis. I also have a friend who occasionally makes soap.

This sounds horrible but really isn't, he makes a soap with lard that is really soothing on cracked skin.

I know there will be people reading this thinking, "soap on cracked skin, ouch" and I wasn't hopeful the first time I used it.

Eczema skin here for both kids (and DH).
Less baths, with oilatum in it.
After going through bottles of ointments, aveeno was the one that worked.
All 3 of them flare up if I use biological washing powder, so none bio all the way.

My 3 x DC all have sensitive skin, prone to dryness. Over the years I've found less is more and really dont use any products. I try and not bath dcs every day or have quick baths or a shower. Drying properly afterwards is key. I found this made a huge difference particularly to hands in the winter. We put a few bubbles in the bath usually childs farm or burts bees but no soap or body wash directly on their skin. I like vasaline for occasional dry patches and avoid strong perfumes.

Mindful of using expert sun cream and only bath or shower when necessary

Limit washing/baths. Cream again after they've gone to sleep while they are young.

My four month old has eczema, it looks like dairy is a massive trigger for flare ups. Aveeno and prescription creams either make it worse or dont do anything at all. Aside from staying dairy free, the only thing that helps is using vaseline throughout the day as a barrier to protect against drool making it worse (hes always fussing at his mouth with his fists!) And short, plain water baths. I'd love to try one of the recommended emollient bubble baths or Dead Sea salt but I'm worried about causing another flare up!

Coconut oil in the bath and aveeno morning and night.

My DC have both had cradle cap since they were babies and are now 7 and 9. I used olive oil on their scalps as babies which made them extremely greasy. I'd leave it on their heads overnight and then use a nit comb to gently remove the dead skin. I'd then bath them again, use the fine-toothed comb and they'd have lovely, clear heads. I'd occasionally have to do this 2 or 3 times in a row but never more than that. Now that the children are older, I check their heads regularly (for cradle cap and nits!) and if I see any sign of dry skin I follow the same routine but use conditioner.

For DC2, who has always had dry skin on his body, I have always gone with E45 slathered all over and making sure he drinks enough water. The only negative to E45, or any moisturising cream really, is the feel of it underneath pyjamas is unpleasant; I would normally apply liberally before bed so that the skin will absorb it during the night. A body butter consistency would work better imo.

@sashh

I have psoriasis. I also have a friend who occasionally makes soap.

This sounds horrible but really isn't, he makes a soap with lard that is really soothing on cracked skin.

I know there will be people reading this thinking, "soap on cracked skin, ouch" and I wasn't hopeful the first time I used it.

But it’s not soap! It’s lard.

Similar texture to Vaseline so makes sense

I imagine it’s quiet difficult to wash off?