Baby with Eczema- need advice

[rluey29]

My 10 month old has just been diagnosed with eczema. I don't know alot about it and it makes me nervous for some reason. The Dr said that it was probably hereditary but neither me, DH, nor my family have it. Turned out that DH's mom has it.

DS has one circular spot on his arm that stayed crusty and the creases and tops of his feet are horrible! His face gets red in spots sometimes too. It cannot be comfortable. The rest of skin always feel dry even shortly after I put lotion on him.

We've cut down the baths to every other day. We use the Aveeno baby wash and shampoo. Dr prescribed Triamcinolone 2x a day for flare ups, but the pharmacist flipped out and told me that he would never put it on a baby regularly and especially not on his face. So then I flipped out and called the doctor who got mad at the pharmacist and said he was overreacting. Now I'm leary to use the cream at all even though Dr says it's fine.

I've tried slathering w/ plain petroleum jelly which is super messy and I've also bought the new Aveen Eczema cream. I'm not that impressed with any of it.

I'm worried about another thing though...Dr said he's more likely to develop asthma since he has eczema. Have any of you or your children had this happen?? I would love ideas on how to make this baby more comfortable. I'm just not sure of the routine that I need to have him in w/ the creams and all and the DR was kind of vague.

 

[ljhmom]

When 2 of my boys were babies they had problems with Eczema our doctor gave them Elidel, I also used Eucerin Calming cream and that seemed to help.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

My DS8 has had eczema for years. He does not have asthma. He is perfectly healthy except for dry skin with rough patches on his knees. We used to use a heavy steroid cream, maybe the same stuff you were given. My new dermatologist told me to stop using it because of steroids..I was torn because I actually trusted the old DR. more than this new one...but stopped anyway.

We are now at another dermatologist, who has prescribed Hyliria, which is very much like the consistency of a personal lubricant..(sorry only comparison I could think of!) It helps the dry skin a little, the patches need steroid cream but only for knees-never face. (he doens't have any patches on his face.

My old pediatrician said to try olive oil...it is natural, couldn't hurt, but I have never been able to bring myself to use it!

I'm sorry I dont' have a lot of answers for you, I have it too, on my fingers and scalp not as bad as DS..I mainly wanted to tell you that he doesn't have asthma..Its hard to keep up with all the creams and lotions, especially when they are old enough to protest...which mine does all the time.


Good luck with your baby...

Weird thing..I was diagnosed the first time about 20 years ago. I had a round patch about the size of a silver dollar on my arm. I wish I could remember what the DR. gave me then, because that part went away and never came back.. Same with a big patch on the palm of my hand..now it's just around my fingertips and scalp..so maybe it goes away for some people??

 

[Trentmom]

My son had ezcema as a baby.

The worst was his face and it was so red and itchy looking

I tried everything and was at my wit ends

My friend daughter had the same thing

She had gotten AQUANIL at the pharmacy. Not sure where you live, but we got it at CVS Pharmacy.

You do not need a prescription, but is is pricey..*$18.00. The pharmacist will have to order it. They might even have no idea what you are talking about.

But ask them to pull out booklet with various different medicines. It is in there.

It is not to be confused with aquaphor. This is totally different.

It was a GODSEND.

His face was cleared up in 48 hrs....

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

Take a look at this thread. They are discussing budget treatments for eczema - there might be some ideas in it for you.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1748696

 

[dismom24]

Oh, I am sorry that your Dr and pharmisist contradicted each other. That is so hard for a parent. My DD has eczema, but as she gets older the flare ups seem to come less. When she was a baby my Dr had me mix elidel (I think the spelling is close) and nuetragena hand cream for bad flare ups and just to use the nuetragena hand cream (really thick stuff) for minor flare ups. He also told me every other day baths at the most, less often if at home and didn't play outside (like in the winter). These recommendations worked for us. We still have occassional flare ups, but not too bad. We also lotion well after baths. She has not had any asthma flare ups, but her twin who does not have eczema has. I hope your little one feels better soon.

 

[RNMOM]

I am sorry you are having this happen to your little one. First of all, calm down. Lots of babies/children get eczema and you will eventually find things that work for you. I would do a google search for discussion boards about eczema. I'm sure there are a lot out there.

I didn't have problems as a child but certainly do now. I have asthma, psoriasis and am very sensitive to most creams. I am able to control my asthma very well and the skin stuff well also. Less frequent baths should help. If you try a product for one week and it isn't helping, leave it and go on to another. Keep a list of what you have tried and if it made things better, worse or no reaction. This will help you in the future. Also keep a list of medicines he is given for this.

When you put the prescribed cream on, use just a tiny dot and rub it into his skin very well. This way he won't get it on his hands and into his mouth. You only need a little bit but cover all the broken out areas.

Another thing to be aware of is all his clothing and bedding should be washed in dreft and no fabric softener. Try this and see if there is any improvement. Some people get good results with this, I do. Anything that comes in contact with me that isn't washed this way causes me to break out. Especially socks.

Since he is broken out on his feet, maybe he is reacting to latex in his socks??? Try finding some cotton socks that don't contain latex and see if there is improvement. You might have to buy socks for older children and sew them smaller in the toes or fold them under. I know it is hard to find them but try.

I'm sure you will get lots of good advice. Remember though, don't do too many changes at once as you won't know what works or doesn't. I get good results with Cetaphil skin cleanser and the moisturizer. Much better than with aveeno.

 

[JennsBabySky]

Both myself and my son have it. I use either Cetaphil cream (the really thick stuff in the tub) or the generic version. I find it best to slather it on after the bath (after only blotting the water off, no rubbing, that dries the skin too much). I'm very careful to use no perfumed anything (laundry detergent, softener, lotion, perfume, soap, air freshner, anything!) Also, I've found that Tide Free still sets off my skin. The worst culprit so far has been the baby Dreft laundry detergent. That stuff has an excessive amount of perfume! Yuck, yuck, yuck. I do not like the steroid creams and only very rarely use them (never on my son, and a couple times a year at most for me).

If the Aveeno baby has perfumes in it, I'd stop using it right away. I usually use the Cetaphil "soap" -- it is very gentle so it is fine too use on your baby.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions and I can let you know if I've tried it (and I've tried a lot)!

Take care,
Jennifer

 

[RNMOM]

I just wanted to add that the olive oil idea might work well. It has for me. I have spots of psoriasis all over and different things work in different areas. Yeah, really sucks too! It takes me about 20 min. after a shower to "lube" up all my different areas.

I also use the Neutrogena Norwegian formula hand cream in the short fat tube. It is wonderful. I use it a couple days then use the steriod cream about every 3rd day. This allows me to reduce the steroids and the Neutrogena keeps the skin soft and hydrated. It is great stuff. Lots of nurses use it for their hands too.

 

[duckybelle]

My son also has excema, and our dr prescribed Triamcinolone. I use it as well as lubriderm. However my son is 11. We are just very careful about not overbathing and keeping moisture in his skin....seems to be doing ok!!!

 

[MAGGIED]

Both my children have it and we use Eucerin lotion and it works great... we stopped using the steriods they prescribed because it was discoloring my daughters skin.... the Eucerin lotion has worked the best for us... goood luck... don't worry it is a pretty comom thing... my DH side all have it!

 

[ave&audsmom]

Our ped prescribed Elidel for my daughter when she was a baby. It worked well, but then I read that it's been linked to cancer! I don't want to alarm anyone, but I was shocked when I read about it & stopped using it.

 

[cdrn1]

DGS had it when he was tiny, mostly on the tops of his feet and his lower ankles. He was also VERY colicky/fussy. By trial and error DD figured out he was sensitive to dairy so she cut it out of her diet altogether (was nursing him) and it vastly improved. So did the colic. You could tell within two hours of feeding him if she had "cheated" and ingested dairy. Anyway, he outgrew it at about a year and now he can tolerate anything he eats and does not have asthma (knock on wood) and rarely has any eczema. We used Eucerin and it did wonders when he did have it.

 

[disneychard]

My son has the Eczema. We have taken him to children's Hospital in Phila. They informed us to use All detergent without perfumes and dyes in it. No fabric softner. Dove soap without perfumes in it. When he was a baby he had to wear all cotton clothing. He is still on a mild cream for it. But, he is 10 now and through the years I came an expert on his skin, how to handle it and what to do about it if it occurs.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

sounds terrible but when my last son was born I started putting the bordeaux butt paste (diaper rash cream) on all kinds of rashes and red patches - his and mine

works for us

I've also used the Triple Paste, you can buy it at Target now.

 

[graygables]

MSM cream works well. Also, I make a salve for my DD's psoriasis that is an olive oil base (her dermatologist said it would be great for eczema, too).
I use:
1 part St. John's Wort
2 part Calendula
1 part Comfrey leaf
1 part Comfrey root
1 part Burdock root
1 part Chaparral

I get my herbs from www.wildroots.com. I put the herbs in a crockpot and barely cover it with olive oil. I "cook" it on low for about 5 hours, then strain the oil into a bowl with cheesecloth. While it's still warm, I stir in a little beeswax and just keep adding a bit at a time until it's the right consistency when cool. The next batch, I'm going to use coconut oil instead of the olive oil as coconut oil does actually "set up" at cooler temps and will remain stable longer than olive oil. If you make it thick enough, you can put it in "blank" deodorant or lip balm containers (http://www.rachelssupply.com/lipbalm.htm) for easy application/transport.

 

[mommapoppins]

I have had excema for my entire life and now my two dd's have had trouble with it also. I have learned to keep my own under control with OTC hydrocortisone cream which should be safe for little ones. I just recently took my dd2 to the dr and what she prescribed for her was a compound made up of Eucerin lotion and 2.5% hydrocortisone cream. It has almost completely cleared up after just a few days.

But for the athsma question, I know lots of people who have excema and I don't think any of them have athsma. I think the reason they say this is that excema is usually caused by allergies and athsma is set off by allergens. Any person with allergic reactions are probably more likely to have athsma than people with no allergies. I wouldn't worry about the athsma until you see signs of it, because it most likely won't be a problem.

If you are uncomfortable with what the dr prescribed I wouldn't use it, and either ask him to prescribe something else or get a second opinion, maybe from a dermatologist.

 

[stacieps]

My DS now 8, also had eczema when he was a baby. We used Cetaphil cleanser (bathing every other day, or even 3 days), and Curel sensative skin lotion (at that time we also used prescription Elidel, but as others said there may be issues with that now). We use All Free and Clear detergent and an extra rinse cycle on laundry.

All these things helped somewhat, but our DS actually had food allergies that were contributing to his eczema so for us eliminating the foods he was allergic to were key (we identified the foods with testing at 14 months).

DS is now pretty much eczema free; he has a few dry skin issues a year, but not bad.

Good Luck.

 

[dizkids]

Our ped prescribed Elidel for my daughter when she was a baby. It worked well, but then I read that it's been linked to cancer! I don't want to alarm anyone, but I was shocked when I read about it & stopped using it.

Same here. I used Elidel on my son when he was an infant. His skin on his legs were like sandpaper. Elidel worked great. The next year i heard it was linked to cancer. I still think it is available, however, it is classified as blacklisted. That was 5 years ago so i am sure there is something new now. I also found aquaphor to work. I would buy a big jar and slather it on after baths....oh what a mess but it did work and that is OTC. He is very healthy. Skins issues are minimal and no signs of asthma.

 

[eh24fan]

My one year old had 2 patches of eczema on his face...one on his cheek by his ear (the worst) and one on his forehead. I cut down baths to to once a week unless absolutely necessary and started slathering him down in the baby eczema cream from Gentle Naturals...it has Pooh and Piglet on it! Once it cleared up, I still only bathe him about 2 times a week, sometimes 3. I put lotion on him morning and night, sometimes in the afternoon. I just use something with Shea and cocoa butter, I think Suave or Jergens. I forget and I'm too lazy to go look right now.