Baby with Eczema- need advice

[AKBAFB]

Both of my daughters had excema terribly when they were babies, and even occasional flare ups now (they're 6 and 3). It's true that you shouldn't use a steriod based cream on children's excema, even though it's fine to use on adults. Our pediatrician prescribed Elidel cream for the girls, which is non-steroidal and cleared up even the most stubborn areas. We also have good luck with the aveeno excema cream for minor flare ups. Good luck - I hope you get him all cleared up!

 

[crisi]

We only bathed my son once a week when he was little - now that he's older he's mostly outgrown it - but its still a brief shower every other day.

We avoided most prescriptions - except during flareups - due to issues with cancer/steriods, etc. If its manageable with creams and just uncomfortable, I'd rather just use OTC (we now use OTC cortizone cream for flare ups) - the trick is a threefold balance - what you are comfortable exposing your kid to (they wouldn't be prescription medications if they were perfectly safe), how uncomfortable the rash makes you kid, and how much the open skin is at risk for infection. For us, we wanted to manage infection risk - managing comfort was done with benedryl, lotions, infrequent baths and cotton loosefitting clothes. Unless we are looking at infection potential, we stay away from even the OTC cortizone now.

 

[LanaJae]

When people say that certain conditions are related to other conditions what it really means is that their "HLA" is associated with other diseases. The majority of people do not know and will never know their HLA numbers (think of the movie Gattaca). I know mine, because I paid for the testing privately because I developed an autoimmune disease in my last pregnancy that has an incident rate of 1 out of 2 million (great odds, huh?).

So here's the thing, even if your child has eczema, it does not mean he or she is going to get asthma or other allergies. A child could have an HLA that is associated with a particular thing, but never develop it. Most immune issues need a trigger.

I now have several immediate hypersensitivy problems (anapylactic reactions). That's at the far end of this immune mess. It seems as though many of these childhood conditions tend to get much better as the child's immune system develops. If it were my child, I would also want to avoid any of the associations, just to be on the safe side, and possibly do allergy testing.

 

[krystalleigh1]

My ds had eczema as an infant and toddler. He's 4 now and sometimes has small flare ups. He gets the round sized dry skin patches sometimes and always has trouble with it behind his ears where the crease is.

I have found a few things that help for him though. A mild bar soap. The best are the kinds without scent like Ivory or Dove. He never had a problem with being allergic to laundry detergent until about 6 mos. ago. So we've tried several different free and clear detergents since then and what works best for him (so far) is Tide free and clear. No fabric softener. And when he was around 3 we had to switch him to cloth night time diapers (day potty trained) since any diaper we tried would give him a rash. The cloth ones are great though.

Oh, and I think he has an allergy to fleece. He seems to get rashes just about every time he wears his fleece pants.

Neither myself or dh have allergies or asthma. And I'm happy to report that ds has yet to show ANY allergy signs (other than for his sensitive skin) or asthma AT ALL.

 

[Frankiesmom]

We use the Aveeno soothing relief moisture cream;it works great!

 

[talulabelle]

My daughter has suffered HORRIBLY from excema since she was a baby and is now 10 (no asthma).

This is the deal - NONE of the prescription creams are safe long term. The problem is the over-the-counter creams that are safe, don't heal a flare-up. They are good at reducing and preventing more flare-ups or the intensity of them, but they don't really do anything to heal a flare-up. Also, once the skin is broken ,red, crusty and rashy, those creams REALLY STING when applied.

The trick is to use the prescription cream prescribed by your docter (mine alway prescribed Elidel) for the shortest period of time possible to heal the flare up (no longer than 7 days- but less if possible) once you are done using the prescription to sooth the flare -up, then don't miss a day of slathering all effected areas (even the dry bumpy areas) with Eucerin Calming cream or even just plain Eucerin (we have found these to be best, way better than Aveeno). That will keep it from rashing up again.

Bathe her once every other day , short bath, just get the hair washed and quick wash the important areas using a non-scented glycerin soap. Luke warm water, NO hot water. Slather with Eucerin IMMEDIATELY after drying off from the bath.
My daughter suffered very badly as a toddler, but is getting better as she gets older, although I mostly attibute this to the fact she is old enough to apply her cream every night before bed her self and it gets done more regularly. She uses the cream as soon as she starts to feel dry or itchy, rather than letting it go until it bleeds and I would notice it when she was a baby.
The trick is to keep it at bay with over the counter stuff, and only use the prescriptions stuff for a short period of time to heal a full break-out. They won' hurt her if used the way the doctor prescribes (under 7 days)

 

[LanaJae]

Not trying to be a pain as I'm sure most of you know this, but for those who use the steroid creams/gels/ointments, please be extra careful to make sure your child has sunscreen on if s/he is outside at all, even for 5 minutes (safe ones are recommended at cosmeticdatabase.com). Steroid creams really thin the skin and make it more vulnerable.

 

[Kanga+2Roos]

I was also diagnosed with eczema as a child. Way back then the doctor's advice was to put mineral oil in my bathwater--that stuff works wonders to moisturize skin. Be warned that you'll have a slippery little critter on your hands (not to mention a nice oil slick in the tub) but it is definitely worth it! I would add it to a baby bathtub since your baby is still young--little easier to keep a grip & less space to clean up after. Wow, I had some great times in the tub back then--after the water ran out I would slip & slide all over the tub! I recommended it to a friend whose DS had eczema & they couldn't believe how much of a difference it made. Mineral oil is actually used as a laxative so you'll find it in that neck of the woods in the pharmacy area. I second the generic version of eucerin that is sold at Walmart--you can't tell a diffence from the name brand except for the price! If you switch laundry detergents make sure you rewash all of your childs clothes in the new detergent--otherwise the flareups will continue. As a child I always used Dove soap to wash. Now after much trial & error I've found the Dial Vitamin E bar soap works well for me. Always make sure you have plenty of humidity on the air as well. Good luck to you & your child--with all the advice in these responses there is bound to be a mix of remedies that works!

 

[Minniemouse07]

Dd had eczema as a baby (now 6.5yo) and we did the following..which REALLY worked!

Bathing: Only use Dove soap and only when needed, all other baths were water only! We did wash her hair each time though.

Washing Clothes: Used a "free" detergent at all times for clothes and bedding, even ours!

Lotions: We started out w/ Eucerin, Aquafor and Elidil but ended up using only one thing Avalon Organic Botanicals Lavender Hand and
Body Lotion. Originally I could only find it at Whole Foods, but then found it at Giant Food Stores (in their organic section) and Trader Joe's. It really worked wonderfully for dd and was the least expensive of all the options!

We continue to do all of these things, and did the same w/ ds (now 2yo) and we've managed to keep any further eczema flare ups at bay. Dd does have drier skin and I can see where a flare up would be (she gets dry patches on her skin in the wintertime) but we have avoided the flare ups totally.

HTH

 

[talulabelle]

My daughter has suffered HORRIBLY from excema since she was a baby and is now 10 (no asthma).

This is the deal - NONE of the prescription creams are safe long term. The problem is the over-the-counter creams that are safe, don't heal a flare-up. They are good at reducing and preventing more flare-ups or the intensity of them, but they don't really do anything to heal a flare-up. Also, once the skin is broken ,red, crusty and rashy, those creams REALLY STING when applied.

The trick is to use the prescription cream prescribed by your docter (mine alway prescribed Elidel) for the shortest period of time possible to heal the flare up (no longer than 7 days- but less if possible) once you are done using the prescription to sooth the flare -up, then don't miss a day of slathering all effected areas (even the dry bumpy areas) with Eucerin Calming cream or even just plain Eucerin (we have found these to be best, way better than Aveeno). That will keep it from rashing up again.

Bathe her once every other day , short bath, just get the hair washed and quick wash the important areas using a non-scented glycerin soap. Luke warm water, NO hot water. Slather with Eucerin IMMEDIATELY after drying off from the bath.
My daughter suffered very badly as a toddler, but is getting better as she gets older, although I mostly attibute this to the fact she is old enough to apply her cream every night before bed her self and it gets done more regularly. She uses the cream as soon as she starts to feel dry or itchy, rather than letting it go until it bleeds and I would notice it when she was a baby.
The trick is to keep it at bay with over the counter stuff, and only use the prescriptions stuff for a short period of time to heal a full break-out. They won' hurt her if used the way the doctor prescribes (under 7 days)

Another thing I have to mention that I recently stumbled on is a moisterizer called Renew by Melaleuca. Melaleuca is one of those PITA companies (like AMWAY or Avon) that you buy through someone who is selling their products. (You know, we all have those annoying friends that think that we need to buy things from them in order to maintain a friendship ) They are expensive, and I was just buyingthem because a "friend" was starting her business and I was helping her out. They sell laundry detergent etc. For the most part I was unimpressed with the products, there is nothing wrong with them, but I didn't think they were any better than what I get for cheaper at Target. I was just about to stop my relationship with the company, when I tried this ReNew cream for my daughter. She had taken a break from moisturizing and had a BAD flare up all over her trunk legs and arms. She was miserable. I put the Renew on her before bed, and it stung a little because her skin was broken, but the next morning she was SO much better. She has been using that now instead of Eucerin and REALLY likes it.