4 Mo Old Baby Has Eczema - Need Tips Please

Thats around how old mine was when she was diagnosed with it. Luckily my boyfriends sister has it too (her's is super bad) so she gave me lots of tips. Here are a few things we did.
Changed her detergent, removed all tags from clothing, and stuck to cotton clothes.
We made sure her baths weren't too hot, basically just at room temp or slightly cooler (hot baths made her breakouts worse).
After her baths we pat dry, use powder in the diaper only, but we used aquaphor everywhere else. (I like aquaphor because when I used some of the "soothing" moisturizers it made her breakouts worse, but my baby has sensitive skin anyway). Sometimes I will put aquaphor on her then another layer of Aveeno over it. And I rub her down twice a day, but when she has bad spots, I rub her her down more.
A doctor recommended that we use Dove body wash for her because it's for sensitive skin (which is the only body wash I can use for my sensitive skin).
I know your baby is only 4 months, but as they get older, cut those nails...weekly if you can. My daughter will scratch untill she bleeds because she is itchy.
For itching an icepack (wrapped in something so its not too cold) to the bad spots helps her.
I used to think people are going to look at my child and think she has something contagious, but you would be surprised how many people know what it is and don't care. I even encountered people who don't have kids but have eczema themselves and they recognized it on my baby.
Those are just things that worked for us. I agree with Chantal, that if he's weeping he may have a bacterial infection, whcih would require antibiotics. Whatever you do, don't change everything all the time just because it's not getting better right away. I have found I had to try the moisturizers, shampoo, body wash, even diapers (my baby gets bad breakouts on her legs and some diapers that are scratchy made it worse) for a few weeks before I could tell if it was getting better or not. Obviously though if it gets worse you would want to stop. Don't worry you will find what works best for your little one, just takes time.
Good Luck!

Renew lotion is great and has been tested to better than Eucerin. I have heard testimony about it healing horrid Exzema and other skin problems.

Two things:
1 - Cortizone creme shouldn't be used frequently on babies. I was advised by a doctor to use it frequently and my Dad (a pharmacist) pointed out that it's a steroid and that is not good for babies.

2 - There are food triggers for eczema. This will help you more later. Here's a post I wrote about it on my blog http://themommyhood.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/did-you-know... In the comments of the post, one mom talks about using aloe vera -straight from the plant. Says it works wonders. Perhaps that will help you now.

Good luck! You are a clearly a great mom for doing your homework. Have a good day.

Ur baby is only 4 months so since it is still warm out I would let him air dry and then put his diaper on and then let him sit in just his diaper! (when he dries of course). Or u can pack dry him down there and put a diaper on him right away since he is so young, unless he has eczema down there as well!

Seems it is related to being allergic and having "sensitivities."
You asked about formula, and that is one possible source. There are many. Someone who breast feeds can be a source a well - from what we ourselves consume, so definitely don't beat yourself up over something. I breast fed, and my child was still quite allergic.

You cannot go wrong with eliminating as many chemicals and common allergens as possible from his diet and environment.

Definitely let him air dry before covering him up again.

My son has eczema too. My doctor gave us DermaSmoothe oil and it works really great. If he's on formula you might want to try a dairy and soy free formula. Sometimes dairy and soy allergies make it worse. I was (and still am) nursing so I tried a dairy free diet but it didn't help. But now that my son is one and eating table foods, I noticed that acidic foods like oranges, tomatoes, pickles- tend to make it worse.

I added a water filter to my son's bath faucet because we have hard water and that helped. Also, I use cooler water to bathe him and use Cetephil skin cleaner or Mustela baby wash which works better than Aveeno. Try also rinsing him with fresh water immediately after washing him. You might want to limit the frequency of his baths or give him plain water baths, using soap only on the privates and hair since soap can be so drying.

The Aveeno eczema lotion works well, lotion him often while his skin is damp and keeping the itchy areas covered helps. My son has it really bad on the folds of his elbows and folds around his ankles so whenever he is at home, I have him in a long sleeve footie sleeper. That keeps him from scratching and keeps the skin from folding against itself and getting hot, sweaty and itchy. I would avoid baby powder as it's not healthy for them to breathe in the powder which is impossible to avoid.

I remember how bad it was before my son's eczema got under control. It's so hard to see them uncomfortable and itchy like that. People would look at him and question me about it like I wasn't being a good mother because my son had bad eczema. Keep trying things until you find what works for you. Maybe ask your doctor about the DermaSmoothe oil which is a prescription with peanut oil and a steroid in it. It has done wonders for us and smells great. Good luck and I hope he grows out of it. They often do.

My baby had bad eczema till she was 2. People gave us all kinds of advice but nothing really helped.

Turns out my daughter had lots of allergies and the only thing that helped was Aveeno baby wash and Aveeno cream. But it was the opposite for a friend of mine.

Sounds like you are doing your best.

There is a link between food allergies so yes, your formula might be the culprit. I was breastfeeding and my diet supposedly had an effect on her too.

Your doctor would be able to prescribe a good steroid cream to help with the itching. I learned that every baby was different and you just have to learn by trial and error what works and what doesn't. The best thing is to monitor it with your pediatrician. But be patient because it will not be an overnight miracle.

My son is 3-1/2 now and he had it really bad. the Dr. said that it was the worst he had ever seen. One thing that we did was change our filter for the air and furnace to the magnetic air filters that are the 1900 filtration we get them at lowes. These air filters helped a lot they pull everything out of the air. We also in addition to the free and clear detergent switched to the fabric softener sheets in the dryer that are gentle on the skin. this will not help you right now but in the future it will be great and that is zyrtec. We took him to the allergy Dr. after 6 months old and he had us put him on zyrtec at a realy high dose at first to get it under control first and then back it off until we started to notice it comeing back and then go back up in the dose to where it stays under control. I will tell you this, the dosage that he takes and has been taking for the past 3 years has not changed and we have not had a problem unless we do not give it to him for a couple of days. He takes 1 tsp in the morning & 1 tsp @ night this is the same dose that an adult would take for a day. The Dr. said it would vary for each person. I know every person is different but one thing that helped him was swimming in the pool because of the chemicals. That is one thing that we noticed helped a lot when he was to young to take the medicine.

We cleared up my little guys eczema completely by getting rid of chemicals in so many products from laundry detergent, fabric softener, body wash, and even the moisturizer we were using. We switched stores to a company that manufactures green products. Within a few weeks of using the new products, his eczema was cleared up and hasn't come back. I would encourage you to do some research on what is in store products. You can learn more at www.AHealthyLifeForAll.com

S.

aquaphor lotion (sold OTC at target, cvs, etc.) worked wonders for our son. he rarely had to use prescription cream once we started putting aquaphor on him right after baths, after wiping his face after eating, etc. its best not to use steroid cream which is whats usually prescribed unless the rash is REALLY bad. so try the aquaphor first and use it as a preventative measure even after it goes away.

Without reading other responses (which I know will mentions lots of name-brand helps that I'm not familiar with), I'll tell you my daughter's story. Her son had a terrible case of eczema @ 3 mo. An ER visit brought a prescription for Derma-Smooth FS Scalp Oil which is an oil/cream to be applied after bath while the skin is still moist/damp. Very small amounts made loads of difference, and quite quickly, too. She also used a generic brand of 'Eucerin' cream for quite some time with nice results.

P.S. There's a local pharmacy here in Clarksburg, WV that makes a proprietary cream that's supposed to be good for many skin conditions (diaper rash, etc) called 'Spermacita' or 'Dermacita'. Their number is ###-###-####.

Hope this helps!

the only thing that helped my son was eucerin cream. works wonders! all i did was put it on after a bath and if he had an itchy spot during the day and w/n a week or 2 he was eczema free as long as i used the lotion after baths. now it isn't even needed and he is almost 4. good luck!

Well, my dad had it, I had it and had treatments for it that probably made it worse ( they didn't do much good for it in the old days ), and I had children with it. We all had other allergies as we grew up and I do think it is an allergy or related to it. We used creams, no harsh soap, were told to bathe the kids only once a week or so in not hot water, but I still remember having it and it's not fun and neither is hay fever now. I hope you can find out what's causing it but I doubt you'll know. I think Zyrtec is good now for some people but not sure about how young and so I'd try allergist or dermatologist and keep him in whatever cream they give you.

My first baby had eczema like that. I switched soaps and the change was like night and day. I stopped using shampoo at all and started using an all natural soap/shampoo bar. It was gone within a week and weve been using natural products on him ( and his two brothers) ever since. I use soap from www.sunnysoap.info, which is a small, Mom owned company, and you order through email and pay with paypall. But they have a TON of choices as far as scents, etc. I don't know what you are using now, but it might be worth a try...

I would definitely consider switching formulas. Just keep in mind if you try multiple solutions (changing soap, formula & a new lotion) at the same time, you may not be able to determine the true cause.
My experience: I nursed exclusively & my son had slight eczema, when we moved him to whole milk at 1 yr he had allergic reactions (immediate welts on skin), so I continued to nurse until 18 months, tried whole milk again, same reactions, so we moved to soy milk, no immediate reaction, but eczema gradually got worse....... so bad it would crack & bleed. I switched soaps, lotions, etc.... nothing helped ease the eczema. After a severe reaction to peanut butter (around age 2) he had allergy testing which concluded that he was allergic to multiple things, including soy! We removed soy from his diet & used rice milk & eczema cleared up like magic! He is nearly 4 now & his eczema will flare up occasionally if he has had too much soy (we avoid as much as possible, but it is in nearly everything!). I'm convinced his eczema when I nursed was from the food I ate.
I do not want to scare you that your child has food allergies, but I would at least experiment with the formula if other suggestions do not work.
I would also suggest visiting an allergist before a dermatologist.
There is also an over-the-counter cream, Vani-Cream, that you can get from the pharmacist that is excellent!

please look into food allergies! my son went for over two years w/ eczema & the pediatrician said all babies get eczema. so we just kept putting the creams, using medicated shampoo in his head, etc. He had eczema from very young & I was breastfeeding. So he was allergic to what I was eating. Once we figured out what he was allergic to, no more eczema. He's now almost 5 & hasn't had any eczema flare ups since he was about 3. The type of allergy it is is called IgG, it's a delayed reaction versus IgE which is the immediate reaction such as one gets w/ peanuts or such. At this age, as long as he is only on formula, you can try him on formula made specifically for kids w/ sensitivity to regular formula. Don't use anything soy-based. Don't start food too soon as it tends to increase the occurence of food allergies. As your child starts food, stick to baby food that is gluten- free, casein-free & soy-free & as organic & natural as possible. Once your child gets used to food, you can try adding other foods in one at a time to see if he's allergic to any dairy or wheat products. But starting GFCF will make sure his immune system is not unknowingly being attacked by foods. That's what has happened w/ my son. He went for about 2 1/2 yrs w/ undiagnosed food allergies, lots of them, & got all his vaccines on schedule. He was diagnosed w/ mild autism @ about 3. I firmly believe had we not figured out the food allergies & gotten him on a restricted diet when we did, he would have ended up worse off than where he did. Thankfully after treating the damage done to his system by the food & vaccines, he's doing much better. Now I'm not saying that's where your child is headed. Many kids have food allergies but their systems are strong enough to withstand them & the vaccines. Just happens my son was not one of them. Just telling you my story. There's a lot of info out there about what it means for something to be gluten free & casein free & how to know if a food is GFCF. Please feel free to contact me if you want more info. but for

Huge link between formula and eczema! Dairy based formula's are still dairy, something little babies aren't equipped to digest, something humans aren't equipped to properly digest. Eczema is a fungus that lives in the colon and presents itself on the skin. No cream or lotion will cure it, it may mask hte problem for some time, but won't cure it.

My oldest son has a dairy sensitivity, and he has a glass of milk and his eczema and psoriasis flares up an his skin breaks open, gets crusty, oozes bleed and literally falls off. If he avoids dairy and is consistent with it, he does great. He also takes fish oil caplets and acidophilus daily. Acidophilus is a probiotic and its safe for babies too, just get the break open caplets and put the powder right into his mouth or bottle.

If he's drinking formula you may just have to mask the symptoms for a year with a cream. Avoid hydrocortizone, its linked to cataracts in the eyes and it also weakens skin making it more susceptable to breaking out. Avoid baby wash and baby lotion, it all contains too much junk like nitrates and sulfates. Hand made soap is good, as is california baby and Burts Bees. Find a good natural laundry soap too, like Rockin' Green or Charlies Soap. Keep his skin clean and dry too, don't put lotion on broken open skin, let it dry out. Keep him from scratching it too. I know easier said than done. Give him a lukewarm bath nightly to cleanse his skin, pat it dry and if you do apply lotion don't put it on broken skin, it will just irritate it more keeping hte fungus in the skin.

my kids with eczema were sensitive to dairy, soy, and gluten. they outgrew it after a few years, but i'd look into changing formula (or if you're breastfeeding, you'd have to change your diet). good luck!

Please follow your pediatrician's advice and ask for a referral to a Dermatologist. Our daughter was not quite that young, but she was under a year, when she was diagnosed with eczema. Our pediatrician sent us straight to a Dermatologist as an expert in skin disorders and FDA approved treatments for children that age.

We ended-up controlling it with Aquaphor and a lotion called Vanicream that was recommended by the Dermatologist. It's OTC, but you may have to ask the pharmacy to order it in.

We make sure, as soon as she gets out of the tub, she gets a thick layer of lotion on her. It's done a good job of controlling the eczema so far.

Good luck - all eczema is certainly not the same, so having your health professionals involved is really critical.

The best thing I know of for eczema is Renew.. there is body wash, bath oil, lotion, etc.

Dry him well but without rubbing too much.

Lansonoh works great for eczema. Hope things get better for you and him soon.

Hello! (I used to live in Goldsboro!) :)

Anyway...all great advice...trying different formulas is a must!! I wanted to say I found a big improvement by limiting baths to every 3rd day!! Sounds gross to people that bathe their kids nightly but it really helps these poor eczema kids to give their skin time to recover. Oh, and good old Vaseline also works well. And when your boy is a little older the Zyrtec is like magic! Good luck!

we have it too...try Aquaphor ointment, available over the counter and in most stores - Target/Walmart - in the baby section. No more soaps or bubbles. Sensitive soaps for bath and hair. Dove makes a great one for sensitive skin - double check with dr about which brand for little people. No dye or scents in the laundry detergent. All has a good one, we use Kirkland brand - Costco and I know our local grocery store - Harris Teeter has one and I get it when it's one sale. If it gets worse you might need to see a dermatologist. They can prescribe a prescription creme that seems to work for us sometimes. But you have to stay on top of the dry spots. Put Aquaphor on as soon as they are out of the tub when they are still wet as to lock in the moisture from the water. Sometimes we just sit in the water and play, no soaps. Kids don't get dirty that much. Baths every other night so not to dry out skin. Hope that helps, thats' what we do and we're 4 and 3 and still have problems. Both of mine have had issues since they were little. Good luck!
A. B

ever since we started making our own lotion or buying it from the farmers market (from those who make it) our daughter has not had one break out. we tried every lotion on the market and many would help for a week or two and them it would just get worse again.

My first child had eczema at that age also. I switched all of our household cleaners to Melaleuca, began using their Renew lotion (as someone else mentioned) and read Super Immunity for Kids. It changed our lives. I began squeezing a flaxseed capsule into her bottle once a day and rubbing Evening Primrose Oil onto her skin. Not only did the eczema go away completely, she NEVER gets sick (she's 2.5 now), even her pedi comments about how healthy she is. Now I do the same thing for my 5 month old who never had eczema (possibly because I prevented it??) and I'm hoping for the same healthy immune system my first has. Best of luck to you and your little one, I remember how traumatic that time was for both of us.
Here's a link for the book on Amazon...I HIGHLY recommend it....
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=superimmuni...

Oatmeal bath will help the itching & irritation. Keep the air cool (not enough to make him sick) but warm, sticky, muggy might irritate it. Good luck!

Oh eczema is not fun. I did not get it until a nurse said to me that I needed to cover my baby in moisturizer until she was slippery and shiny every day regardless of whether the baby is having an outbreak. After spending a lot of money on a variety of moisturizers, the best one I found is Cetaphil.

Use the prescription the doctor gave you to get the eczema under control. If they did not give a prescription, go back and demand one. Eczema can go from bad to worse literally over night. My baby had two bacterial infections because I just did not know enough about this skin problem and my doctor did not explain it clearly to me that you have to stay on top of it.

I cover her in Cetaphil when I dress her in the morning and when I get her ready for bed. I also cover her in Cetaphil after a bath. If we swim, I bath her afterwards and then cover her in Cetaphil.

You may want to see if he has any allergies because eczema is linked to ashama and allergies. So far, my daughter is not showing signs of either.

I would definitely not use baby powder. You want him moisturized. If his skin is weeping, he probably has a bacterial infection. This can be treated either with topical antibotic or by oral.

When you get this under control, don't stop using the moisturizer. I can't stress that enough.

Good luck.

Don't worry about people staring. If this is his biggest problem he is doing great. Both my boys had eczema when they were babies too. We had to use the OTC cortizone cream and a prescription cream. It looked terrible but they were happy babies so I didn't care. They both grew out of it by 12-14 months. Seriously don't worry what anyone thinks and don't try to explain it to people. Don't overbathe him and keep his skin very well hydrated. The Eucerin line is great. Also, try All free and clear detergent. Good luck!