Daughter with Eczema

All three of my daughters had newborn eczema, and the last one who is now 3 still sometimes has problems. My first piece of advice is to take her to a different doctor (not necessarily a different office) but have that rechecked. I do not recall our eczema being particularly bumpy, just really patchy. If it is bumpy, it may be a yeast infection which can be treated with a clotrimazole cream (found in footcare dept at pharmacy). If you've had her rechecked, and confirmed eczema, then if you are using a liquid baby soap (like Baby Magic, and we had problems with any brand we tried), stop. Please change to a bar such as dove. Not only did we notice an improvement in her skin, but less problems with vaginal irritation. The next thing is, we got nowhere with Eucerin. Our pediatrician recommended Aquaphor Ointment. At some places we had to ask at the pharmacy, although it is not an RX. It is a thick ointment, and your daughter will be a bit shiny and gooey, but it was great! Our daughter had her eczema all over her face, after we greased her up, we would still be kissing her all day, and it even moisturized our lips. We noticed improvement within hours. Lastly, for those patches that we just could not get rid of, Elidel which is an RX. It cleared up those tough spots. Good luck, and keep in mind that most babies outgrow their eczema issues. Please keep us posted on your progress.

1 mom found this helpful

I decided to read through some of the other advices before being one of those that are with redundant answers. I can only agree with ildiko V. Since your child is 2 and her body is still growing her own "make of cells", I would definately watch what kind of lotions and creams that you put on her. As to what she said, these lotions, creams, even many soaps dry out that natural process of oil naturally made by your body. I suffer horribly from dry skin altogether and use virgin coconut oil for relief since it's the closest thing to natural oil. You can even find it at Walmart, or any health food stores, or even some grocery stores. You can google this information as well to see for your self as to the benefits that come from using coconut oils all the way around such as ointments, cooking, etc.

Best of luck.
Mom of 4.

L.,
The only thing that has worked for me and other friends is Arbonne Baby Care. No mineral oil - doesn't let the skin breath. No fragrance which is irritating. No pthalates. I'm completely thrilled. They also have a sunscreen that's extremely gentle!! ____@____.com for more info.
Best to you,
M.

Hi L.
My oldest son had eczema as a tiny infant....and still does. He is a teenager now. His always got worse in the summer months also, as soon as the temps warmed up. Our pediatrician also suggest the oatmeal baths...the eucerin lotion....none of that ever helped him. We had to take him to a dermatologist, who prescribed some different steriod based creams. As my son got a little bit older, he would tell us that the creams from the doctor burned so bad when applying it to the eczema, so our dermatologist switched him to an ointment based prescription. It is messy....but it completely did the trick. I've been told by many doctors over the years that eczema is an allergy.....my son only tested positive to certain trees.....and cat...which, we don't have, thank God. He does fine as long as he uses the prescription ointment. If I were you....I'd try to get in with a dermatologist as soon as possible. Once you get the eczema under control, it is much easier to stay on top of it, and your little girl will be much happier. Good luck!

L.,

My son has eczema and I did the eucerin, aquaphor, aveeno, etc. with little progress. I just broke down and finally bought Sarna, which I always thought was ridiculously expensive. It cleared up the redness right away and he's looking so much better. You can find it in the first aid aisle. I used the fragrance free one for eczema. Hopefully it wasn't just a fluke and this will help you as well. Good luck!

M.

my son has it too. we tried all of the OTC products, but nothing helped. Finally his dr prescribed ELIDEL. it has worked wonders! clears it up within 2 days!

Try the Cetaphil body wash and lotions. This really helps my son.

Hi. My son had the same thing as an infant into toddler. Have you gone to a dermatologist? My pediatrician treated him to no avail. The thing that worked for us was a cream made up of tar (like the tar on the street) and another natural compound. Ask - you can't lose anything.

Whenever everything is growing outside, my son would break out, especially when it was damp. Try the dermatologist because they wanted to know where I had been. Good luck.

My aunt has the same thing, the pimple like eczema all over. It is from what a doctor told me (my daughter has a mild form of it when she gets stressed out), that it is a step down from psorisis. As with my daughter & aunt (& another family relative that has psorisis) when they get stressed out emotionally, it becomes itchier & have more break outs. Also, any weather change effects their skin..like when pressure fronts for storms are moving in. My aunt & other relative have to go to a skin specialist to get medication for the itchiness. The medication helps reduce the outbreak spots but does not get rid of it completely. This is not a rash that will go away, it is a life long skin condition & usually inherited by someone in the genetic pool. Aveeno oatmeal bath & soap is good, it was suggested by my daughter's physician. Bathing & washing hair with Head & Shoulders helps too. There is also T-gel, Tarmac shampoos & conditioners, & psorisis medications (they work great on my daughter's eczema outbreaks for the itchies). Those can be found at pharmacies. Oh, my relative with severe psorisis, the skin specialist told her to get at least 4 hours outside in the sun exposing her skin, it did help her when she did that. Hope these help your daughter too.

HI L.,
I have eczema. The ebst advice I could give you is plain sensitive skin Dove soap. And the Aveeno eczema products.
Make sure to completely dry her skin after bath etc. I have it on my hands and have found Farouk Silk Therapy oil (a hair product) works to relieve my sore hands immediately. It's about $15 for a small bottle but you will have it for a long time.

Also, I have heard the following to be effective, if you are looking for natural solutions:
Extra Virgin Olive oil (evoo)
Crisco
Emu oil
Shea butter
Calendula
Lanolin

Also, running a humidifier in the house or her bedroom will help. I have also heard that a lot of dairy can aggravate eczema. Try to use fragrance free bath products and shampoos on her if you can.

Eczema is not bumpy, keratosis pilaris is. It's a fungal infection, I think. Keratosis pilaris is when the hair follicles get red and raised. There are some treatments, but you should check with your doc. and probably a dermatologist--I don't know what's safe in young kids.

Hello Lindsay,

I may be able to offer you a solution that worked for me, my daughter, my nephew, and my son. It doesn't take as much time and effort as some of the other tried and true methods. It is also something you would do daily anyway. I did research on eczema and it stated that chemicals can cause flare ups. I was angry to find out that even baby products and products that claim they are "free and clear" contain some of these suspect chemicals. Therefore, I joined Melaleuca. Melaleuca offers a body wash and hair wash for kids that is awesome and smells good (many of the other stuff on the market for eczema doesnt have a good "kid" scent) and their Renew lotion works too. I also use their laundry detergent (and it smells great unlike the "free and clear" stuff) I have been free of the itch and patches as has my daughter, son, and nephew. I use the lotion daily on all of us and voila! No problem! The products are awesome and I recommend them to anyone that want to eliminate harsh chemicals from their bodies and home. Good luck to you!

From A.. Mom of 2 sons-12 and 8 weeks and daughter 2.

Hi! I would ask for a referral to a pediatric dermatologist and to an allergist. I have seen many kids whose eczema was triggered by something in the diet...usually common things like milk, eggs, even wheat! She may not show any other alleric symptoms except the eczema. Aquaphor may be better than eucerin cream and appy it very frequently...like 4 to 6 times a day. The oatmeal baths may help too, but plain lukewarm water baths a couple of times a day may be soothing. If the itching is really severe you may want to ask your ped if it is ok to give her some oral medication for itching (benadryl or a prescription medication called atarax). The last thing you want is for her to scratch herself open and get an infection. Good luck!

I am a partner with a wellness company that sells a product called Renew. This therapy skin lotion that is wonderful for this condition. It is 7 times better than Eucerin. It has helped many people with condition. If you are interested you may call me ###-###-#### or email me.

My 4.5-year-old son also has eczema, and his also gets worse in the spring/summer, mostly due to allergies and sweating. We do the oatmeal baths occasionally, Aquaphor lotion (siilar to Eucerin but greasier). He also takes Zyrtec once a day and we have a prescription steroidal ointment that we use on the 'hot spots'. That *mostly* keeps it under control, but it's still not perfect. I would be cautious about Elidel in such a young child. There are some reports about possible carcinogenic side effects with long-term use.

I've debated trying him on different diets, like gluten-free or lactose-free, but it just seems like so much work and I have 2 other kids and a pt job. I don't know how I could actually make that work! Eczema does run in my husband's family, as do allergies, so I'm not sure there's more we can do right now. You could ask your doctor for a referral to an allergist and/or dermatologist. Maybe they could recommend something? Good Luck!

My son has severe eczema and my recommendation to you is get the aquaphor lotion. It is much thicker then Eucerin. Also Get in with an allergest and or dermatologist to see if there are any allergies to foods or grass. Best of Luck!

i have had eczema since i was a child and mine has never itched! I am allergic to certain foods and the rash i get when exposed to them makes me itch! Please have your daughter tested for allergies.

Hi, both of my children have eczema. I bathe them with dove white bar soap. We use baby Aveeno cream for eczema. You should also be careful of the sunscreen you use on her too cause that can also make a breakout worse. We use baby sunscreen from Arbone. With doing all of this I am able to keep theirs under control. I also wash their clothes with Ivory Snow detergent and use Downey Free fabric softener. Hope this helps.
C.

L.
I have severe eczema (for most of my life) and my son has it very mildly. I recently found a great dermatolgist. I have seen 3 others in the past and this one was wonderful, she gave me a compound that cleared it up almost instantly. I can give you the name of the dr if you would like. she also suggested using a nutrogeana lotion ( I havent been able to find it yet though) and only using Dove soap. no pump soaps and never ever hand sanitizer like germx or purell because of the alcohol. I found a great hand sanitzer at babies r us called hand2go. its kinda pricy but no alcohol and shortly after I did all of that the eczema on my sons hands disapperaed.
I do know that some eczema can be because of a food allergy.
Let mek now if you want my drs name and hope some of this helped.

Bathe her less frequently. At least until the red bumps go away. My son got the red bumps once (when he was 6 months old). We went down to bathing him only once a week until they went away. (I don't know how infrequently you can bath a 2 1/2 year old, but you should do it as little as possible. Also avoid the pool.) We also used a hydrocortizone cream every day where ever the red bumps were. Also we started using a humidifier in his bedroom & in the living room (where we spent most of our time), it was the winter then. I don't know if a humidifier would be useful now.

Hi L.,
Did you ever have her given the bloodtest for allergies? It tests for the most common allergies (doctors won't bring it up unless you ask for it). But you might also want to go onto the celiac.com website and start reading. I struggled with rashes myself until I developed a gluten free diet.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes for the delivery of your second.
D.

My son, who is now 7 years old, has had eczema since he was an infant. I went through every ointment on the market and several prescriptions, but nothing seemed to work. His eczema was one of several problems he was having. Finally, when my son was around one he was tested for food allergies. He tested positive for 9 different foods and dust mites. He also has asthma. He is on an elimaination diet of all the foods he is allergic to then and now. He gets blood allergy tested yearly.
I do not use anything with fragrnce on him or his clothes. I also had to stop using purfume, lotions and bath washes on my self because any skin contact will set off a flair up. My son is able to use fragrance-free Dove soap. I have tried different bathing schedules (as far as frequency). I also use pure African Shea Butter on him everyday. You have to make sure the Shea butter comes from a good source. I have not found anything that works as well or constantly as Shea butter. The Shea butter helped with the scaring and thickening skin on his legs, arms and torso. I also keep his nails cut very short to avoid the rash becoming infected. I have also found that synthetic materials in clothing can be uncomfortable for him.
Although his eczema is "under control", he still has flair ups usually when the seasons change. He once used liquid soap at his daycare on a cool fall day and came home with skin on his hands so cracked and inflamed that I had to keep him home the next day. I learned from his doctor that because of the eczema, his skin does not regulate his body temp as well so I try to be very conscience of his clothes and environment. In the winter, I put Shea butter on his legs imediately after his shower and then he has to have cotton long PJ pants to cover his legs and then only light blankets so that he dosn't overheat and cause an eczema flair-up. As I read over my response, it seems like a lot of work. It is at first, but you both will adjust. As your child gets older, she will be better able to communicate when her skin feels itchy so you will catch the flair-ups sooner. My son's skin looks and feels great now.

I use tea tree oil with my son and it really works. I've heard people say that the company Arbonne makes a product that works for eczema, its one of those home selling skin care products.

Good Luck

Have you thought about chiropractic care? My husband is a chirpractor and has a 28-year-old patient who has suffered from eczema since he was a child. He's doctored for it for years. After about three months of regular adjustments, he showed me the pink patches on his knees where the eczema had been. He told me that he threw away all the creams and remedies he's received from medical doctors, and that he hasn't seen skin on his knees for 17 years!

Chiropractic adjustments help our spines to stay in alignment, allowing the nervous system to do what it's supposed to do - but better. Our bodies are designed to heal themselves, but when the messages from the brain the rest of the body are interrupted because our spines are out of alignment, the body cannot help itself as well as it can when we are in alignment. Our spines get out of alignment from everyday movement - you don't have to do anything drastic; stress alone can make it happen. Check out straightchiropractic.com to find a health-oriented (rather than pain-and-injury-oriented) chiropractor in your area. Many of them have "box" practices, which means they have a box on the wall and you put in the box what you can afford as payment. My husband charges $10/visit - less than anyone's copay, if your insurance even covers it.

The doc will probably prescribe some form of steroidal cream, which thins the skin and can make it worse.

I finally found Country Comfort's Herbal Savvy. I first used the golden seal/myrrh blend then the comfrey. They also have baby salve which is great.

Also if I take a probiotic, that helps a lot. Maybe have her eat some yogurt.

Good luck!! It's no fun!!

P.

I don't know how much help this is, but I have eczema also. I have an ointment that I use when it flares up that was prescribed to me by a dermatologist. My regular doctor recommended using Avon skin-so-soft. It's a bath oil. She told me to put some on after a bath/shower before drying off. And to just pat dry because rubbing takes away the moisture from your body. I personally preferred the ointment, but I don't know if there's one for someone as young as your daughter. Don't know if that helps any.

Hi L.,

I have three girls my 2 youngest daughters that have always had eczema. The one thing that has helped - after she gets out of the tub barely dry her off and put on lotion immediately. The doctor told us that and it did work. The oatmeal baths didn't seem to help out at all. We stopped doing those just because it made such a mess in the tub and it didn't work. Also try to keep the areas that are irritated before she goes to bed cool maybe with a wash cloth just lay it on the area - that works also - hope she feels better.
D.

Mother of 3 girls 16, 14 and 9

I have eczema and have to use Cetaphil soap. You might try that. Also, right after her bath while her skin is still damp, rub lotion all over her. I would recommend Aveno or Johnsons Baby Lotion. I have personally never found Eucerin to work. Good luck!

Hi LIndsay-
i woudl first suggest to remove all dairy from her diet as dairy is a mucus forming food and can make the eczema worse. she may also have food allergies, which you may want to write down for a week or two what she is eating on those days and whether the symptoms get better or worse.
my sister had a cholicky baby and eczema and it seemed to be an allergy issue, but it was not all food related. the biggest culprit was the polyester and flame retardent clothing (which is on most kids clothing). once she switched to all natural cotton (had to go with French stuff from Petit Bateau and some others) the issues went away (not completely).
she also put him on probiotics (acidophilus) which helped a huge amount. no artificial colors, preservatives, additives in the foods either.
she also used a stick, which of course, now i cannot remember, but they have a whole line of products for itching for infants. also french made. if you want, i can try to find out.
joanna
personal nutrition coaching
www.nutrition-in-motion.net
###-###-####

I seem to say this to everyone on here, but Elaine Hardy, RN, MSN, APN, C is great for this!! Her practice is Holistic Family Healthcare and her website is www.holisticfamilyhealthcarepc.com. She finds out WHY people have these conditions and then tries to treat them without drugs, but naturally!! I know she's had great success with this condition, I've known her for 30 yrs and my family goes to her. I highly recommend her!!

My son had eczema has an infant and he was born on a military base. the doctors there advised me that eucerin (sp?) was as good as any prescription lotions. It worked wonders for my son and he eventually outgrew it.
It can be purchased with the lotions at almost any store (K-mart, Walmart, Target, etc....) we just put it on him daily - we were also advised that when possible, do not bathe every day as the water pulls the moisture out of the skin - we would wipe him down every other day with a clean wash cloth and apply the lotion and then bathe on alternate days.
I hope that helps.

I had eczema as a child. I was allergic to grass and wool. I cant remeber if I was allergic to anything else. You can look on webmd or do a search about eczema. Cortozone cream halped me. If nothing helps you can go to a dermatologists. My husband is allergic to fragrance and formaldahyde. They put strip on his back and the were the 2 that reacted. Once he started using fragrance free and unsented things it cleared up
Good luck
B.

have you tried coconut oil? organic, unprocessed from the health food store, same a u would use for cooking. It helps. Also lots of essential fatty acids, like fish oil capsules, you can get the Nordic Natural brand from the health food store, they make it for toddlers.
The chemical based body lotions and cream and steriod creams are not going to help, you need to go the natural way. I am an ND so I am speaking from experience.
Please let me know if you need any more help.
Good luck.
I.
____@____.com

My son has eczema. The doctor gave him a prescription lotion and I ended up changing my laundry soap to the unscented kind. I mostly stay with All Free and Clear. Doing both of these things helped clear it up.

I had the best luck with Cetaphil body wash and Cetaphil Cream....not Lotion. Use the cream that comes in the jar. Cream is thicker and I had GREAT luck using both wash and cream. Just a note. The body wash does not lather, but it works miracles.
Good Luck.

you will be so happy with this advice it truly works so go for it, first by a large jar of eucerin cr not the bottle of lotion you want the thick past and a bottle of baby oil mix the two until you have a smooth creamy lotion and use every day pref at night after bath and let me know if this helps im sure it will

If the bumps look a little pussy it could be chicken pox. This tends to be very itchy.
If not it may be rosseolla. I would get it checked by a Dr..

Barbara

Hi! My son is now four and suffered from eczema when he was younger too, your story sounds so familiar to me. I would recommend that you take her to an allergist, we took our son after I gave him whole milk and the eczema became much worse. He now takes Zyrtec when symptoms present themselves and it really helps. Also, he gets a bath every other night. He still has really dry skin behind his ears that flare up, crack, and bleed from time to time and he is very prone to nose bleeds. However, the skin issues are much better and I think now that he's four, he's growing out of it a bit. Good luck!

2 of my 3 kids have eczema. I tried many different things, as well. After a lot of trial and error, my mother-in-law gave me a bottle of Avon's Moisture Therapy body lotion. I swear it is magic! At the first signs of eczema, I put the lotion on...and it is gone! With a tougher case of eczema, it may take longer, but I really do swear by it.

I heard of a child with similiar problem...seems it was an allergy to an anti-biotic.

KayMarie

I recommend the baby lotion by Arbonne. It is great! It works wonders and is all natural. I use it on myself and the kids. My brother -in-law just started using it and it really working for him. He has been on prescription cream for most of his life and this is such a relief. Send me your address and I will see about getting you a sample. You will not regret it.

Arbonne Arbonne Arbonne!!! They have an AMAZING line of baby care products and they work wonders on eczema! My good friend has a child with eczema and it works GREAT! Arbonne is sold through consultants via network marketing. Please contact me and I will tell you how to get the products at 35-80% off!!

My whole family uses Renew lotion. I order it from the company that I work for. It has had great results on eczema and psoriasis. The have lots of great products that help cut down on the "allergic response" Congrats on the new baby on the way. We just had our fourth and I work from home in the "land of the little people" Anyway if you are intersted in the safer products and this great lotion you can pm me and let me know.

My daughter used to have excema so bad that she would itch it in her sleep until it bled all over. It was painful to see her in such itchy agony. We eliminated dairy, wheat, and gluten from her diet as well as worked with a constitutional homeopath. We see Dr Peter Prociuk in West Chester. Our family doctor was not able to help us at all, which was so frustrating, and pushed us into finding someone and something that would help. Luckily within 5 to 6 months after eliminating those foods from her diet and seeing Dr. Peter her excema was gone. We also realized that wheat and gluten were in a lot of unexpected places, like soaps, play doh, and bubbles. Do some research and Good luck. Sometimes the doctors really can't help us, even though we think they should have the answers to everything.

I have had great response with all natural type REAL soaps.
Personally, dove made me itch more along with many things the dermatologist recommended. Took me years to simply eliminate back to the simple.

Laundry detergent was a huge part of my problem too.

I make natural laundry soap from my Goat Milk Soaps, Borax and Arm & Hammer washing soda. Google natural laundry soaps. Allergy and Asthma published an article in Aug 06 about the links from "BATH BARs" and eczema. Most stuff you bathe with is detergent and not really soap. No wonder we are all so stinking itchy!

Good luck finding a natural non steriod solution. :)

if the regular doctor does nto want to prescribe anything for her eczema then take her to a dermatologist if they take young paitients. they will tell you whether it is eczema or not. go on web md also and pull up some information. one of my nephews had eczema really bad on his face and a few other spots on his body but was prescibed an non steroidal cream for eczema and it helped. i know when he ate anything acidic like tomato sauce my brother and sister in law coated around his lips and bottom of his face with vaseline so his skin would not get irritated. i have eczema on my hands and it caused by household cleaners and the eyeglass cleaner at work. If she is drinking milk then put her on soy milk and see if that helps. also watch the laundry soap you wash her clothes in. use dye and perfume free. arm and hammer makes a good one and it is inexpensive.

The advice about the holistic doctor was the best given so far. Putting lotion on eczema is just treating the symptoms, and not trying to find out what the cause is. Treating symptoms is what regular medical doctors are best at. A holistic doctor is a better route to really get to the cause of the problem. Eczema really can be the result of food allergies. It is not always obvious, because it may not happen immediately following eating of the food, but can appear days later. The first thing I would suspect would be dairy, which you can test yourself by eliminating all dairy products for a month, and see if that helps. I know of a friend's child whose eczema dissapeared after dairy was stopped. You should not dismiss the idea of food allergies - you could have her tested to be sure. (call the holistic doctor)

Wow! You got a lot of responses, so I'll make mine quick. My son's eczema got worse in the summer too. Turned out he was allergic to our pets, and since his skin was exposed in the summer that's why it got worse. We did steroid til it cleared up and then Eucerin on a daily basis and we didn't have to get rid of the pets!

A friend of mine has a son who had/has the same problem. When it was really bad, the doctor gave her medication for him. If you have tried everything the doctor has recommended up to this point and it isn't getting better, go back to the doctor.

Recently I read where Honey is good for so many things so I just did a google search and there is one lady who had magnificent results with mixing honey with vaseline. The honey cured the sores and the vaseline moisturized the skin when it dried out and helped it to heal. Good "natural" cures.

My daughter's dermatologist recommended AmLactin 12%. You can get it as a prescription or over the counter. The first couple of times I used it, it stung her a little bit but as her eczema cleared up the stinging stopped. (This lotion worked better than the prescription drugs the pediatrician prescribed.)

Good Luck!

Hi L.. I haven't had to deal with eczema in a child, but one thing I've learned is that when your pediatrician isn't helping, go to a specialist. You may get the help you need from a dermatologist instead of going back to the ped. Also, someone recommended elidel. I used that myself (it was a prescription from a dermatologist) and it worked beautifully but my dermatologist made me stop taking it after three months because long-term use can lead to possible side effects. Just wanted you to know about that.

Good luck!

My daughter has this also. Go to a dermatologist, they prescribed me a excellent cream, and they suggested non perfumed detergent. Also, dove sensitive skin soap, is highly recommended.

Hi my daughter now 6 has had it since birth as well. She also has asthma which I hear from several doctors that these two things go hand in hand. We have used everything from eucerin, to steroid creams. Lately my daughter's has been flared up as well, I use aquaphor during the worst times and only bath every other day with aveno oatmeal baths. Also you know that if you take regular oatmeal and blend it in the blender or food processor until very fine that is all aveeno oatmeal bath is, colidial oatmeal I found this out and have saved a bundle!!! Hope this helps.

Hi my 7 month old son also has some eczema. Over the past month I've been using "Baby Aveeno soothing Relief Moisture Cream" . It seems to have helped with his red dry itchy skin. his neck was real bad the poor lil guy is always trying to scratch.. at night i give a bath with the baby aveeno bat products...( i also use the oatmeal bath once a week) than i put the lotion on him...get him into his pj's and i also put mittens on his hands to keep him from scratching himself while he sleeps. He is looking so much better....and he neck is finaly looking better too. I'd recomend the baby aveeno soothing cream...it just might help. good luck!

Eczema is usually related to allergies of some type, either environmental or food. I have a son who has had it since he was 3 weeks old. Take your daughter to a dermatology specialist. She probably need a strong steroid cream or possibly a short course of oral steroids to get everything under control and then go from there. They will also give you more effective creams. There are alot of them out there. Acid mantle (which is a very old preparation) cream seems to be helpful but requires a prescription. First thing though is to get her under control which will probably mean steroids in some form or another.