Dry Skin Behind 5 Month Olds Ears?

Hi A.- My son has this too. His pediatrician gave me a prescription for Desonide to put on it to keep it away. So we'd put a little behind the ears after his baths. On non-bath days, I would just keep an eye on it, and clean behind the ears with a cloth and apply it if needed. He is 2 now and I occasionally still use it behind 1 ear. It works very well, and it is an inexpensive Rx. Best of luck!
U.

My daughter had that on her eyebrows and the dr warned that she might develop it behind her ears too. She told me to put on a little 1% hydrocordizone cream 2x a day after washing and drying the area. She said it's eczema.

Good luck!

Y.

I see you got a lot of advice already, but just wanted to let you know my son had it too, and he outgrew it (he's 2 now). It makes good habits though, I still am very thorough cleaning behind his ears, and I always put lotion behind there during the full body massage I give him after every bath. When he had it Vaseline is what worked for me in keeping it under control. I don't remember when exactly he outgrew it, but it should go away.

Good luck!

My 6 year old had this. With her it turned out to just be dry skin build up. Babies are so new that their skin cells grow at amazing rates.

It is much like cradle cap. A little baby oil rubbed on or dabbed on will help it loosen, then fall off. Don't worry about scrubbing it away, just in case it is a skin reaction to something.

If it is just cradle cap (which sometimes even reaches the eybrows!), don't worry, it will go away on its' own eventually. If it is a skin condition, you will notice that it gets worse and spreads to other areas of the body. I think you're doing great by keeping up with it and taking the advice of your ped.

The first thing I thought was psoriasis. When I was a baby that was the only place I had it for many years. I don't know if I was diagnosed at such a young age with psoriasis, but that is what it was. Maybe bring that up to your dr and if he takes no action or says no, bring her to a dermatologist. They will know immediately!
Good luck.

Hi A.. Two of my boys had the same thing. And in the winter sometimes it would crack and bleed. No matter how much creams and lotions I used they still had that behind their ears. If it got really bad I would rub in a dot of neosporin. When I asked the DR. about it she said some kids just have that problem. And told me to keep doing what I was doing. My oldest had dry skin behind his ears until he was over a year old. I was talking to a friend one day about it (her kids are much older than mine) and her children's doctors gave the same advice. What might help too is instead of cream or lotion use vegetable glycerine. You can buy it at a health food store. It may be used topically or internally. It is great stuff. Use it on dry skin and rashes. Hope I helped.

sounds like it may be eczema. my son gets it from time to time. mostly around his ears and by his nose. i use aquaphor (it really works well) or on particularly bad days, hydrocortizone 1%. try to limit baths too to maybe 2-3 times a week as the water seems to dry out the skin more. what baby wash do you use? our pediatrician recommended baby aveeno and that's what we use for my son -- works pretty well. ask your ped if it may be eczema and what could be causing it. good luck!

I have this too.. and I am 45. Vaseline is the best for this.. it really works for me.. good luck with the baby...

I always thought it should be a bath every day, not every three days. What about Johnson's baby lotion?

My son has the same issue. I noticed the crusty stuff behind his ears I cleaned it. I am one to bathe my son daily. We do cereal abth bottle bed. I clean it every day Also A and d ointment behind his ears keeps it dry and clean. I wash his ears and dry good then ointment.

My doc said it was an early sign of eczema. Sure enough, at 19 months, she's got eczema bad. All over her arms and legs. Good luck. BTW, I've tried the Arbonne and didn't notice any difference. But maybe it will work for you. I am now looking into Renew, if only it wasn't such a pain in the you know what to get ahold of.

Oh, and don't try any hydrocortisone, she's too young, stick with the aquaphor, unless it gets unbearable.

go to your local healthfood store and get food grade sweet almond oil. I had a rash that would not go away. i got it from a detergent allergy and dealt with it for months. i started to use sweet almond oil and it went away and the scaring effect went away too. it is natural, it won't stain anything with an oil residue, your skin loves it, it does not block the poors, so the skin can breath and I just can't say enough about it, and it is about $5, so it is not really expensive, and if the baby gets it in her mouth, it won't hurt her, because it can be used on salads.

Both of my daughters had this. I do not know what it is from but I remember the same thing. I just made sure that I kept the Aquaphor on it and it eventually went away. My 3 1/2 sometimes still gets it. Aquaphor is the best stuff out there for any dryness on your baby. I am a big fan of it!! Hope this helps!!

Hi A.,

It sounds like eczema--behind the ears is one of the first places it shows up. If your pediatrician is unfamiliar, I'd recommend taking her to a dermatologist who has experience with kids.

Good luck!

My son, who is almost 14 months old, has the same thing. He had cradle cap when he was younger and the pediatrician said it was the same thing, Seborrhoeic eczema (also Seborrheic dermatitis). Basically I have to keep the area clean and moisturized. My daughter's dermatologist saw it and said it could take a long time to go away.

This happened to my son when he was an infant - the pediatrician also told us to use aquaphor, lotion, etc but we saw no change so we brought him to a dermatologist who said it was excema - he told us cream would never work to make it go away and to use a little over the counter cortisone ointment 1% - we picked it up at the cvs - used it for less than a week and the problem was solved. It came back a couple of times but again it went away with just a little cortisone. I am a mom that uses all organic products on my son and did not like the idea of using cortisone but it worked wonders - give it a try or if you feel better about it call your pediatrician or a dermatologist and ask them if it is okay for your child. Good luck and hope this helps. FYI - if it is excema it is really itchy so you definitely want to get rid of it before it gets worse.

My son is 7 months old today and he has the same thing behind his ears. This is my 2nd child and my first did not have it so it was new to me. I noticed it when he was about 2-3 months old and I thought initially it was maybe a spot that I missed in the bath and then it would keep coming back. Then, I thought it was dry skin because of the cold winter. Turns out, it is eczema and he needs to be constantly lathered up in aquaphor (a few times a day) to keep it under control. He now has developed a few other areas (usually in the folds of his skin where he might sweat and where it rubs together such as behind his knees and in the folds of his neck as he is gaining more weight). It never completely goes away but it stays under control if I am diligent about putting the aquaphor on. I do think it is itchy as my son is always grabbing at his ears and pulling (no ear infections either!). Neosporin won't help it either. I called the pediatrician this week to ask about anything else and they told me again to keep using the aquaphor. Good luck!!!

Hi A.,
It might be cradle cap. Something babies get. You might want to ask your doctor.
Good Luck
J.

I heard that it is just some mild secretion from glands that we all have behind there. It eventually goes away. Just keeping cleaning it mildly... I also heard thats where the saying "Don't forget to clean behind the ears" comes from... since most of us have some sort of secretion behind there when we are babies... Just what I have heard about it.

This sounds like it could be eczema. There is a product line called Arbonne Baby Care that has fantastic products including a Hair & Body Wash and Body Oil that are specially formulated for babies and sensetive skin. The products work very well on eczema to "control" the outbreak. I have used these products on my children for almost a year and I have seen such a difference in their skin, especially with controlling thier eczema, which 2 out of my 3 children have. The products are all botanically based and contain no mineral oil (which Aquaphor does). Mineral oil coats your skin like a glove and does not allow it to breathe, which is the skin's main function.

If you would like more information, please visit the following website: http:\\dinaallan.myarbonne.com then click on shop online then the baby tab. Good luck!

Both my boys had that. Aquaphor worked for us. Keep using it. Sometimes it takes a week to get rid of it. I would stop picking at it too.

My daughter had that too and her GI doctor said it was eczema....not a big deal, my daugther is now 9 months and it has disappeared. I used to put aveeno baby soothing relief moisture cream which claims it is for very dry skin and eczema. My pediatrician recommended AD ointment...she said she used it for everything. As long as it isn't bothering her and ti doesn't spread, I wouldn't worry about it. Eczema could be a sign of a food allergy so just keep your eye on it. My daugther doesn't have any food allergies and had the eczema....Good Luck!!!

I bet she has eczema. My son had it behind his ears too and I would recomend trying Eucerin cream. It would clear it up and when it started coming back I would just put more on.
Good Luck

My daughter had the same dry, itchy ears... only she batted at them and I kept finding blood behind one ear where the skin had cracked. It literally took months of applying aquaphor, and somtimes her ears seemed to be healing and then there would be dried blood behind them a week later. We never found out why, and her skin hasn't been overly dry anywhere else- she's 11 months now and her ears have been fine for about 4 months now. Good luck!

I had the same problem and used vaseline right behind her ears before bedtime and the next morning was able to simply wipe it away. I had to do it a few times, but it works really well and does not irritate my daughter's skin. Hope this helps:)

Hi A.,
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I like to suggest to change your products to a healthier choice.
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If you like I can suggest to you nontoxic products that are less expensive and do a better job. Also a lotion that will definitely help your little girl with her problem. This is available thru a members only club.
You can email me and I will speak with you privately.
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C.

Both of my kids had this and I used baby oil to gently clean it off. If I just rubbed it, the skin would get angry red and irritated. I think it is just an oily build up so do not worry. My kids grew out of it but it is still a place on their bodies that gets a build up of dirt.

my son had the same thing, he had what is called exzema, i would maybe try eucerin, you can get it at your local grocery store, i would use it a few times a day, especially right after the bath, it should clear up soon. Try not to pick at it, which is hard if you are anything like me!
good luck

Neosporin always did the trick with my daughter, it's most likely excema.

both my children had this at this age and up. i think it's pretty normal. just wipe behind her ears with a wipe daily. also check the creases under her armpits and behind her knees. it will go away as she gets older. don't worry.

Hi A.,
If you will contact me I will gladly send you a sample of Renew, an excellent lotion that really works.
L.
www.LiveTotalWellness.com/L.
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Hi A., You might want to soften the crusty area with some vaseline and gently remove what you can. After that you could put some Balmex or any Zinc cream to heal the area. Check it when you bathe him so it does not build up again.Best wishes, Grandma Mary

my son had the same thing. His pediatrician said that it was baby exema(i know i spelled it wrong) and that there wasn't anything to worry about. Just to make sure to clean behind his ears, dry them completely and apply lotion and it would eventually go away.

You know, my daughter had the same thing, maybe a milder case, and I used to just wash it and put a little A&D on. I also read in my baby book that it's seborrheic dermatitis and sometimes a little hydrocortisone cream can help. Hang in there!