Help with Little Guy's Eczema

Try not to bathe him too often or in too warm of water because it will dry out his skin and make it worse. Also, try fragrance free soap and lotion. We use Aveeno. I know it is a bit on the high end of price, but we buy it and a little bit goes a long way. Aveeno seemed to work the best for us. You should also consider trying to use dye free/fragrance free laundry detergent and fabric softner because those things will irritate as well. We've used aquaphor on the really dry, itchy spots of the skin and it really helps too. Just put it on like 3 times a day.

My son has the same problem. One big thing I try to do is not to wash him often. He's 2 now, but I still do the same thing. When he was small like that I would just rinse him off with warm water and then lotion him up afterward. Now I let him play in the bathtub without soap for a while. When I do use soap, which is only about every week and 1/2 (more often in summer) or when I feel he really needs it. I use this really mild soap by California Baby. It's Tea tree oil and lavender. The eczema is really bad in the winter and I really need to stay on top of the lotioning daily for him. This is what works for me. Good luck...

Hi L.,
I've been a preferred customer with Melaleuca for almost 4 years. My niece is 15 years old and her eczema is completely gone thanks to Melaleuca's Renew Intensive Therapy Lotion. This same lotion beat Eucerine in a double blind clinical study. It's very effective and comes with a 100% money back guarantee. Also, a friend of mine used this same lotion along with Melaleuca's Gold Bar on her 5 month old baby. Her eczema was gone within a week. This was after repeated visits to the doctor due to the prescriptions not working.

Visit www.melaleuca.com and look in the medicine cabinet section for the lotion and in the body section for the bath bars. The Gold Bar does not contain any soap. Just Melaleuca oil [tea tree oil] glycerine and aloe vera.

Call me if you'd like to become a PC and do a trial run on the products.

M.
###-###-####

Cut down on his baths -- give him one every 3rd night. Chicago tap water has a lot of chlorine in it and dries out their skin. Pouring a half box of baking soda in his bath will remedy this (and has really worked for us). After his baths, do not even pat dry him and put a thick cream on him (eucerine from the tub) while he is still wet (this helps to seal in moisture). We also use aquaphor liberally. Hydrocortizone 1% (over the counter) also works wonders, but this is a steroid so don't use it indefinitely -- only for flare ups. I'm not a big fan of prescription steroid creams because steroids work by suppressing his immune system and the prescription strength is strong (I thnk they carry warnings like don't use more than 1 week or 2, which I think is scary) and ultimately probably just serve as a band aid. If your son's eczema is unmaneageable, you might want to think about cutting out potentially allergenic foods (dairy, eggs, nuts) from his diet (or yours if you breastfeeding) to see if that makes a difference. You may have to keep the foods out of his diet for 7-10 days before you see a difference. I would try doing all this and handling it on your own before you go down the allergist route. But if none of this works and his eczema is still unmanageable, you should see an allergist. Mary Tobin at Rush is great.

Good luck~

Hi,

My 5 year old and 14 month old both deal with this too. I swear by aquaphor after a bath and pretty much daily. I have taken my sons to a ped dermatologist in Oak Brook. He's pretty conservative. He suggests bathing daily (not long baths) to clean off the skin. I use Aveeno (without fragrance) with him. Also we dont use WINTER PJ's. Lightweight only and nothing that would cause the excessive sweating. That causes problems with us. Our MD gave us a script hydrocortisone for the baby's huge flare up but only used it for one week. It was a bland prescription.

In the summer watch the sunscreen, that can cause flare ups too. We use Neutrogena which worked good and the Coppertone Water Babies is hypoallergenic. I've also heard (from parents) that the sunscreens at the health food store work good too.

Good luck. Nothing worse than seeing your child suffer.

My 2 year old has it too. My 4 year old had it and it basically is now gone except the occasional tiny patch. For us there is nothing like Aquaphor - available at Walgreen's and the like. The doctor gave us a prescription steriod cream as well which really stops them from scratching. Keeping nails short is important too! Good luck.

I would recommend looking into allergies with your child. My son and daughter both have allergies, and when they come in contact with the foods they are allergic to, they get eczema. Rosy cheeks, dry skin and a red anus are some of the first signs of allergic (or just sensitive) reactions. Might want to consider that.

My old Korean pediatrician always liked natural remedies for the first couple of years. With our daughter, who is now 6, he said to use safflower oil (in the cooking oil aisle!) right after bathing when her skin was still fresh and damp, then pat dry and dress her. It always worked for us. I usually put her in a sleeper afterwards and she never seemed too greasy :) I've since used it on my twins for eczema and general dry winter skin. I even used it on my own feet in the summer when they were dry! However, if you do that, put socks on right away...I almost wiped out on the kitchen floor! :)

I'm also agreeing with J G's advice as it' all right on. A good mild cleanser is very important too, as Tisa stated. I however am very allergic to Dove and I also have eczema. I haven't met a dermatologist that doesn't recommend Cetaphil though. Doesn't make the skin feel the cleanest but it's extremely mild. For a cleaner feeling and more of a "soap" product, Ivory is very mild also. Beware of baby soap though. Baby soap is made to be alkaline so it's less irritating to the eyes but it will strip color out of hair if it's been color treated. If it strips color, it also strips oil out of the skin which is exactly what will cause flair ups. I would also highly recommend using a natural oil on the skin such as what that one gal mentioned, Safflower I think it was. Eucerin is very helpful but it's petroleum based and it depends on your opinion of the ingredient. I, for one, am not a fan of petrol chemicals. I do prefer more organic ingredients and they have anti-inflamatory and healing properties that petroleum does not. Avacado, jojoba, olive oils, shea and/or cocoa butters are exceptional options.

Eczema can be a precursor to asthma and food allergy. I have three kids, two boys have food allergies. My oldest had the most awful scaly skin, people used to stop me in stores and berate me for how i washed him or his clothes. It was awful. People assume you arent trying, that you are just failing as a parent. Of course, he had a really bad case! I would say go to a good dermatologist from the beginning (if you can afford to do so). We had the best luck with a liquid detergent and softener (no baby dreft-one of the WORST for perfumes and such-ugh), bar dove soap, applied thick creams right after bathing. If eczema is something new and you have never changed detergents or anything, don't go changing them now. kwim? Many people start out using TIde and have no problems, then their child gets eczema and they change and have more problems..If you have always used the same thing, keep using it. Don't change. We used various prescription creams. Hydrocortisone in various forms (westcort and triamcinolone cream are varieties of this that are Rx), we used in the end Temovate, Acclovate and Cutivate with other moisturizing creams. They are the top of the line for steroid creams and worked well, but should only be used when absolutely necessary. Try to avoid perfumes and smelly things, anything unscented is good..Each child is different, making a list of the items you use helps too..Helps you maybe determine what is going on. A friend of mine had a child with skin rash and couldnt figure out what was causing the problem. I was over one evening and found her using some stinky baby bath stuff on him....Try not to fall into the baby bath and things like that. They are always perfumed and arent the best for baby skin that is sensitive. Good luck, let us know how it goes..

my girlfriend swears by the Renew lotion from melaluca....i could give you her info if you like