Seeking Advice on Infant Eczema

My son had terrible eczema. Assuming it was a milk allergy we switched to soy. It didn't improve. We tried rice water and his eczema went away completely.

I think we only did the rice water until he was 2 or so. Now he has as much dairy as he wants with only an occasional, mild, reaction.

Hi!
My daughter also has very sensitive skin and eczema. She has never had the oozing, but all kinds of rashes and break-outs everywhere. When I finally got into the dermatologist, she said next time tell them your daughter's condition is severe and they CAN get you in sooner! I also use vasoline. It's messy but it is the best thing I've found to keep her skin under control. My ped. doctor and the dermotologist both recommended it and it works wonders. They also warned me about using hydrocortisone too much, so ask you doctor about that at your next appt. Good luck! S.

Hey J., I have 4boys (17, 15, 8, & 7yrs.) & 1 (4yr.) girl. Only 2 of the boys have had battles with ecezma, the 15 & the 7 year old. Though recently these past few months it has been battling it the worst. And they both had been the ones that have had issues with asthma as well. Several of the things that I have found that have worked VERY WELL for us...and you can consider these old wives tells if you like. But sometimes we learn the most from the wise ones. LOL. I give the boys a bath in Selsun Blue Medicated Shampoo and mix it with the Aveeno Oatmeal Bath (though the generic version they sale at WalMart works just as well). When they get out of the bath I make certain that they rub down 1st with Vitamin E Oil(this too can be purchased from Wal Mart)and then apply the Daily Moisturizing Lotion with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal. This has truly been very successful for my us. The dry patches of skin were really bad on my sons neck, chest back, under his arms and it made the skin on his face very splotchy (sorry if misspelled). But since we have been doing that routine every evening and morning after bath time, his skin has cleared up immensely. I wish you much look with your daughter's battle with ecezma, it can be a very frustrating one. Just have patience and I'm certain you both will endure.

L. B.
Richton Park.

Hi J.:

My first daughter had this starting when she was about one month old, the same time as I stopped breastfeeding. I took her to a derm who prescribed "Elidel". It's a non-steroidal cream and it worked like magic.

Good luck!

Dealing with eczema is not easy. My son has also been dealing with it since he was about 2 months old. He is now almost 11 months. It is better. He still is up at night itching which is the worst part. I don't really have any solutions except, keep up with the antibiotic creams to prevent infection. Prescribed antihistamines help along with creams. Hang in there. I hope that it's better.

Are you open to trying to start breastfeeding again? It is possible and would probably REALLY help.

Eczema is awful! My son has had it since eight weeks old and for the last six months has been eczema free. It is important to find out what is causing the eczema. For my son it was the laundry soap, not food allergies. I was using Dreft and it was bothering him. I use Eighth Generation Free and Clear now (All & Tide make it too). Even the Organic laundry soap that I was using for the rest of us bothered him. Just make sure the bath tub (or where ever you bathe your daughter) is rinsed really well too. Since your daughter is so small, you don't need to bathe her everyday it really dries out the skin. I use Cetaphil soap and after baths I use Cetaphil lotion from head to toe.

Hi J.!
Its so hard, isn't it? What I found when my son had severe eczema, was that what we tried to treat topically didn't help until we found the source of the problem. In his case, it was dairy that he was having issues with. When we eliminated dairy from his diet, his skin cleared up. You may want to look at her diet (and at 9 months, there is probably not a whole lot that she is eating) to see what is affecting her skin.

There might be something in her formula (milk based formula?) that is bothering her.

I would be leary of continuing to try antibiotics and other harsh medications on such a young child.

If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to share more of what we did.

B.

Hello,
Our son is now 7 months old and had pretty bad eczema on his face and head. We tried the OTC hydrocortisone and it didn't seem to do much. After seeing a different ped in the practice, he perscribed Locoid Lipocream. That, along with bathing him with Dove, seemed to clear it up. He still gets an occasional flare up on his face, but within a few days of using the cream, it's gone.