Severe Eczema in 2 Month Old

I know of a lotion that many moms have used that clear up the eczema w/in 3 days!? They are complete believers that it is the best stuff ever. My son hasn't gotten eczema since last winter when we lived in a dry climate so I can't attest to that myself. I do use the lotion, though, on my dry skin and it's wonderful. Definitely recommend it.
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Eczema is not just a reaction to environmental factors. The same genes that make someone asthmatic are also responsible for eczema, but they express themselves differently. Like asthma, environment will trigger a reaction. An elimination diet is a great idea. Is there anyone else in the family with asthma, eczema, or food allergies? In the case of food allergies, eliminating the foods others have problems with are a good start. If they don't see any results after two weeks on a special diet, then it's probably not her, but something else like a soap, cleaner, or another environmental thing. Tell her to keep up the good work with the breastfeeding. It's the best thing she can give him. Also, have her try putting some of her expressed milk on the skin where it is irritated. That may help heal the skin.

Hi J.- my baby had the same thing but it was not food, it was something you would never guess: DREFT! I was using the generic version at first, but didn't like it as much, so I switched to Dreft and that's when it started. No matter what I did, I could not ease the itchy redness covering my baby's body. First thing people would say was "Did you maybe change laundry detergents and that's causing it" and I'd say "OF course not, it's MADE FOR BABIES!" But that was it- as soon as I stopped using Dreft, the eczema went away. And yes, I'm sure it was the Dreft.

my grandson has eczema also. He has had it for about 2 years now. It wasn't caused by a food allergy, but the doctor has put him on elledel(not sure of spelling) and it usually takes care of the problem. Maybe she can talk to her pediatrician

I breastfed my daughter up until a couple months ago. Her eczema has traveled all over her body, and cleared up in all spots except her ankles and behind her knees. The dr thot it was a food allergy also, but it is so hard to figure out what food is the trigger, esp if breastfeeding. The dr finally gave me prescription hydrocortisone and it has cleared it up. I use Aveeno baby wash for her (when the eczema was on her tummy she would scream when the washcloth touched her-I got new very soft ones). She is on formula now, but the eczema didn't change much since switching to formula.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

K.

Hi J., My son has this since about 6 months old. He is now 3 1/2 yrs old and he only has a brake out once or twice a year now. Your sister has to go and get Aveeno baby wash & shampoo.Aveeno also makes a cream just for babys with eczema.That works she will need to wash him in the soap then dry and then put the cream on.With my son his eczema would be gone the next day. She also needs to watch what is washing his clothes in.I have to make sure i wash my son's clothes before he ware them for the first time.The Dr. has told me that this is another form of astma (sp). My son also can't have any lactose in milk.I hope this helps ..email if you need more info. Dottie

Hey J.,

My daughter is 5 and we have struggled with eczema for her entire life. I know exactly how your sister feels, I too was on that diet, I'm not sure if she was told this but I was told to slowly introduce a new food once a week and see how she reacted to it. As far as taking care of it, we were told to use Dove unscented soap, wash all her clothes in clean and free laudry detergent. Warm baths for 10 min. at most and tons of lotion. She is on steriods right now and that has helped a lot. With the lotion we have tried Eucerin, Curel, and hydrocortizone. Parenting magazine suggested The Body Shops lotion because there are no chemicals in there stuff, and now that is all she will let us use because when she would flair up the chemicals would sting her skin. Hope this helps.

My 15 month old son also has eczema. My doctor advised Eucerin cream as being the best over the counter product. I just started using it last week and it is working wonders!

My one year old has eczema, mostly on his legs and arms. I use the Aveeno Baby soothing relief lotion and body wash. And we only give him a bath 1-2 times a week. We are constantly putting the lotion on him at every diaper change. This has helped, and you can tell if we don't apply the lotion after a couple of hours. We did use the Elidel and 1% hydrocortizone cream at first to help relieve the itch, and that seems to help, and now all we use is the lotion.

My God daughter had it some but nothing to that degree...and food seemed to be an issue it was hard figuring out what it was but we read from a reputable place about yogurt and how the good bacteria would help childhood eczema. We went and got yo baby yogurt...the dha kind with cereal...Farm Fresh OV and FF at Military both have it and Hampton FF too at Mercury near Ft Monroe...the pink labeled one had DHA for brain and a bit of cereal for fiber added it is one of my favorite and the green label it is berry and apple...you get 2 flavors in each pack they really helped...she has it every day..I eat it to because of all the antibiotics I take...it has amazingly helped her...we got some liquid vitamin at the pharmacy with iron it was over the counter I think Walmart...

She has had a couple of boils and recently a sty after being at a play ground I did not clean her hands fast enough she must have touched her dirty hands to her eye...it was dirty out there..she had a blast...she is very sensitive skin wise...she is here 3 days and we eat very healthy..she doesn't eat as well at her grandmas too much junk in the house...junk like cheese doodles and crunchy junk snacks..

I don't know much about eczema specifically, but have had experience with breastfeeding and food allergies. An excellent book is "Is this your child" by Doris Rapp. Case studies, symptoms, how to do an elimination diet.... I've done the elimination diet while breastfeeding. Dropped all forms of dairy, eggs, wheat, corn, and citrus. I was eating oatmeal for breakfast, then meats and vegetables for lunch and dinner. Drinking water. I did drop a few pounds, but made it. Turns out my daughter was not sensitive to dairy, usually the common problem. Not eggs either... it was corn! I'd gorge for a whole day on one food I'd dropped - then wait for symptoms. Her trouble was terrible vomiting/spit up. She stopped spitting up w/in 24 hrs of the start of the diet. Then the day AFTER I had lots of corn she vomited over and over. So I avoided corn products until I weaned her. She would have needed the hypoallergenic formula since corn is a filler in both dairy and soy based formulas.
I imagine that it would take more than a few days to see a change in skin symptoms in a breastfed infant.
Hang in there!
A. W

I don't have experience with the eczema - maybe Eucerine or Aquaphor.
As far as the breastfeeding...my baby has milk allergy so I had to be very strict about what I ate. I was depressed about it at first and it was so difficult to eat packaged or restaurant food. I even cried on our first date night without baby because I couldn't eat anything on the menu - I had to order special.
It does get easier. She will get used to eating strict. It will be easier if she prepares her own food (which is exhausting with baby around), but maybe she can get help for a day and prepare a bunch of stuff ahead of time. Vitamins, water, veggies and enough protein will help her keep her physical strength. As for emotional - just remember that it is for that beautiful child.
Of course, formula is good for babies too. I switched after 5 months and mine is just fine. Your sister may need to use hypoallergenic formula, depending on the kind of food allergy her son has. It's expensive, so there's the tradeoff for weaning.
Best wishes. Remember, if she is trying to help her baby, then she is doing a good job. Even if the eczema doesn't go away, she's doing her part. Whatever route she goes, she's a good mom!

My niece had severe eczema when she was this age. Her pediatrician recommended that we use Cetaphil. It can be used as a soap or a lotion and you can get it at any walmart or drugstore. I would try that along with the diet. Maybe they both will help the baby get better. Now my niece is almost 18 years old and only gets a tiny spot on her elbows when it gets cold and dry in the air. I hope this helped. I know she's gotta be going crazy. I wish her the best of luck.

My 4 year old has suffered with severe eczema since he was a baby. We use Aquaphor the Eucerin cream recommended by our pediatrician didn't work as well as the Aquaphor. I just thought I would throw another over the counter option out there. It seems that some familiies have had success with the Eucerin. The steroid cream works well too but I don't think we could get a prescription for that until he was older. I paid a lot of money for Elidel cream which is a prescription and it didn't work at all. I hope this helps.

I don't have this problem, but I am breastfeeding and can only imagine how tired and drained she is feeling. She needs to make sure she is staying on the prenatal vitamins while breastfeeding - I can definitely tell when I forget to take mine. Also, lots of water every day - AT LEAST 64 ounces when breastfeeding. Last, sleep as much as possible. I am a full time working mom so I know how hard this can be. If she is a stay at home mom she should really try to sleep whenever the baby does. If she works, she needs to at very least, go to sleep very early. For me this meant going to sleep at 8pm every night until my son was sleeping through the night - I still go to sleep that early at least 2 nights a week.

It will get better - especially once they isolate what food is causing the problem.

hi i grew with my brother having austma and my cousin having eczema all their lives but she's going to have to eat right for her child if you want it to go a way my personal oponion it not food allergia someone in your family had to hard eczema or and austma.

I have a 4 year old boy that had lots of food allergies when he was about the same age. I nursed for three months and then put him on Nutramigen formula. It is a hypoallergenic formula and he did great on it. It comes in cans that are half the size of other formula and is twice the price. It was worth every penny.

Hi J.,

I do not know if this is what your nephew is allergic to, but i have a friend whose son's face breaks out the same way and for him it's eggs. There are so many things made with eggs (packaging must be read) Tell your sister to give it a chance if she is feeling ambitious. Eggs are used in most everything!

Eczema: Do’s and Don’t’s:

I wanted to write this because I suffered for so many years as a child with eczema. Mine was very severe as a child but through the years and finally with a great dermatologist that truly had a good handle on African American skin (though I’m sure these tips are good for anyone with eczema) – I was helped a lot. I would like to pass on what I have experienced and learned to help others:

Here are a few of the Do’s and Don’ts with Eczema:

Don’t wear any wool clothing
If you have wool or sisal rugs or carpets – consider removing them – if you cannot – then keep kids off of them
Never use any products with lanolin (which is actually ‘wool alcohol’) or fragrance on your child – that includes lotions, shampoos, conditioners, hair products, etc.
I stopped wearing perfume about 20 years ago (because of my eczema) – and I’ve not missed it – the ‘clean-smell’ still works J
Bathing:
Use fragrance-free soaps or body baths – I use Dove
Never use Dial or any perfumed soap (my mother passionately believed Dial is what started my eczema – and she only used it once!)
If giving baths (short showers are best) – use Alpha Kerri or some bath oil in the water – do not soak for long periods in a tub – it just dries out the skin more
If showering or giving sink baths – apply a good dry-skin, non-lanolin, fragrance-free lotion, shea butter, or bath oil gel – immediately to lock-in moisture into the skin
Try warm (not hot) baths in Aveeno oatmeal bath – helps to sooth the skin some – to stop scratching
Remember – dryness is the enemy of the skin (especially one with eczema) – so applying lotions more than once a day is a must
If there is discoloration due to the eczema – apply pure cocoa butter – over time the skin will even out.

I have friends who have followed some of my tips (especially with the lotions and hair products) and their child’s skin cleared up in a matter of weeks.

I suffered from the teasing of other kids because of my eczema – with the great products we have available today – no kid need suffer today!

I hope this can be of help to mothers and their children. Please share with anyone you think may be able to use it.

M.

"Be everything your dog thinks you are!"

My 4 year old has had it for about 3 years now, and we've tried several different medicines. We were just at the dr a week ago and she told me since its so widespeard on her body that using steroid creams arent good, to go buy a jar of the Eucrin lotion and 1% hydrocortizone, and mix the two together and use it twice a day. So far it seems to be working.