2 Year Old and Splotchy Skin!

Is the splotchiness only on her face? It sounds like the chlorine is drying out her skin. If she has this in other places it may be eczema. My daughter's nephews are black and I've noticed this with their skin. Either way, using an emollient cream without scent should clear it up. It takes a cream made especially for dry skin for it to work. My daughter's sister slathers it on thickly and then spends time rubbing it in.

One brand is Eucerin. There are several generic brands that are very similar and cost much less.

My daughter who is 13 swims on almost a daily basis during the summer because she does competitive swimming during the summer months. She is also a lighter skinned black girl and she gets those splotchy lighter areas that are also quite dry during this time. I make sure that she washes her face thoroughly after she swims and that she moisturizes afterwards as well. I also notice that if she wears a sunscreen on her face it is also not as bad (although she often doesn't even though she is supposed to but I am not always there during their practices). I would suggest that you wait to see if it clears up when she has not been swimming for a while. Also, my daughter does seem to have lighter areas on her face in general, especially on her cheeks but it is only noticeable when she does not moisturize and when she has been swimming a lot.

Make sure whatever moisturizer you are using is for sensitive skin and specifically for the face. Body moisturizers that have scents could be making it worse if it is eczema or psoriasis. It could be eczema, but if it is not clearing up you may need a prescription. I would take her to her regular doctor because whether it's a fungus or another skin condition they should be able to give you a prescription to clear it up.

Be careful using any over the counter creams like cortisone on the face. Facial skin is more sensitive and it's very easy to cause a chemical burn if mixing too many lotions/medications. (Especially on kids.)

My son and I both have very sensitive skin and eczema. Sometimes he would break out only on his face and no where else. I have it on my hands and no where else currently.

Hope you find something that works!

My DD has this, too and it is very common. It is a fungus that grows on the skin on everyone, but shows up more prevalently in darker skin. My daughter is olive toned. It is called tinea versicolor. A treatment that works for her is applying a dandruff shampoo that contains sulfur-salicyclic acid or zinc-pyrithione (see http://dermatology.about.com/od/fungalinfections/a/tineav...) for about thirty minutes and then rinsing off once a day for 7-10 days. Test a small area first to make sure she doesn't have a reaction to it. But, as always, if your mothering instincts are telling you something else, definitely see a doctor.

If the moisturizer is making it worse, it may be a fungus. My son came home from camp with one on his hands. A friend of mine looked at it (on a lark) and suggested fungus. My youngest was a baby at the time and had some prescription antifungal cream and it cleared it right up. Is it cracked or flaky?

I do not know much about dark skin, we are pretty pale around here, so I am not sure I am much help. I do think a trip to the Dr may be in order.

if it's a fungus I recommend Nizoral Shampoo. I get really bad dandruff caused by a fungus and this is the only thing that works. It contains ketokonazole (spelling) which is prescribed in higher doses for treating fungal infections.