Is It Eczema?

My daugeter is 15 months and she started getting eczema a few months back. When we transitioned her from formula to cow's milk it got much worse. I took her off the cow's milk and started giving her toddler's formula and it has REALLY improved... My mom has always said that it seems like there is a link from dairy to eczema. I guess I was sensitive to it when I was young.

Could be.... eczema is usually patchy, red, raised, crusty, sometimes oozing or bleeding. It can come and go or hang out for a long time. It may or may not itch. M yoldest has really really bad eczema, the oozing bleeding patches that pretty much stay around all the time. His used to bother him, seemed itchy and bothersome, but now I honestly think he is just used to it. He doesn't scratch at it anymore, nor does it seem to bother him.

We've had numerous visits with dermatologists, allergists, doctros, etc, and nothing, prescription or \otherwise, has helped his eczema. FInally we found Equate Dry Skin Cream in a white tub with twist on lid at Wal Mart, helps tremendously. Kind of chaps my butt that we spent alll those yeras, all that money on prescriptions, etc when a $5 tub of Wal Mart lotion works.

Its a good idea to show your doctor, sometimes eczema is caused by a food related allergy, or an environmental allergy.

I seen another posted used hydrocortizone on her child... and on her eye! PLEASE don't use hyrocortizone... it is linked to cataracts in the eyes, and it also weakens the skin so its more susceptable to breakouts.

My son gets eczema off and on too. He never seems bothered by it and I've never seen him itch it. His is more of a rash and doesn't get to the oozy stage. We have had success using 1% hydrocortizone cream (over the counter) and Baby Eczema cream (in the baby aisle at Target - I forget the brand) on him after his baths.

Good luck!

My 14 month old daughter has had eczema since she was very small (just as an FYI, maybe you're already aware, but it does have a common link with asthma, which I have, so I am pretty sure she is going to develop asthma as well as she gets older). We saw a pediatrician about it when she was about 4 months old and they prescribed hydrocortisone cream 2.5% strength, but they told me it can sometimes burn when you put it on, especially if the skin is irritated already, so I decided to try the kind you can buy at the store which is 1% strength (I use Aveeno brand), before using the stronger version, and like one of the other moms said, as long as I stay on top of it with a daily lotion, like Eucerin or other fragrance-free/sensitive kind, and apply the hydrocortisone as soon as I see some redness appear, she does pretty well. It has gotten worse lately, perhaps because she's been in the sun more. She does get flare-ups behind her knees (which usually don't seem to bother her, but have on occasion), also behind her ears, wrists, underarms, patches on her legs from time to time and sometimes her face. The pediatrician reassured me that it is even safe to use the hydrocortisone when she recently had a flare-up on her eyelid, that if she rubs a little into her eye, it at least will help her eyelid from being itchy and she won't be rubbing her eye as much anyway. Hydrocortisone is a steroid, so of course it's not something you want to be using more than you absolutely have to, but generally the doctors prescribe for it to be used twice daily. Limiting the bathing and using fragrance-free, sensitive bubble bath helps too I think. Hope this is helpful!

Definately sounds like eczema... The best thing to do is always be preventing it before it happens kinda thing. The minute my daughter's skin is dry we go nuts with the generic Eucerin creme from Walmart (1/3 the price of the name brand) and if I prevent it and stay on top of it we have little problems if I slack off her eczema go nuts.

Too much sun or our freezing dry winters make this worse in our house.

What I do is give my 5 yr.old as few baths as possible in a week. Which is really hard especially right now with playing outside all day. Then immediately after bath I put on Eucerin so thick she is white like a ghost real heavy and thick, then I put on long sleeved-legged pj's and to hold in the moisture and not make our sheets a mess and in the morning she's as good as new. She's had a problem with her hands lately. She washes them alot at school and they were very raw and painful. I took Eucerin and eczema creme from the doctor and put them all over her hands and put socks or stretchy mittens on her hands before bed and that helped tremendously took a few nights to fix her hands though.

I swear up and down dairy makes my daughters eczema worse. This year she's been really pounding the milk down at school and it's been alot worse this year than ever before. I'm thinking of taking her off milk she doens't like it all that much anyways.

My son had something similar behind his ears - the first time we noticed, his ears were stuck to his head with a clear oozy liquid, and the edges were crusty. The skin was red, but the area didn't seem painful - it certainly wasn't bothering him.

It was very gross, but it too seemed to go away with or without intervention.

When we spoke to the Dr. about it, he called it eczema and also recommended Eucerin (though ours was regular lotion consistency). The trick for us seemed to be to put it on pretty thick, thicker than I would do if I was putting lotion on my hands, etc. But, like you, I was never sure if the Eucerin did anything or if it just cleared up on its own.

I would still talk to your pediatrician about it, but that sounds just like what we had, just in a different location.

My son also has generally dry skin elsewhere too - that might be a clue also.

My 3 year old daughter gets a recurring rash in the crease of one elbow. It appears from time to time and doesn't really seem to bother her much, if at all. After it shows up it expands, and gets kind of flaky looking sometimes, but it will go away by itself. Using some hydrocortisone cream sometimes seems to make it go away a little quicker, but it's kind of hard to tell as I don't put it on very regularly. When she went in to the doctor for something else, I mentioned it to the doctor and she said it was probably eczema. She recommended a couple lotions to use and I can't remember for sure the names, but I think Eucerin was one of them.

My pediatrician told me that my daughter has eczema, and it sounds just like what your daughter is having. It is behind my daughter's knees the worst. She didn't really seem to be bothered by itching or anything, but it was red and looked bad, so I brought her in. Here is what I do (pediatrician's orders):

For Bath:
Use Cetaphil non-soap cleanser for skin and hair - it is very gentle, much more so than regular Johnson's body and hair wash.

After Bath:
Use either Eucerin or Aveeno lotion all over body - I use Eucerin when her skin acts up and Aveeno otherwise.
Use Eucerin face lotion to moisturize face.

3 times/day:
Apply 1% Hydrocortisone to bad areas - It is adult maximum strength, but she assured me that it is completely safe to do 3 times a day until it is better.

If you have any questions, email me - ____@____.com - Good luck!

Hi H.!

Could be eczema. Although, sometimes eczema can be a catch all name for almost any rash.

My son has had a dry patchy rash on his arms and legs and sometimes on his cheeks. I thought is was the detergent I was using. Switched to All Free and it got a lot better. Then after a couple of boughts of stomach flu. I noticed his skin cleared up almost completely after he was off milk.

Since then we have given him only soy milk and his skin is beautiful!! I can use any detergent now. Try going dairy free for a while. Milk allergies (not lactose but the protien) tend to show up as skin rashes.

Also, I noticed someone linked it to asthma. There is an apparent link. And my sweet 20mos old did have a asthma attach a couple of weeks ago. I hope it is just a one time thing.

I had eczema as a tween. Mine was oozy and painful on the palms of my hands. I don't remember much of anything helping. Keeping it moisturized may help. Not too many baths and lots of eucerine.

Good Luck!!

My 2 1/2 year old daughter has had eczema almost all her life and it does not itch either. Once in a while it will, but not often and not until she was older. We use hydrocortisone cream on her spots and it seems to help. There are over the counter creams, one called coraid, that have the hydrocortisone in it that works but we have also gone to the dermatolagist and have gotten a stronger dose. Her spots come and go and the doc says it is probably a food allergy. I am not 100% convinced of this because it always seems to get worse when she is wearing shorts and sits on all different kinds of surfaces. So your daughter might have an allergy to something. Anna's worst spots are under her arms and behind her knees like your little one. Good luck

Make sure and bring this up to the doctor! Most doctors don't even think of this...

Dermatitis herpetiformis

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&...

My son is 4 now and has eczema, he has had it since he was about 12 months old. It is exactly as you are describing, and he only gets it behind his knees and on the inside of his elbows. It does seem to sometimes go away on its own, otherwise the dr. just told us Eucerin Cream which you are already doing. It seems like my son's is getting a lot better with age as well. Hopefully this was helpful.

I would buy some vanicream. You can get it at Walgreens or Snyders. It is not a prescription, but is one of the only things that seem to help calm the skin down. It is not like any other lotion. You can just buy a small tube or you can buy a large pump size.

my son has this issue too...they look terrible.
the dr told me it was roseola...which is common this time of year and should just go away on its own...you may want to google it.

both of my boys had eczema as babies and my youngest still flares up if I don't take care of his skin (face and legs). Neither of them were itchy.

J.