Eczema - what can I do?

[Khloeee]

What helped your baby's eczema? My boy has really bad eczema which appeared about a week ago all over his chest, back, neck, cheeks and legs. GP prescribed aqueous cream and we have oilatum bath emollient. I'm putting cream on as much as possible and giving him lots of time without clothes on. I've stopped bathing him every day and am not using any products in the bath apart from oilatum.

It just looks so red and sore and I'm wondering if there is anything else I can do for him?

 

[2016]

My LO just had a tiny bit of eczema on his forhead and I used breastmilk alternately with E45 cream. I was also told to bathe him in cooler baths and use sensitive detergent on his clothes. Sorry I can't be more help.

 

[minties]

Adding oats to the bath can help. Not directly, but put a few handfuls wrapped up in a cloth of some sort, soak and squeeze the oat 'milk' into the bath. It's very soothing.

I would consult with a doctor first on this one, but my cousin is 1 and has very bad eczema, and his parents give him a bleach bath once a month. They put a couple spoonfuls of household bleach into his bath water. Not sure what it does, but it works. The doctor advised them to do this.

 

[sept2010]

Bleach? Woah lol

Anyhoo my lo had cradle cap which is not as serious as eczema but both are caused by fungus... The best thing i hav come across is raw organic coconut oil... Its naturally anti bacterial/ anti virus/ anti fungal... Her CC has cleared nw within a month of usin it.. I personally think it would hav taken less time had she had no hair...you can get it from any good health food shop but i bought mine online either from goodness direct or handmade naturals... I stil use it on lo all over her body after every bath...

Ive evn used it myself during pregnancy when i had a bout of thrush.. Again as u know caused by fungus... It worked anyway!! sorry if that was tmi!!! Lol!! Xxx

 

[hajis-sweetie]

This was the advice I was given for my little girl:

Hydrocort 1% cream twice a day on inflamed areas (only Mon-Fri as needs time to settle)
Emollient up to 5 times a day
Oilatum in bath (apply emollient before bath and after), I was told to bath each day to remove old skin cells as if left they can cause infection.

It is trial and error which emoliient works for your LO. The Hydrocort is short term due to side effects. After use, the emollient keeps up the good work so Hydrocort no longer needed.

Her skin is much better, still very dry but as I said, when we find the right emollient this will settle. hth?

 

[Bumbled Bee]

I'm doing the EXACT same thing as you. The redness really is starting to fade after using the cream the doctor gave me. I'm just going to stick with it. I also started doing an extra rinse on the wash cycle to make sure that all the detergent is washed out of his clothes.

 

[hajis-sweetie]

Good idea about the laundry, i'll try that. Which emollients have u tried? We have used (and written off):
Aqueous, Double Base, Cetraben, Vaseline, Olive oil, Diprobase (ointment & cream, although the ointment was betterthan the cream.

Think thats it!

 

[mystika802]

My oldest son has incredibly bad eczema, he has it everywhere....elbows, knees, back, penis, eyes......we use a lot of oatmeal baths when its flaring up and I have a different cream for each part of his body depending on the sensitivity of the skin. Aveeno makes a lot of really great products and they sell an over the counter cream for eczema you can buy also.

 

[hajis-sweetie]

Yes, people keep telling me that Aveeno cream is good, i'll ask doc. What oatmeal do u use and how?!

 

[mystika802]

Aveeno sells an oatmeal bath, its wonderful!

 

[Khloeee]

Thanks for the advice guys, hadn't thought to try breast milk, and coconut oil could be worth a go, he's got cradle cap too. Aqeuous cream doesn't seem to be doing too much, I'm sure it helps soothe it but I don't think it's going to help clear it up.

I'm also going to remove a few things from my diet because I had no idea until I googled it that it can cause flare ups. Yesterday I had eggs, nuts, spicy food, and red wine - all of which can aggrevate exczema.

Took these pics this morning, poor boy:

https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b179/khloeee/IMG_4470.jpg
https://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b179/khloeee/IMG_4459.jpg

 

[MrsNovBaby]

Poor baby, I started using laundry balls instead of powder and that seems to have helped xx

 

[Seity]

Aww, your poor boy!
I can't really add to what's already been mentioned.
I hope it clears up soon.

 

[JosieM]

Poor wee man! Our LO's was like this about a month ago but more widespread. His cheeks were so raw he needed antibiotics. On the third trip to the docs he got hydrocortisone and an even stronger steroid, sorry can't remember the name, but the stronger steroid cleared up the eczema literally overnight. It's coming back a bit but nowhere near as severe or widespread. We're also using doublebase emollient and in the bath, but we only bath him once a week as daily baths made it worse. Doc has referred him to dermatology so waiting for an appointment. I think the cold weather makes it worse. You can't over-moisturise so try and do everywhere at least 3 times a day, and instead of a bath you can massage the creams in as part of the bedtime routine. I had it all over as a baby and grew out of it in time, though it's back on my hands really bad since having LO prob due to all the handwashing. Good luck!

 

[cw1975]

Oiltum cream off the doctor works for me but the ONLY thing that works on his cradle cap is olive oil and then brush it out with a soft baby brush after about an hour, it does make his scalp go red but it keeps it away for a week or two at a time once I've done this xxx

 

[babybeebee]

Hiya my docs gave my little one hydrocortisone 0.5% for the red areas and doublebase cream and aveeno cream to use. I also bathe her in aveeno bath and oil. It has pretty much cleared up. The odd day she will flare up so I use the hydrocortisone and once it clears I just keep moisturising with aveeno cream or double base.
We did try aqueous at first but it didnt work nor did doublebase on it's own we deffo needed the hydrocortisone to help get rid of the red areas. X

 

[muddles]

We use an Oilatum oil in the bath then put lots of cream on afterwards. His skin is lovely and soft now. On any particularly red bits (usually in creases if he gets any) we put a tiny bit of Hydrocortisone cream on. Also we changed washing powder from Fairy to Persil Non Bio but that was because my H was super itchy, not my baby!

Olive oil is good for cradle cap I have heard.

Edited to add- we were given Diprobase and Aqueous cream but neither made a difference and his skin was still really dry and quite red.

 

[mummy2jack]

very interesting, my son has eczema, as others said, the hydocortisone clears it up but it comes back again so quickly, my HV told me to use aqueous, it made it worse and spread. I am using in between diprobase emmolient and e45. I also have been putting baby oil in his baths rather than the oilatum as that didnt seem to be doin anything. and last coupe of days i have been using vaseline, more so to try stop hin scratching it and taking tops off but this has worked a treat on his cradle cap. Hoe often should e45/diprobase be applied. Currently i am doing it twice a day xx Hope you get something sorted for lo, by the sounds, you have tried a lot of differnt things! xx

 

[RinnaRoo]

Poor guy! Just try your hardest to find what works for him. This is what Gabriel used.
Hydro 2.5% on his angry areas
Cetaphil lotion and wash

 

[lauram87]

my little boy had eczema all over head to toe, health visitor told me to put E45 on him at least 3 times a day, its worked a treat has cleared up nicely so only put it on him morning and night now.