Eczema AD

I found a very strange solution, Apricot Scrub, when my son was just a few months old & everything the pediatrcian recomended made it worse. I used it on my sensitive skin instead of soap & when I tried it on his tender baby skin, the eczema cleared up in a matter of days. He is now 4 & I use apricot scrub for 90 % of his baths & have had no problems. I have found that when he spends a couple days with Grandma who uses sensitive skin Dove that his hot spots start to break out to this day. I did try the milder version of Apricot Scrub, but it didn't work like the original. My best friends son is 2 & she has also found it helps.

My 3 year old has eczema. After her bath I immediately apply the thick Eucerin cream while her skin is still wet and then let her air dry. That seems to really help.
I also just bought the Eucerin spray which she loves.

Try the arbonne product line. IT WORKS!!! Call Melissa ____@____.com have a line of baby products that work like a charm as it is important that what you put on it does not contain mineral oil. My son had problems with Ezcema until Arbonne. Now it is gone! Plus, Melissa has some great stuff for you as well....

Good Luck!

I have found a company that makes an AWESOME lotion that has been tested over and over again and is proven to help with eczema - I'd love to tell you about it - so feel free to visit my website, fill out the info form and I can call you off of that. (so we can talk about it over the phone...it's easier to explain over the phone...)

Looking forward to hearing from you! www.healthyhome4family.com

Hi M., First of all how long have been using these products? It may take awhile to see results. Also, I would call doctor and let him know you see no results.If you feel that this is not helping, get another doctors opinion.Also, congratulations on your baby, maybe you were under alot of stress at the time or it could have been your husband that was having the problem. Don't be hard on yourself, just enjoy life with your son.

M.,
I have Eczema and was using all kinds of ointments to treat it, but it just made it worse, so my dermatologist did some test and found out that I was allergic to neomycin, the #1 ingredient in Neosporin and some other ointments.
You should ask your dermatologist to check to see if your son may be allergic to something in the cetaphil cream.
Good Luck! L. E.

M.,

I just read the many responses and am surprised that so few moms have been advised by their pediatricians to check for ALLERGIES as the cause of the eczema. I have a 23 year old daughter who began exhibiting signs of eczema at about 6 months. We went to dermatologist after dermatologist with little luck, until finally someone told us that allergies, eczema (and asthma too) are "related," and we needed to figure out if she had allergies to get control over the eczema! If allergies are the root cause in your situation, you may be able to eliminate outbreaks by identifying the allergens and elimating them as best you can.

In our case, it wasn't anything she TOUCHED. Food allergies were the main culprit - we didn't even know she had food allergies! We had to start over, introducing one food at a time to see the reaction. It turned out she is allergic to dairy, eggs, most nuts (especially peanuts though) and citrus. All food with dairy or eggs had to be removed from her diet, and we had to learn to read ingredients lists, looking for pseudonyms for diary (like lactose and caseine). Once we did, though, eczema was gone and so was a lot of cranky behavior.

Other triggers: laundry detergent (buy the hypoallergenic or "FREE" versions), soap & shampoos (use Aveeno, Dove or one of the other products suggested here), and believe it or not, weather. Cold weather chapped skin became eczema for our daughter. Hot weather heat rash too. There's not much you can do about this, other than stay cool (literally and figuratively) and be liberal with the body lotions and creams after and between baths.

A couple of last-resort things when eczema just won't heal: (1) put preferred cream or ointment on eczema and then wrap the area in saran wrap and tape it in place. Leave over night if your child will tolerate it. This is called occlusal and it forces cream deeply into the skin to facilitate healing. Obviously do not do this on the face. (2) Anti-biotics. Once in awhile, the broken skin hosts some sort of staff infection, and needs antibiotics to clear up. (3) In a really no-win scenario, we've resorted to a very short course (one week) of oral steroids. I tried hard to avoid that, but over the years, we've done it five or six times. There is a blood test for steroid levels, and I was paranoid enough to have it administered to my daughter - apparently it takes a lot more steroids than she had to have a negative impact.

You might also be interested in the web site run by the National Eczema Association. I joined (free) to get a monthly newsletter with the latest medical and non-medical treatment information. Here's a link to their kids' info. http://www.nationaleczema.org/lwe/children.html

I hope some of this helps. With any luck, your child will outgrow this in a few years. Many do. Feel free to contact me personally if you want some been-there, done-that support. My email is ____@____.com.

Hi M.,
Your son's dermatologist did give him a prescription cream to apply, correct? My son had some Eczema at a young age and was given a prescription cream which is a steroid, I cannot recall the name, but it is common therapy. I also found to stop using baby wipes, even the unscented ones and do not use soap, unless absolutely necessary - even the baby formulas.. and it had helped tremendously. My son has grown out of the Eczema, at least so it seems.. but he does have sensitive skin on his face (that is where his Eczema was as a baby). He is 4 yrs old this week. He had the majority of skin problems and sensitivity in his first 18 mos. I hope this is of some help to you. Your baby should have a topical prescription cream for Eczema, and keep away from the skin lotions, baby oil and wipes and it may calm his skin down, though Eczema is an on going condition to my knowlege, my child seemed to grow out of it. He never had the scabby kind of Eczema though... just alot of irritation, dry rash, the doctor diagnosed it as Eczema, regardless.
Good Luck and CONGRATS! ---I almost forgot--- OATMEAL baby washes, cream etc--- AVEENO with Collidial (s/p) Oatmeal... That was a help for me.

I have a 1-year-old who has struggled with eczema since birth. i swear, there should be a support group for mothers of babies with this problem...it is so difficult to find anything that works!! My daughter had it ALL over her face and torso..it was sooo sad!!! but, like the other mother who wrote in said, we only use dove unscented bar soap to wash her, and we only use all free and clear detergent. We found that Elidel did not really help, and now it has this scary black box warning about causing cancer-yikes! My dermatologist gave her this stuff called Desonide. It comes in ointment form. We only have to use it when she breaks out, so it's not like an every day thing, which is nice. After a bath, while her skin is still damp, I cover her in Cetaphil (it really is the best...i found tha Eucerin actually made her worse, just so you know). If she has any rough spots, I apply the Desonide. You may want to look into any dairy procucts your baby might be getting. We foud that my daughter actually has a very severe dairy allergy, which, apart from all of the soaps and detergents, seemed to make it flair up. I think that eczema almost always has more than one cause, which is so frustrating. It's like a little mystery that you have to solve every day. A word of comfort for you: at just over a year, my daughter is much, much better. Think the problem really peaked between 5-9 months, and since then has been on the decline. It will get better! They adapt to their environments. But I would advse looking into the dairy thing. Hope this helps!!!

My son who is now two has had Eczema since about 2 months as well. I tried the Cetaphil bath soap and lotion and while it seemed to help with the overall dryness and iritation in the beginning it didn't help in the problem patches like his wrists, elbows and crevices in his arms and behind his knees. My doctor ended up having me try Ellidel which helped for awhile and then as he got older he had several really bad patches on his wrists that the Ellidel didn't help with. They prescriped a higher strength ointment which cleared it up within a couple of days. Unfortunatley the Eczema is something we deal with on a daily basis, it comes and goes. I ended up switching to Aveno Baby Soothing Cream (Dark blue and cream container)it worked better than the Cetaphil and is much cheaper. I put that on him everyday. My doctor also suggested that when the spots get to bad that Neosporin will help heal it as well. They say some kids grow out of it eventually, I hope my son does as well because it is a constant battle to stay on top of. We have had some really bad bouts this summer as his allergies have flare up he tends to get even more bad spots and he scratches like crazy!!!! Hang in there and I hope this helps.

Hey M., i am a mom of a 2 1/2 year old who has battled eczema with my son. I found that taking him off of cows based milk was the key. He takes soy. So maybe a soy formula. And I try to limit dairy products. I also like Arbonne products and creamy vaseline works well. Our dermatologist told me that he didnt need to bath everyday. The more baths the more it can dry out his skin. Hope this helps.
S.

Hi M.,

My daughter was diagnosed at 4 months with eczema. She had to change her entire diet. At 11 months, she started breaking out. There's nothing really to "cure" Eczema and the only thing that creams and medicine help with is to keep it from itching. My daughter had to outgrow it, and some kids never do. Try Eucerin, it'll help relieve the itching alot and lavendar w/chamoille baby wash should help from drying out the skin. My daughter was about a year and a half old before she cleared up and was able to finally drink cow's milk (before then, she was on Lactaid). Hope this helps!
A.

M.-
I see you have gotten a lot of suggestions. Please please please do not use the steroid creams on your baby!! I have a baby and the best thing you can do is use non-toxic products and this awesome lotion that is not expensive at all.
Please call me and I'd love to give you more information!
D. at ###-###-####

I know you've had a lot of response to this inquiry, if you're still searching for an answer I have more info for you regarding Arbonne's Baby Care Line, and how you can order it for yourself for 35%-50% off; no obligation, but if you and your little guy are still suffering, I'd be happy to send you a sample packet you could try just to see. I also have unbelievable before and after pics of how amazing this baby care line is for eczema. I pray he's doing better already:)
C.

MY SON HAS THIS TOO ALTHOUGH HE IS 10 YEARS OLD BUT HAS HAD IT SINCE BABY VASEALINE HAS HELPED ALOT..

I have eczema on my left arm by my elbow. The doctor gave me Elidel to use. Now they say it can cause cancer. So, I just use over the counter anti itch creams. Like Benadryl.

My little one has eczema as well. We started treating it when he was about that age, too. His pediatrician recommended using hydrocortisone cream (1/2%). It works like a charm. You can get it at most drug stores over the counter. You just rub in on the bumpy areas once in the morning and once again in the evening. (Make sure you rub it in really well.) His always clears up in just a couple of days. Since your son is so young, you need to use the 1/2% since it has a steroid in it. And you shouldn't use it every day... just for a few days at a time. My son is now 13 months and rarely gets a flare-up, but when he does we use the 1% now. His pediatrician also recommended not giving him a bath every day... every 2 or 3 days is fine. Bathing too often can dry out the skin and cause flare-ups. She also recommended we not use dryer sheets for his clothes because that can irritate the skin as well. So she said to use Dreft laundry detergent in the washer and not to use a dryer sheet at all for his clothes, towels, bedding, etc. She said that some soaps can irritate and dry out the skin, too, so she suggested using unscented Dove soap (for adults) when we give him a bath. We still use baby shampoo on his hair, but we use the soap on a washcloth to wash his body. Doing all of these things, although it sounds like a lot, really helped. Like I said before, my son's eczema rarely flares up and has been doing really well for the past 4 or 5 months. You may try making one change at a time if you don't want to change everything at once. Anyway, I hope this helps.

-D.

A Little About Me:
I'm a 25 year old SAHM of a beautiful 13 month old little boy named Tyler. He is my pride and joy and I love being his mom.

My daughter's been battling eczema for the last 2 1/2 years. She's almost 3 years old now. Her pediatrician said that even though there are several treatments out there, most of the time it's just something they have to outgrow, typically by 6 years old. My daughter's gets better and worse, mainly with the weather, but it hasn't cleared up yet. The dermatologist we saw said to put hydrocortisone ointment, not cream, on it. We'll just have to wait and see!

Stop putting Cetaphil on your son! I have a 7 month old who has eczema also, and I have gone thru tons of different over the counter and prescription medications. What you need to do is ask your dermatologist to prescribe either Triamcinolone (sp) or Elodol (sp). Both of them are strong steroid medications, but they are the only ones that can eradicate the rash. Once that is gone, though, you can't just stop putting something on his skin. You have to gradually wean him off of the steroid, and then use something mild like Vaseline or baby oil to keep his skin moisturized. Keeping him moist will keep the eczema at bay.

Also, you might have to take him to a allergist. Children with eczema have triggers that will cause them to break out (your sone is going to have this skin condition for a while). You need to see an allergist so that you can keep him away from the things that cause him to break out. Better to know what they are so that you can do so.

I have suffered from asthma and allergies and eczema growing up, and my younger sister has the same problems. Now my son is going through it, and I know it is frustrating to see him suffer and your worried that he'll scar. Don't fret, just remember to find out what he's allergic to and stay away from it so that you won't have to use such harsh treatments to cure him.

Our pediatrician prescribed Aristocort. He said sometimes it takes a little time to find something that works. Luckily, this was the first thing we tried and it did work. I had to apply it 3x daily for first week or so, then whenever I it looked like there would be a flareup, I would apply and it would prevent it from occurring. Dr. also had me switch to Eucerin lotion (original). I never used any products with additives like scents, chamomille, lavender, etc. You find these in wipes, lotions, shampoos, etc. Pedi said what I was doing was good because that could also help limit eczema flareups.

Hope you find something soon!

My son battled Eczema when he was little. We found that an over the counter hydrocortisone creme seemed to work best along with an oatmeal based lotion after bath time. You should check with your dr. before using the hydrocortisone creme on your 4 month old to be sure it is safe. Our dr. prescribed elidel which worked well but is about $50 per tube after insurance. We have been told by our dr. that usually kids grow out of the eczema rash but then develop seasonal allergies which our son did. Good luck.

D.

My daughter had/has terrible eczema. This is how I control it and currently she hasn't had a break out in a little over a month. I bath her every other day with Oil of Olay body wash -- yes the adult kind. I thought it was weird too. You have to get the kind for sensitive skin. When I was using the baby soaps and lotions she was so broke out. After her bath, while still wet I rub baby oil all over her then follow up with Eucerin Calming Cream. That's it! She hasn't broke out since I started with the Oil of Olay. Before I was just using the baby wash, then the Eucerin and nothing. I also used the Ccetaphil and there was no difference. If you try this method let me know if it works for you. ____@____.com -- Also I use Johnson's shampoo for her hair and haven't had any issues with that. Hope this helps! Oh and also, I have to use the laundry soap for babies -- Dreft. I used to just use whatever we used but once I changed all of these items we are eczema free!

my sons sister has eczema like you wouldn't believe... the thing that seemed to help her when the prescription stuff didn't was aveeno lotions. try goin back to your doctor and telin him what he gave you isn't working.. they will give you a different med

Hi. I'm also a first time mom and my daughter is one year old and was diagnosed with eczema when she was 3 months old. Believe me, it's the hardest thing i've ever had to deal with. I've been to several doctors, two different dermotologists and she still suffers from it. I also think it has something to do with the weather. I've tried Elidel and every other ointment you can think of. I've learned that whenever you use the ointments, if you use it for more than 7 days at a time then it can thin out the skin and also their skin gets immune to it. I give her a bath every night with ivory bar soap, apply the ointment to the bad spots every other week, and then lubricate her whole body with any kind of cream that doesn't have fragrance. (aquaphore, cetephil, eucerin, vasaline)(anything thick and creamy that her skin with absorb. Also the detergent I use is called All free and clear. No dyes or fragrance.
Good luck and i hope this helps
K.

M. you need to find a spa or a clinic that does light therapy. Light therapy is a proven way to treat eczema. I don't know of any places off hand. Good luck

My daughter who is now 2yo had eczema since she was 1 month old. We struggled with finding any relief. Went to three different pediatricians. They recommended cortisones, eucerin, aveeno, and cetaphil but no relief. It was very painful to see her scratched herself into a secondary infection. I sent a photo of her eczema to a close friend of mine who is a pediatrician in another state and she prescribed an antibiotic and gave me a sample of elidel. The result was almost immediate. When my daughter was 6 months old, we went to another pediatrician, Dr. Winburn from Johnson county pediatrics, who is awesome. Dr. Winburn prescribed zyrtec and elidel. We used elidel almost daily for the first few months but now only used it once in a while but more during the winter months. Our regimen now is to use Cetaphil lotion twice a day and use elidel when she scratches (probably 2-3 times a month).
Keep in mind, Elidel is only prescribed for those over 6 months old. Also the FDA had a black label warning for Elidel due to concerns that it may be cancer causing. I've spoken with my colleagues who are pharmacists and pediatricians and they all stated that the research data used was not conclusive. Our pediatrician also said she spoke with someone who does that kind of research and said that it is not a concern as long as you use elidel as prescribed for eczema and not for psoriasis. I hope this helps.

I recommend Burt's Bees either the Carrot Lotion or the Milk and Honey lotion. When my son was 2 (now 6) he had it all over his belly and on his back. My daughter when she was a baby had it around her belly too and her hands. I used both lotions and it seemed to go away. My sister in-law sells Mary Kay and she uses the Night Hand Cream on her son's hands. I have used it on my daughter's hands but she sucked her thumb so I had to wait until she was asleep to put it on. That helped too.

my four yr. daughter, halle also has eczema...we have been treating it for 2 yrs...it is a good idea to try to find the trigger...as it is a skin allergy....my daughter had prick testing done to try to find out what she is allergic to...she is now on allergy drops(better than shots for young ones)...immune therapy should help her body build a resistance so she will eczema free soon...as far as treatment now...use ivory soap and emu oil every night(now matter if there is no flare up)...bathing everyday helps also...the changing seasons really flare the skin...also the medicine elidel as been black flagged...and is now NOT suitable for children...i found this out after using it for 8 months...the cetiphil is good stuff...this conidition makes you feel helpless...i hate it....halle, has been known to awake during the night crying with frustration at her itching knees or wrist...i hope i have helped...

I am a HUGE fan of ARBONNE and have had people use it on their children w/ Eczema with great success.

Wow - there are certainly a lot of babies with eczema. I'll just tell you what we used in case it is different then others and you begin to experiment. I agree that allergy is usually the trigger. It is however difficult to determine the trigger and testing is not done on young ones in my area for eczema. We used cetaphil cleanser (actually Walmart has a generic - bottle exactly the same shape - ingredients exactly the same - this is what we used - very pricey) as our "baby soap". This prevented the flareups. We used cetaphil moisturizing cream (the one in the tub - not in a tube - again Walmart has a generic that we switched to and it worked just as well) during dry skin periods. If a patch starting flaring up even a bit, we put quite a bit of the cream on it and sometimes it got rid of it. If the patch got out of control, we would use aquaphor healing ointment to see if that would work on the patch. If that didn't work, we would use prescription hydrocortizone cream to clear up. It wouldn't take long. Our ped said to use the prescription cream sparingly. Hordrocrotizone cream thins the skin over time, so it isn't something you want to use constantly if you don't have to. I'm more pro-natural treatment anyhow. If you use any homeopathic treatments, hylands makes an eczema remedy. My son is 6 - he has pretty much outgrown this tendency toward eczema spots as he has aged and by following this regimin. In the winter, spots will flare but the prescription cream is usually only necessary a few times to get it clear and then keep up on the preventive regimine. If you baby is taking formula, you may want to try a different protein type (i.e. soy vs milk vs whey). Carnation Goodstart is the whey one I know of. Sometimes formula or milk or soy is a pretty common allergan. Good luck managing this - it will get better with preventive measures. Clearing it up is just a little more difficult. Our ped always told us, no more baby soaps and creams - it's just a marketing tool. To this day, we use cetaphil or dove bar soap since he is older. S.

My son also has eczema, it's not a severe case, and seems worse during his seasonal allergy troubles. I have switched him from using baby soap to a wash made by Eucerin. It's call Baby Aquaphor and is a soap-free wash. It seems to be less irritating to his skin at bathtime. I would also suggest using Eucerin calming creme. It really helped my sons outbreaks...we also stopped giving him a bath every other day and went to bathing him every third day. The water which we thought was helping, was just drying him out more. If you have hard water, you may want to look into water softening treatments. We had a terrible time with our water and his skin when we lived in TX.

Hope this helps.

My son is 3 years old and has had Eczema all his life. The creams the doctors gave us help a little bit, but not much and they burn when we put it on him. However, my grandmother told me about this fruit they used to eat when she lived in Singapor called Mangosteen. It's been known for its healing properties. She said that a doctor has actually made a juice with it and is selling it she gave me the website. Its expensive but it has helped amazingly with my son. We use that along with oatmeal baths and every now and then when he has a bad flare up we'll use the cream the doc gave us. The juice is expensive, but if it keeps that from getting as bad I'm willing to pay. Connors feet would get so bad they'd crack and bleed. Oh, and when your son is old enough watch the grass. It causes Connor to break out big time. http://johnnie.gomangosteen.net/johnnie/index5.html

My oldest daughter had a terrible time with eczema. We used Eucerin lotion and it worked really well. Pretty expensive, but worth it. Also, rinse his clothes at least twice to be sure to get all the soap out. And make sure anything you use (soap, lotion, etc.) on his skin has no dyes or artificial fragrance. Arbonne also has a really great baby line that has lotion and baby bath with no dyes or fragrance. You might try that. The good news is that there is a really good chance he will outgrow it. My daughter had a horrible time until she was about 4 years old, and it all but disappeared! She still has one stubborn spot on the inside of one elbow that flares up from time to time, but we use the Arbonne lotion and it calms it down. Good luck and congratulations on your baby boy!

are you still using baby soap? our son had problems with it,

but I have a friend that has a 25 year old and the only thing he can use is baby magic

and my sisters son that is 24 was getting dry skin from the laundry soap. she had to use a certain brand, some off brand. now that he is married he still has the problem but they have bought one of those washers that use very little soap. ( a front loader )

I have the problem on my feet, have tried all kinds of stuff from the doctors, they even sent me to a special dermatologist, and at time it heals up and other times no matter what I try it does not, I try to keep them covered and as soon as I take a shower put the medicine on.
My point being that the stuff your doctor gave you might be good and normally work but it might not work on your kiddo, and it could be something you wash with that is helping to make it worse

B.

anyway just my 2 cents =)
being a mom is the best job in the world. we tried for years now have two a 9 year old and a two year old

Hi M.,

My name is C. and I have actually have some great products to use for baby Eczema. I tried alot of different things on my daughter when she was little and Arbonne baby care was the only thing that really helped her skin. It also took care of her cradle cap. I have seen some really great results with the line. I am now a consultant with the company - If you would like a free sample to see if it helps, let me know.

Hi! Both of my children had Eczema. My 1st child had the worst case of it starting at 2 months. Her doctor wouldn't treat it much. He was happy with just getting it not to ooze but was still red and itchy. The second doctor gave her a prescription steroid cream and oral Claritin. It completely cleared up in one week. The Claritin kept it from itching and this made the biggest difference. It would return if I stopped the meds. Then after she was 2 y.o. it went away without any medications. My 2nd child had a much milder case but I knew how to treat it so I didn't let it get as bad either.

But my advice for you is to be persistent. There are several different creams avalable and maybe a different one would work better for your son.

K.

I haven't found anything that will make it completely go away but I use Gentle Naturals Eczema Baby Wash and Lotion. It helps.

My daughter had eczema when she was a baby as well. That's what started me on my journey into using all natural products. I began researching what was in the baby products I was using (Johnson & Johnson) on her and was horrified. We tried using something the doctor gave us as well and it just irritated her more. I found that the two main ingredients to stay away from are sodium lauryl sulfate (sudsing agent in cleaners) and any type of parabens (such as methylparaben) in lotions. It will cost more but it's worth it! I guarantee you will see a difference. Go to either Wild Oats or Whole Foods and get the all natural baby products. They have quite a few. I really like Aubrey Organics. They are one of the most gentlest. (www.aubrey-organics.com) But, there are lots of other good ones. Get a good shampoo/soap and a lotion. You'll be so happy you did!

M.