Itching & Scratching

My daughter was born with exema, the only thing that I have found that works fast on her is this over the counter medication called baby exema cream, it is in a greenish tube and can be found usually at walmart or rite aid, if you cant find it ask a pharmisist. Also as long as you keep a cold compress on him the itches usually go away after a few minuits. I never could get the oatmeal baths to work. You dont want to slather on a thick lotion ither that makes it worse because the skin cant breath. Try a lite lotion that you have to keep applying like every hour to keep the shin hydrated, and the less clothing he can wear the better for the skin. My daughter is almost eight years old now and that cream is wonderfull!!!!! And try the vitiman e pills for the scaring, not the ones you swallow, the ones you break open. It is hard to get a doctor to do allergy testing on a child so young, they usually say to just write down what the child is eating. But in sever cases the parent might want to push or find a new doctor. Good luck.

M.,
I would really consider laundry soap, shampoo, body washes etc as a cause to his itching. If it is exzema what they put in these products will only make it worse. I have a mixture of lotion and some oils that would relieve the itching and redness. Plus I can share with you where I get my laundry soaps etc for my family to avoid these break outs.

Wow! poor baby!
My son just had allergy testing done, he is 2.5 We were going to do it at 20months (he has chronic cough syndrome) but we ended up going to a GI specialist etc....but we eventually made it there. The Dr didn't say ANYTHING about not being able to go. In fact he has been encouraging us to get it done. And i am so glad i did!
I suffer from Eczema and it sounds like he has it really bad. They make prescription creams for that. My daughter 6.5 months old just showing signs of eczema and the dr sent in a prescription of a strong cortizone cream, prescription strength. It cleared it right up!!
You could maybe do some research online about it and give it to the parents?!
Good Luck M.!

Son has had eczema since he was a baby. Since nothing seemed to work on it, the dr prescribed elidel, a prescription rx. We tend to use it more in the wintertime. Aveeno baby lotion with the word eczema on it also works wonders. I slather him everywhere everytime I change his diaper. (That's how I remember to do it multiple times a day.)I've really noticed a difference as he's gotten older. Unfortunately, at 2 he developed allergies to pets. He use to be able to play with out bunnies but now can't do so. Also, dogs licking him irritate his skin.

Hi M.! that poor child.. well, my experience comes from both growing up with allergies and eczema, and now my baby who is 8 months old has both too. His eczema is on the fold of his arm, a little behing his knees, and around his ankles. It sounds like the parents should stay away from anything and everything dairy. cheese and yogurt definitely!! I've taken my son to an allergist.. he was only 6 months at the time. At that age they do a blood test to determine allergic foods, etc. I haven't given him the blood test yet, I just haven't had the heart to take him and get blood drawn. And just a tip about aquaphor... in my own experience it's made my eczema worst. Sometimes the oil based products just mask the "hot spots" and make it more itchy. oatmeal baths are a good suggestion! there is this cream that works wonders!! it's called Yube. it doesn't have any steroids in it and has worked wonders for my son and me. Another homeopathic option is Emu oil. (yes, the bird) just google emu oil and ezcema and a ton of stuff will come up! hope this helps! I know first hand how hard it is growing up with ezcema.

Hi M.,

I feel for the little boy in your care. My son also has eczema and has had it since he was about 8 months old. The allergist can get blood tests done on him. Our allergist was able to find many allergens that affect my son: eggs, wheat, oats, peanuts, etc...(the list goes on!) I would advise that the parents switch to another allergist who is willing to do more for him. It's important to find the real things that trigger him to break out.
As for feeding him, just watch him carefully and always read the labels. If he's breaking out with the cottage cheese and yogurt, then stop feeding those to him. Also, sometimes foods can be processed on the same machines as peanuts, eggs, etc.
Food coloring can also be the culprit.
When we bathe our son, we use Cetaphil cleansing bar. Another that we've used is Johnson & Johnson's Purpose soap bar. To moisturize, we use Aquaphor too. For shampoo and conditioner, we use California Baby and this product only uses hypoallergenic ingredients. (We buy ours at Target. I believe they have a website as well).
Always keep him cool because children with eczema have skin that doesn't do well with sweat and hot weather. We like to carry around an extra washcloth wrapped around an icepack in case he gets hot. And having one of those portable battery operated fans helps too.
Play-Doh is made of wheat, you may want to make sure he's not allergic to that if you have that in your daycare. (But we don't know if he is allergic to wheat). So if you'd like a wheat-free recipe, I have one and would love to share it with you.
And you may want to ask the parents to have an epi-pen junior in case of emergency situations. If he ever gets into peanuts and has an anaphylactic shock, you can administer it to him.

Sorry this is so long, but it's an idea of what bases to cover when you're caring for a child with allergies and eczema.
Hope it helps!

Pushing testing will not really do any good. Especially since he pretty much sounds like he's allergic to everything. What they need to focus on is treatment. If the Doc. looks at him and his scabs from irritation and still sends him home with the same stuff, they need a new Doc.