Eczema Tips

 Tips for dealing with Eczema – Babies and Toddlers

Please note, these tips are general and are not from healthcare professionals

– for specific, age appropriate care for your child please consult your GP




 *  Oilatum lotion plus bathing him in oilatum junior and propolis keeps my little boys flares away. 100% cottom & fairy washing powder xx


 *  A pot of redbush tea in the bath will help enormously!! Xx


 *  Our doctor prescribes aveeno oil and aveeno cream and it's good but you have to use it religiously. We then have hydrocortisone for very bad outbreaks but sparingly. I use Fairy washing powder and swear by it. Both I and my other half had eczema as children and I get occasional spots now so I think most do grow out of it.


 * We've had terrible facial eczema with out lo - she was 4 wks old when it kicked off...my advice is don't be afraid of trial and error - moisturise 4 times a day min and ideally within 3 mins of the eczema being wet e.g. wiped face (in our case) or bath to trap the moisture in. Don't skimp or be nervous to use steroid creams if needed and ask for a dermatology referral if you feel your not getting on top of it


 * I do three day cycles of the steroid cream along with baths (with emollient in). Then he has two bath free days with e45 itch relief cream or dermol cream depending on itchyness, and a top and tail style wash. It seems to keep his at bay although it is mainly around his neck and under his chin. His dribble bib works a treat too. I suffered terribly with it for years and was put on every pill, potion and test you could imagine. I am trying to prevent this for the wee man.


 *  My lo is the same he would wake up at night sobbing and scratching so hard i thought he was going to start a fire with his ankles! We use propolis and bees wax which we got from the local bee farm, it works beautifully also what works for us is dressing him in 100% cotton and creaming him up with oilatum lotion at every possible chance you can never put on too much. Also oilatum bath liquid is fab! We only use the steroid cream for flare ups and he hasn't had one of then in months. Its trial and error i am afraid until you find one which works for you but the propolis is amazing and all natural. Good luck. X

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;">oilatum and e45 itch relief cream seem to help out. I'm also very minimal on bathing (twice a week max) and try to avoid bubble bath. When he does have a bath, or goes swimming, I cover the bad patches with emulsifying ointment or Vaseline.


 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> I haven't noticed any difference in my daughter's eczema between different types of nappy. Washing powder and particularly fabric conditioners can cause big problems so we wash her clothes with non-bio and don't use any conditioner.

The best thing you can do imo is to stop flare ups in the first place by keeping the skin moisturised all the time. We've found baths 3ish times a week with bath oil (Oilatum?) and diprobase emollient ointment before bed works brilliantly for our daughter. Annoyingly though, different things work for different people's skin so there is no one answer.

Hydrocortisone cream is only meant to be used for a few days at a time to get rid of flare ups, not regularly long term, I don't think.

I've also heard that oats or red bush tea in the bath water can help but haven't got round to trying either yet.

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<p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm">    <span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:'lucidagrande',tahoma;color:rgb(51,51,51);">The nurses always said he would more than likely grow out of it but I couldn't imagine a time he would be free of it [he always had very bad chests from same age too]. A major worry for me was him getting chicken pox and I fully expected his elder brother would get it once he started school. I tried to find advice on having him vaccinated but legally the medical profession can't advise you so I asked on here and lots of people said as the body is busy fighting the infection the eczema has a break. I was sceptical but my eldest did get a bad case of chicken pox last summer term. His skin did suddenly clear before the spots broke out and he had it quite bad. Miraculously he has been free since! Not sure if it was a coincidence or just his age [18mths] as the chest is much improved too. Nappy wise I don't know but I have used Boots own in the past which I like and maybe they are more sensitive than other brands? Good luck. It is hard to see your little ones in pain, hope you find find some solutions.
 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;">My youngest had bad eczema from about 3 mths, only on his face [cheeks] but used to make me cry some days as it looked so sore and would weep and people would stare. Old ladies in particular would peer in the pram and ask if I was breastfeeding and when I said yes [he never had formula, I breastfed till 18 mths] they'd always say he was allergic to my milk which was ridiculous as he never had a bad tummy or anything. Anyway, we used steroid cream from the doctor. Tried to get him in some sunlight on bright days and a fleece balaclava type thing in cold. As I was feeding I never used perfumed products in my own bath, we had the entire dermol range for him on prescription so I used that too. I also used fairy washing powder for his clothes & bedding and mine. As above he would only bath 2 or 3 times a week max as it dries the skin out.

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> I've heard really good things about Cetaphil (you can get from boots). Something to do with eczema being caused by under-production of ceramides xxx

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> We've just been prescribed emollin spray - it's brill! You only have to put it on once a day and no rubbing in required. It leaves a layer of moister all over the body (looks a bit like baby oil on the skin) My doc wasn't happy about prescribing because it's expensive but we've tried all other creams/ointments so trying the spray - I love it

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> coconut oil or avocado

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> I used Salcura Gentle Dermaspray (all natural) with great effect on my little girl's baby eczema -it got rid of it xx

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Hi there my son had very sensitive skin and wax referred to a skin specialist at the hospital - they prescribed emulsiderm bath lotion which can used on babies, he is now 12 and still has it in his baths - maybe worth asking your gp about it? X

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> I use a jar of Gems dry skin cream. She's on Facebook http://www.gems-cream.co.uk this is her web page. I got it for my son when he was one as was he had a bad patch on his arm. It cleared up so quickly and the jar lasts ages. Its not returned yet will wait until summer but will def buy again. Its all herbal. Have a read of her story on her page see what you think. But I found it brilliant. I didn't want to use anything to strong which is why I chose this. Sceptical at first until I tried it...

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;">My little one had a bad patch on his face. We used lots of creams but have eventually found hydromol ointment to suit him. It's like goose fat so very thick but works well. He was also in scratch sleeves until 10 months when in his cot or the car to prevent scratching himself until he bled!!

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> We were prescribed oilatum junior to add to my little boys bath water which really helped him xxx

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Sounds like you need some hydrocortisone. Do you have some? Just a tiny amount normally works wonders. We use epiderm too and the bath emollient. Dr recently said avoid chocolate (as if when it's Christmas and advent -he said this to my 7 yr old) and use only non bio washing powder. But having tried an array of different moisturisers, epiderm helps dry skin the best on my three and hydrocortisone on the sore red bits

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;">We tried everything for my son and in the end paid to go to private clinic for help. They prescribed cream 6x stronger than anything GP had given us. After 6 months of suffering with weeping, infected sores on his cheeks and chest, the eczema was gone in 3 days! Not saying you need this just don't let the GP off the hook if nothing you try does the trick. They CAN prescribe the good stuff but don't like to because it's expensive and strong stuff. 3 years on and I still use the same cream when he has a flare up, but I only have to do one application and it disappears.

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;">Washing his sheets extra regularly at 60deg might help a bit, as dust mite poo can irritate the skin. My consultant always says to whack on plenty of steroid cream when eczema flares up to calm it down quickly, so that you can go back to just using the normal emollient. On that subject, have you tried different emollients? E45 does sod all for me, but Diprobase works well. I've heard other people get on well with Aveeno. Ointment rather than cream is a good idea at bedtime, but it can be a bit sticky for daytime use.

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> I know it has a 7 year cycle so will grow out if it at 7,14, 21 and so on. Certain foods can cause it to flare up and some children have it more server than other. I taught two brothers who had it. Chlorine seemed to soothe it (as in went swimming) and when the heating came on in school it got better. One of the brothers rarely puts cream on in school as doesn't bother him. There is an organisation set up for parents, and they sent info to the school for all the teachers to be aware of what it is.

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Hello, both my kids have had eczema when babies which has improved as they've got older (now 18mo and nearly 4). The youngest was never that bothered by it but would itch a bit and sometimes make it bleed. We put hydromol on all the time (do you have the really thick one? Like Vaseline) e.g. Up to 6 times a day. We find that baths make it worse so we don't bathe him every day. Hope it improves.

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 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Piraton helps for itching too if they're too like to understand not to scratch x


 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> Monitor what products you use in the house, washing powders, soaps etc x
 * <p class="western" style="margin-bottom:0cm"> I'm 38 and have had atopic eczema all of my life. However. don't worry. most kids do grow out of it. There's no quick fix I'm afraid. In my experience the best thing to do is moisturise moisturise moisturise and keep you eye out for dietary and environmental triggers. oh and if an area does become itchy, try to teach your little ones to lightly tap the itchy area (in a fast motion) rather than scratch it. It does work. Also keep finger nails cut right down and file them so they are nice and smooth.

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