"Eczema Problems"

My son is 16 months old. I use Eucerin, Aquaphore and a prescription hydrocortisone cream. I wash him with the huggies hypoallerginic wash. the eczema went away totally when the weather warmed up. But it still flares up when he gets overheated or when we go on a long car trip.

My son has always had severe eczema. We put aquaphor on any red areas (e.g. behind the knees, elbow, and diaper area) 3-4 times per day. That stuff is wonderful!

My daughter has the same problem and it started at about that same age. Hers was mostly on her bottom and we also also used cortisone cream without much success. It would get better for a couple days and then it was back. I thought it would get better when she was potty trained but it actually got worse (because with panties on she could get to it and scratch). After 3 doctors and several different suggestions (creams, lotions, soap and detergent changes etc) we finally just got 2 prescription creams and while its not an instant clear up, they have helped the most so far. One antibiotic cream (Mupirocin) and one steroid cream (Aclovate). Let me know if you find a miracle product :) Good Luck!

I agree with the PP that said to have food allergy testing done. My son had eczema from birth and finally, 18 months later, we found out he has several food allergies. I'm not saying that is what your little one has, but it would be a good idea to rule it out.

I may be able to help. my son ( who is 2 now) had eczema REALLY bad last summer. it started when he was 10 months and finially stopped around 18 months. anyways after numerous trips to the doctor, i finially begged for a prescription of a higher dose of cortizone cream. He gave me a prescription and suggested a mixture of eucerin cream ( now i got the kmart brand in the tub ) and the prescription of triamcinolon cream 0.1%. i would apply to to my child every 4 hours and especially before bedtime. now take it, he was like a greased pig, so don't put anything nice on her until you can bath her. it worked though. it took a couple of weeks but eventually cleared up. i quit the meds and just used eucerin cream at night. talk to your doctor about getting a prescription and i wish you luck.

My duaghter has that too and we found that Aquaphor works the best. She gets flare ups now and then. Our Dr. also told us that she could have a yeast infection. She perscribed us a cream that worked well too.

Hi B.,

I wanted to see if you still need a solution for your daughter. I am back in Atlanta and can give you a sample of my product. Here is my original response:

I can help with the eczema! I have a natural baby line that has worked on over 15 friends/family who suffer from this. I'm an Occupational Therapist and started my business almost 3 yrs ago to stay home with my kids. Let me know if you want a sample or to get the products, nut free, vegan certified and no chemicals/fragrances. 45 day back guarantee. My clients have seen excellent results, even when the cortizone cream didnt work my products cleared it up within days!
Thanks
K.

The following is a link that could help you. Another thought that comes to me is milk. What kind of milk is she getting? If it's cow's milk, you may want to try something else for a while and see if it goes away. Another thing that is good is coconut oil.

http://www.herballegacy.com/Eczema.html

My daughter started getting eczema when she was four months old, the doctor told me to use Dove Fragarence free body wash, then rub her down with aveeno lotion, and wash her cloths in the baby detergent. I've done that and it helps keep her skin nice and soft. She rarely has flare ups, gotta keep the skin moist. You could also try running a cool mist humidifier at night. Just some thoughts.
Good luck

My daughter has ezcema but she doesn't have it too bad any more. Our doctor suggested the cortisone cream for the small flare ups and gave us a prescription for a steriod cream for the bad cases. Also, the doctor told us to use baby aveeno oatmeal soap and lotion to help stop the itch and replenish the moisture in the skin. She said not to use soaps, lotions, wipes, diapers, or laundry detergent that had dyes or fragrance as these can cause irritation. So far this year my daughter hasn't had any problems, but we still stick to no scents, etc regimen(I think she's growing out of it, too). Seems to really help. Ask about the steroid cream for the really bad cases and then just use it sparingly. Hope this helps.

Aquaphor - my daycare provider first told me about this 16 years ago - my son is now 17, and graduating this week!

At that time you had to ask for it behind the counter, not sure at this time. But, he dealt with eczema also -all over and this helped that and other skins rash, burns, problems. It was great! His eczema got a lot better and seemed to go away with age.

Good luck!

M. B.

43 year old, working mom - twins 26 yrs old (girl/boy), 17 year old son, and 15 year old daughter.

Ask your pediatrician about Elidil cream. It is a prescription treatment for Eczema that I use when I have flare ups, and my brother and sister-in-law use it on their daughters. I'm not sure what the earliest age it can be used is, but it usually only takes a few treatments to clear it up completely. Sometimes I can just use it once and the rash will be gone the next day.

hi B.,

are you sure it's eczema? could it be a yeast infection? my son got one on his bottom at that age and we ended up using Monistat 7 to treat it. if you are sure it's eczema have you tried Eucerin creams or Aquaphor? those are both great at treating eczema patches.

for feet noxema and WHITE SOCKS over knight. I have battled it since I was very young. Tanning UV light helps me 5 mins only on area effected 3 x a week. But your little angel is too young. There is a green bottle in the Baby isle at walmart. WORKS WONDERS!!!!!

My daughter is now 18, but when she was 13 months she started breaking out in a diaper rash that was terrible. After trying all sorts of medicines and creams, someone recommended A&D ointment. To this day is she gets a rash of any sort it is the only thing that gets rid of it. Her rashes at 13 months turned out to be from a juice she was drinking.
E.

My daughter has had it since before she was one, and it is frustrating. I had to exclusively use tide detergent, and make sure she wears cotton everything. I can only use DOVE sensitive soap, or if that's too expensive then use the equivalent generic that's usually sitting next to it. Make sure after bath's take baby oil gel or vaseline and rub her down.....Um.. some days you have to go without bathing her, and just do a sink wash up, cause being in the water alot until you get it controlled, makes it worst sometimes.

I used this soap in chicago, at a beauty supply store call sams on 87th & Racine. I believe you can google it. ANd i also believe he sales it online. It works wonders for excema. My daughter had it in her scalp and everything, and I used this product for shampoo and for bathing her. within a week tops, her scalp was no longer itching and her spots on the various parts of her body were going away. I was at wits end when someone refered the product to me, and might Iadd the lady was a total stranger but Im so glad I stepped out there and listened, cause she only has break outs twice a year now. ANd the best creme is triamcinalone .01%(ointment) Prescribed by the DR. use the soaps I reccommended, put the triamcinalone on there after bathing, and cover body with vaseline or baby oil gel, she'll be god, and you'll be relieved. I promise you....you'll never second guess it again!
P.S. I have excema too, and these practices work on me to this day.
D.~GA(formerly~Chicago, IL)

B.,
I have never had a child with this problem but when a neighbor of mine Nanny went back to England for her 2 week "holiday" vacation I enjoyed wathcing her two very sweet little boys. They were about 15 months and 3 years old. The mother had a very strick food plan for me to follow. I did it with ease but one day I was shocked to find the little on with a raised rash all over his body and he was miserable with itching and scratching.

I could not wait to till his mother returned home and to show her what had happened that day. She took one look and said "You feed him his brother's blueberries?" I thought back through the day and did remember him snatching some blueberries off his brother's plate. I did not think anything about it. He has terrible EZAMA and blueberries bring it on! Also so do many other foods that she does not buy for them anymore. I made sure that he did not get his brother's Blueberries or any other food for the remainder of my two weeks. So I would be highly aware of what your child had eated before the breakout. Some children are just born with specific allergies. Better to learn now than when you are not arround them to deliver the anitdotes. We used Benederyl for the itching and a perscription cream for the rash. It took days to get it back under control. So I would suggest for you little one's comfort to figure out what food or antigent is causing the rash. There is something causing it.

Keep Mothering,
Ms C.

My daughter went through the same thing. I tried the Aveno products and it worked well with her. It gets a little expensive after a while, but I think it will be worth the try.

My son has eczema since he was a few months old , (he is almost 6 now) we went through EVERY product known. I was scared of the cortisone as I was told it thins the skin. We were given Elidel by on Dr then taken away by another, not for children under 2 (heard bad things since then anyway) What we ended up with finally, was a prescription for Acid Mantle with Cortisone whipped into it. Your doctor has to give you the RX, then you find a real pharmacy (not kroger, walgreens) one that makes compounds. Usually they are the small pharmacies in medical buildings. I live in Alpharetta/Johns Creek and they are Concord Pharmacy in the downstairs of the Northside medical campus. They make the compound in a pound jar and it lasts a 6 mo to a year depending on how much you use. The acid mantle (sounds scary) is just a very thick white barrier cream. It is very soft and smooth acid mantle meaning barrier to acid. The small amount of cortisone whipped into it settles down the eczema. It is gentle enough for any part of the body. We have used this for 5 years now and I find we use less and less every year. It is used behind the knees and diaper area mostly, but any place that needs soothing it can be used. Since we had it in the house, I have used it myself, on my daughter who is now 3 since she was born, etc. Ask your doctor, as this has been a blessing for us.
Have a great day.
C. in Alpharetta/Johns Creek

I am a Nana. I have used Eucerin or Natural Shea butter from Health store.

It is probably something that she is eating or drinking; and this will take a while to figure out, especially if she is going to daycare when you take on PRN jobs. Have you associated the flare ups with times that you've been working?

I suggest that you go to The Herb Shop and ask for information that can help you find the root cause. Also, they may carry a product that can help better than cortizone cream until you can find a way to prevent these flare ups.

I would ask the doc to do food allergy tests. My daughter had the same thing and turns out she has a lot of food allergies. She cant have milk, soy, egg and peanuts. Its crazy I know but they can do a blood test at this age and it helps a lot.

Hello B.,

I can relate to your situation with the eczema issues for my daughter (who is 3 1/2) and my son (1 1/2) have very sensitive skin. When my daughter was born she had a bad case of eczema all over her face and breakouts around her ankles, elbows, wrists so her pediatrician at the time prescribed her a steroid cream as well. The tube was expensive, but really helped with the flare-ups. As for the diaper rash I have really had to experiment a little on my own, but I tried making a paste of Bordeaux's Butt Paste and Aquafor and applied with every change and the rash was gone in one day. I still apply it even if their is a slight redness and it disappears as fast as it came.

I hope that this helps you some in trying to figure out how your precious one can be soothed better. Take care and let me know if you try out my suggestion with the Butt Paste and Aquafor. I was ecstatic that it really worked and I've told my other friends all about it too.

Take care,
April

my son started this at about 1 year old. His doctor said eczema is one of the first presentations for food allergies (his are egg, soy and peanut), we had him tested around age 2 and he had severe allergies. He still has the eczema (he is 7), but we can keep it under control for the most part. It flares with spandex materials in his clothes (that doesn't breath well) or when he sweats alot or has something to eat that he shouldn't. The allergist says it will proably go away in his early teens- gosh, I hope so. Another thing that works well to calm the skin is some of the oatmeal bath. You just sprinkle it in as the water is running, but make sure it isn't sented or anything, the Aveno works best.

First, I'd make sure that all the products that you use on her skin are fragrance, coloring, and caustic-chemical FREE. Then try to monitor what she eats; a true elimination diet adds foods back in one at a time waiting several days in between to try to catch an offending food. My sister's issue was with gluten (found in wheat, oats, barley, etc). Try a site that addresses food allergies in little ones: www.askdrsears.com . Finally, coconut oil (the kind you'd get from the grocery store to eat) would be great to protect her skin there from wetness, and helps with yeast and bacteria. Just spread a little on after she's completely dry and clean after a diaper change. I'd stay away from regular baby wipes for a while too. A plan paper towel that you've wet and wrung out works great instead and has no preservatives in it. For ideas for laundry detergents that are truly free of the above offensive ingredients, feel free to contact me: ____@____.com Good luck!!!