Infant Eczema - your experience/help/suggestions. Help!

I'd love to hear if anyone else has had a similar situation or what worked with infant eczema. This is our story. . .at my son's 3 month check-up, the doctor noticed a small patch of eczema on his elbow. She told us to use aquaphor or a similar lotion. Didn't help. At 6 and 9 months, she told us the same but to mix it w/cortaid. She also said to lather him really well when he was still wet from his bath and use 'free' soaps and detergents. Didn't really help. In the past month, it has remained on his one arm, but now he has it on his neck. Last night, we noticed his entire back up to his scalp was covered with it. It has been chilly here. I know the weather doesn't help. I'm calling the doctor on Mon. to get back in. But, I just wanted to be 'armed' with more information before I go. He is now 10 months and he has it on his arm, neck, chin and back. Poor guy.

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Asked by have2travel at 1:36 PM on Oct. 25, 2008 in Babies (0-12 months)

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Hi , one of my twins(ALLIE ) has it .I use Phillips Milk of Magnesia. No lotions, and when I bathe her I only use a drop of soap to wash her hair. When I dry her I just pat her dry and use a q-tip to rub the M.O.M on each spot , let dry and put on pj's..Hope this helps:)

Answer by twotwinsmom at 1:52 PM on Oct. 25, 2008
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Well my little guy who is 5 months old broke out in litle rough dry bumps and it was really itchy for him. It is all over his little face and ears. My Dr. said use hydrocortozone 1% and don't use soap on him when I bathe him and let him soak in the water 20 min when he bathes and if I had to use soap use just a little dove. Then he said to only use eurcerin lotion. Well all that stuff wasn't working really well and so my Mom came to watch him the day after the Dr. and she sprinkled a little baking soda in a warm glass of water and then dip a washrag in it and just started to dab the treated water on his face, it was like instant relief for him. I then that night sprinkled it in his bath water and was really careful not to get it in his eyes and it is really helping, that and the eurcerin lotion.

Answer by SheriSanchez at 2:02 PM on Oct. 25, 2008
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My daughter had it from about 6 months. Mostly dry itchy bumpy skin with some red raw spots behind her elbows and knees. Our ped reccomended Dove white bar soap to bathe, eucerin lotion to follow and to wash her clothes in tide free with second rinse. On the raw spots we put hydrocortizone. It has cleared up for the most part

Answer by vsrillo at 2:48 PM on Oct. 25, 2008
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Another great plus to breastfeeding is the use of breastmilk. Put some breastmilk on the eczema (by breastfeeding the chances of 'getting' eczema are reduced drastically) it helps tremendously!! Also the less you bathe those areas the better, weird but true.

Answer by Anonymous at 4:22 PM on Oct. 25, 2008

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My son had really bad eczema, and I got a precription for triamcinolone acetonide ointment USP .1% It worked wonders. He was older than your child, so I don't know if it would be an option, but you could ask the doctor about it. I tried everything else, lotions, 15 min baths every day, a bath every few days, mineral oil, hydrocortisone, etc. Nothing worked except that ointment.

My son would scratch at the eczema like crazy (it was on the insides of his elbows) so I put snaps on some of my hubby's old socks and snapped the socks to the sleeves of one of my son's shirts so that he couldn't get them off, and he wore those for a week until the eczema had healed.

Answer by degsyuna at 6:57 PM on Oct. 25, 2008
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Avoid milk and milk products, try epsom salt baths or a combo of epsom salts and baking soda in the bath (similar to the milk of magnesia suggestion since both are magnesium-based), use Gentle Naturals Baby Eczema Cream after immediately after baths while the skin is still damp (available at Target), and hydrocortisone (used sparingly) for those itchy flare ups.

Are you noticing more flare-ups because it's cold? My children's eczema was always worse in the summer/warmer months. Interesting.

Good luck.

Answer by Anonymous at 7:28 PM on Oct. 25, 2008

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my daughter is almost 3 and has eczema since birth.
her doctor told us that changes in the weather can often cause an outbreak and to just continue with the baby aquaphor. for her last outbreak, though, he did prescribe something because it was getting worse. he also told us that as long as it stays the same and doesn't get worse it's fine so if the spot on your little one gets progressively worse i would let the dr know.

what kind of bath soap do you use? the best that i've found is the creamy aveeno wash, it has a navy blue lid. also, frequent bathing can strip away moisture in the skin so we only bathe my daughter every other day.

Answer by heatherama at 8:45 PM on Oct. 25, 2008
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I use the Aveeno Creamy Wash for bathing and then the Aveeno mosterizing lotion twice a day. My daughter hasn't had eczema since.

Answer by blueeyes71883 at 10:50 PM on Oct. 25, 2008
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My daughter has had this since birth and now no longer has it. I finally relized, and yes this may sound gross, but the less you bathe them, the faster it heals. Try giving your son a bath only once a week. Letting natural body oils rise to the surface, although it may make them look dirty, is actually very healthy for the skin. Also try Gebers Grins and Giggles hair and body wash (Oatmeal) As soon as I switched to that and stopped bathing 4 times a week it cleared up with in a month. But if you try this and it works, be careful because when you decided to bathe more frequently again, it'll come right back. My daughter is almost 11 months old now, and she gets horribly messy, but if I bathe her too many times a week, there it is again. I hope this works for you.

Answer by tiffers32788 at 11:45 PM on Oct. 25, 2008
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I agree with the above poster, cut back on baths. No more than every three or four days. Infants under a year old don't need that much bathing, anyway. In between baths, clean using a soft warm wet rag. Lotion up with Aquaphor or Eucerin while the skin is still damp after a bath. Make sure you've changed to dye free/perfume free detergents for everyone's laundry, no fabric softener, unfortunately, and clean the bathtub with ONLY vinegar and baking soda. Evaluate your own personal products, my own perfume caused my son to react. We can only use Dove or Ivory on my son, no soap, nothing with a fragrance.

Answer by 3maniacsmom at 9:18 PM on Oct. 26, 2008
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