ezcema and baths

[mmy2grls]

I give my 2 year old baths every 2-3 days.

right now she has a bad ezcema break out, her legs are extremely dry

when i put her in the bath she cries

My question is for a person who has bad excema does it really hurt that bad to be in a bath?

[shortstack]

Has she been scratching at it? If she has lots of broken skin it may sting quite a bit.
Have you thought of giving her a shower? Thats what I do for my daughter when she has breakouts.
Do you have medication for it?

Andrea

[PrairieRose]

Aawww, I think singersullivan is right. And if it's red that means it's inflammed and irritated so it would make sense that it would sting or burn really bad. I'd be very careful for it not to be too warm and not to add any bubble bath or anything, use very gentle soap and whatever lotion your dr. recommends or meds ofcourse. I feel for ya both. Oh I was gonna say if it still hurts too bad I'd resort to sponge baths until it got to be more bearable.

[mommymath]

One thing our dermatologist recommended for ds's eczema is to slather a heavy lotion (like aquaphor or cetaphil cream) as soon as he's out of the bath (still wet) so that the lotion locks moisture onto his skin and helps with the healing. Hope that helps!!

[lisettelovebug]

I've heard oatmeal baths are really good for exzema. I guess they calm the skin or something? My friend's son had exzema bad and she was always giving him these baths. Make sure you are using fragrance free soaps also. Also. Aveeno has a lot of products with oatmeal in them.

[AmyBoz]

One thing our dermatologist recommended for ds's eczema is to slather a heavy lotion (like aquaphor or cetaphil cream) as soon as he's out of the bath (still wet) so that the lotion locks moisture onto his skin and helps with the healing. Hope that helps!!

That's what we do. I bring the Aquaphor into the bathroom and I slather him up while he's still moist (makes him sound like pound cake!) Then, I put his diaper and jammies on while we're still in the bathroom so the damp, warm air locks it all in.

When he wakes up in the morning, his skin is still soft. And trust me...his eczema is BAD.

[mmy2grls]

Her skin is either red and leathery dry

I'm going to try the shower, maybe it would be more bearable if I got in there with her. I bought a huge jar of aquaphor, i'll slather that on her right after.

For a week now I can only dress her in footed one piece jamas or she scaratches herself til she bleeds.

I'll try these ideas, thanks

[Becci]

Ds had eczema when he was little too. Not real bad though. I used oatmeal baths and switched to a pure vegetable oil soap. I even used this instead of shampoo. It doean't lather like your use to but it was th ebest thing for him.
After a while I used QV or AphaKeri oils and lotion. Not sure if you get these brand in the states or not though.

[kaykwilts]

Mly 18 yo DD has battled witht this condition all her life. She takes showers instead of baths and lotions herself as soon as she gets out of the tub.

[cheles2kids]

I have flare ups of ezcema, especially in the wintertime, it's always worse in the winter.

I would defiantely try the showers, but as cool as possible for her.
As for the itching, I feel her pain, mine sometimes itches so bad I scratch it until I have big scabby places all over my arms and hands.

Excema feels like a case of poison ivy, if you've ever had it? It's like you've just gotta scratch it. I would suggest putting gloves on her hands at night and if she scratches it won't 'cause as much damage, 'cause I know when I get warmer, mine itches more. I bring this up 'cause I know those feetie jammies can be awfully warm at night, especially under the covers in bed.

Also I've had good luck with Cetaphil instead of any kind of soap or shower gels, it helps the dryness and itchiness tremendously.

Hope hers begins to clear up soon, poor baby.

[Michelle68]

My DS has had eczema since he was just a baby. When it was really bad, the dermotologist told us to only bathe him every other day and we used the oatmeal bath. We would dry him off very well and apply the lotion right after the bath. Your poor little DD. My DS is now 12 and his eczema is no longer a big problem. He occasionally gets small patches here and there, but nothing like when he was younger. I hope it's the same for your DD.


--Michelle

[mom2bobsarah]

I also agree that Aquaphor is fantastic stuff. Also, the footie pj's would make my son flare right up, something about the material that the fleecy ones were made of would make his eczema look like I dropped him in boiling water. I would suggest that you make sure she is kept cool and use just cotton pj's without feet. Better to have a blanket that she can kick off is she feels too warm. If the water is too warm it will burn, both of my kids need the water cooler than what I think is comfortable or they complain and be sure not to leave them in too long, I know this is tough my kids love tubby time but it does dry their skin more if they are in the tub longer than 15 minutes. Hope this helps and she feels better soon. This is probably going to sound crazy but you might want to try giving her a baby brush (you know the realy super soft ones for newborns) and show her how to rub lightly with the brush on her skin instead of scratching with her nails. She will probably think it is neat and it is distracting without being harmful, it should help alleviate the itch a little and her little nails won't be opening up sores.