Eczema: My 1 year old daughter has it

**mommato2kids** · 07-01-2008, 11:45 AM

since my daughter was 2 months old, she's had mild eczema. the pediatrician Rx her some medication, but it wasn't working. i finally took her to a dermatologist to gave us an Rx. it worked beautifully. only some flair ups, but it was looking 95% better after a week. well, at her 1 year checkup, pediatrican tells us that the Rx the dermatologist Rx her has STERIODS in it. i've decided to stop using it on her. now she's having more flair ups than normal... and as the summer wears on it's only going to get worse.

does anyone know of something i can use that'll help her?

i bathe her in dove. i use vaseline on her, but it's gross and she's all slippery and slimy when i hold her. avveno baby eczema lotion sort of works, but not so much...

**imagine** · 07-01-2008, 12:32 PM

First

I have had two children with Eczema and what worked for one didn't work for the other. My kids are 3rd generation eczema as I have it as did my father.

So we have tons of experience that I can share but I have no time right now.

I'll post it later.Soon okay

**Izzy0906** · 07-01-2008, 12:40 PM

With my daughter vaseline made it worse. I guess each case is different. I can't bathe my daughter daily, she needs it every other day in order to avoid so many flair ups. I also lotion her every night before bed and I lotion her again every morning when she gets up. I use the lotion Eucerin repair for severe dry skin.

**halloweenfreak** · 07-01-2008, 12:45 PM

i picked up some stuff in the baby aisle at walmart with pooh and piglet on it called baby eczema. thought i would give it a try since nothing else seems to work. my neighbor uses it and says it works really well, we're only on day 2 so i cant vouch for it just yet. thought i would pass it on tho for some options.

**imagine** · 07-01-2008, 02:03 PM

The best advice I ever received about eczema was ... If it makes you itch don't use it. Also that it ( medicine, soap, lotions etc)) shouldn't make your skin burn either. (my mom use to tell me that meant it was working)

With little ones it can be hard to tell if something itches or burns. so that make it hard. It gets much easier when they can tell you.

Like I said what worked for one didn't work for the other.

DS he used Aquaphor a very soothing Vaseline mix. He also took Benadyl when the itching was extreme. The doc started him on this a 6 months.
He didn't get bathed everyday and than in lukewarm bath.

His eczema went away a 5 year old the same time he outgrew his milk allergy. He still has sensitive skin but no eczema.

DD could not use Vaseline as it made her eczema worse. She can not use anything that has petroleum, or mineral oil listed. So she uses Cethphil lotion (not the cream). She loves oatmeal baths. She likes sugar and olive oil scrubs. When her eczema was not under control she could only wear 100% cotton (Hanna Andersson was our favorite as it was tested for purity seemed to work the best) Kind of expensive but sleep is worth it. I looked for sales (received some as hand me downs) and did with less outfits. Now that her Exzema is under control she can wear some things other than 100% cotton but falls back on those when they when she get itchy. She still will not wear spandex in her tights,leggings, socks and underwear as they do still cause a huge rash.

Me, My eczema is mainly on my hands not that I have grown up. I avoid anything that makes them itch. I can not petroleum products either so no Vaseline. I only use a certain soap (funny story) and Cetaphil lotion. I also take oral allergy meds. for other allergies and this has helped my eczema. I also find synthetic clothing and wool make me itch. I'm a 100% cotton girl

Some ways I save money on our expensive stuff.
Check the websites of the stuff you use many have "clubs" you can sign up for to get samples and coupons.

We make some of our own stuff like the oatmeal. put some in the food processor and make the super fine stuff. brown sugar and olive oil mixed together is a favorite of DD's. Powder milk in the tub is smoothing to I just couldn't get over bathing in milk.

We let friends and family know that we favorite 100% cotton (especially Hanna Andersson) My mom would by them as presents, friends would keep an eye for them as second hand stores (we really did find several there), we did receive them as hand me downs once people knew we "needed" them. We did buy them on website at their Twice a year sale. One friend would get Hanna undershirts at good deals on E bay for us.

Well that is our experience.

Good luck being a detective and finding what helps your little one.

**itsahumanzoo** · 07-01-2008, 02:08 PM

Mustela baby products have a line for eczema. They are amazing. We sell them at the bath and body works that I work at, but most BBW stores don't sell them. I can get my hands on some samples if you'd like me to send you some.

**imagine** · 07-01-2008, 02:18 PM

I forgot the funny soap story

My mom spent my whole life trying soaps to help until she gave up.

The when on my own I continue to try everything thing the soap, body wash realm. Hubby was getting very frustrated on my sometime very expensive quest.

One day while on the net looking a pediatric doctor sites about Eczema looking for advice on what to use on my and the baby.

One site teaching pediatricians what to do and advise listed some soaps (two I had tried (Tone and glycerin) and a deodorant soap) Dial Soap and then went on to say only the Gold color. This struck me as very odd a Deo soap and why only a certain color.

That is what Hubby used so he said try it. I only tried it to make him happy and prove it didn't work. But it did work. He laughed

So I told my Dad about the Dial Soap ( since he has eczema). He said Dial is what he used because it was the only one that didn't make him itch. But only the Gold for some reason. That would have been nice to know sooner Mom just thought he had always been just picky.

My Hubby really laughed. The soap that helped had been in the shower by whole life.

**mommato2kids** · 07-01-2008, 02:22 PM

she scratches like crazy when she sweats! it's the SUMMER, helloooooooo :-P

**Shoshana** · 07-01-2008, 09:18 PM

My dd's pediatrician recommends Aquaphor, warm baths every day but NO soap! She said the newest research says the water is good for ecezma, it's the soap that's bad! Makes sense to me. There are certain body parts I still use liquid California Baby soap -- the mildest and chemical free. Another lotion besides Aquaphor (which I don't care for because it is a petroleum base and slippery like Vaseline) is Waleda Baby Calendula Lotion.

For my dd's skin, it seems that the chemical free products really do make a difference. Since they're so expensive, I don't share, although I'd like to!

**SHOPGIRL** · 07-01-2008, 10:25 PM

Arbonne baby lotion works. I had a client who told me it worked for her baby. Then, one of my girls developed mild eczema. The problem is right now it's not available. I find that bathing my daughter in filtered water helps. We have a shower filter.

**mommato2kids** · 07-01-2008, 10:29 PM

i was told to only leave her in the bath for 15 minutes, and to use dove soap (i use dove liquid deep moisturing kind). the ped. didn't say i couldn't use liquid kind so...

and after reading that story, i think i'm gonna try orange dial soap

LOL!!

**mommato2kids** · 07-01-2008, 10:30 PM

Originally Posted by itsahumanzoo

Mustela baby products have a line for eczema. They are amazing. We sell them at the bath and body works that I work at, but most BBW stores don't sell them. I can get my hands on some samples if you'd like me to send you some.

sure!!! i'll take a sample.

**COUNTRYBUMPKIN** · 07-02-2008, 05:29 AM

Eczema is a sign of toxins trying to work thier way out of the system. Conventional medicine likes to treat it with more toxins......creams! It is important to get to the underlying cause of her eczema. She is most likely allergic to something that she is ingesting and if she is drinking city water with fluoride and chlorine in it and bathing in it as well.....this could be causing her eczema as well.
A great line of products to use that are toxin free are the Burts Bees baby line.
The only other suggestion that I can make is to find a good naturopath who will help you get to the underlying cause of her eczema. Good Luck!

**Shoshana** · 07-02-2008, 07:08 AM

There's an article in the Health section of today's New York Time written by a journalist whose sister developed a case of severe eczema. The article is entitled "Her Skin Erupted and the Detective Work Began." Here is an excerpt from the article

(...the patient had been told to only bathe twice per week...) “That’s an old misconception,” Dr. Jon Hanifin, a dermatologist at Oregon Health and Science University, told me. For severe eczema, he advises 20-minute lukewarm baths twice a day for a week.

Eczema patients need frequent bathing, he said — not just to clean off bacteria but to rehydrate their parched epidermis. True, evaporation after a bath tends to dry out the skin. But so long as you lock in moisture by immediately applying topical corticosteroid or skin cream, “it’s much better for you,” Dr. Hanifin said. Steroids penetrate more effectively into hydrated skin.

The cream the dermatologist prescribed for your daughter was a corticosteroid -- there are many different routes of administration (including cream) and they're primarily prescribed to aid in allergic reactions. I just wanted to mention this because they're often confused with the "body building" steroids.

I also wouldn't use this cream with such a young child, unless it was absolutely necessary. The article mentioned above talks about a couple of other treatments that I'd never heard of. It's worth reading...

**walker24** · 07-10-2008, 12:14 AM

My youngest daughter has eczema. We have recently gotten it mostly under control by removing some foods from her diet (citrus seems to be the culprit for her) and following a routine for the care of flair ups. She takes a bath every other day and we add a full cup of bleach to the water. It sounds crazy, but it has helped so much. Within 3 mins of getting out of the bath I apply Vanicream. It's a lotion you can get at the pharmacy. They keep it behind the counter, you have to ask for it. It's free of dyes, fragrances, lanolin, parabens and formaldehyde. When we first started the regimen she did use a steroid salve.