Eczema

[Eloquentia]

Hello! My 18-week old daughter was diagnosed with baby eczema last month. Her dad has eczema too. We have been on and off the steroid cream since Any tips on how to manage it and what has worked best for your little ones? I am off dairy, eggs and soy, also gluten-intolerant so no wheat and oats either. Keeping a food diary now but can't seem to find an obvious trigger though chocolate makes it worse. Any tips and advice will be gratefully received!

[PenguinBlue]

hello, both my children have eczema - also from my husband! My son who is 2, has steroid creams for when he has a flare up and then an emoillent for everyday use. He’s had it since he was 4 months. Your Gp has hopefully prescribed you an emollient too. This helps keep their skin soft and moisturised and prevents flare ups. And should be used after every single nappy change. The steroid cream should be used sparingly so if you find that your little one gets a flare up soon after you stop using it, they may need a stronger steroid cream to help clear it properly. This was the case for my son but of course may be different for your little one.

I’ve noticed that oranges in his diet flared his up so he doesn’t eat those anymore.

[Eloquentia in reply to PenguinBlue]

Thank you, this is really helpful! Yes, the GP directed us to use both an emollient and an ointment. We got Epaderm and use it, as you suggest, after every nappy change. What is your preferred brand? We got conflicting advice about the frequency of bathing, what did you do when your boys were 4 months old? Did they go on to develop asthma too? My husband has it but I really hope the little one doesn't go on to develop it too...

[PenguinBlue in reply to Eloquentia]

Aw you’re welcome! We were initially prescribed cetraben which worked for a while and then didn’t. We now use Diprobase which has been really good for his skin. My little girl is 4 months and we’ve just been using aveeno dermexa on hers as I wasn’t too keen on a steroid when she was so tiny (she’s had eczema since about 6 weeks old) which has helped but I have a feeling she is going to need a steroid cream soon too 😩

For my eldest, we were told to bathe once / twice a week until a year old as not going to nursery etc and can dry skin out further. Now we bathe him 3x a week. We also use oilatum in the bath for both. What were you told?

neither have asthma currently. My husband doesn’t have asthma so hoping they won’t get it 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽

[Eloquentia in reply to PenguinBlue]

Thank you, this is incredibly helpful! We use oilatum in the bath too and that seems to really calm her skin. We were told three different things on three occasions by three GPs: bathe once a week, twice and daily. We are trying out the middle ground and bathing twice per week.

[Chiefy]

Hi, We are on the eczema train too. My little boy has issues with dairy so he is dairy free. There are environmental issues too as this time of year isn't great because of the central heating.

We had the gp refer him to dermatology. We use epaderm both as a moisturiser and also as a soap substitute, then a steroid cream and a maintenance cream. If his itching is bad we give him some piriton to try and help. He gets smothered in epaderm throughout the day.

We were told by the dermatologist to not just stop the steroid cream, but phase it out so even when the redness is gone, maybe go down to once a day for a few days.

It's so awful seeing their skin red raw and them itching and not being able to stop it. If it's not improving with the steroid cream from the gp, ask for a referral.

[Eloquentia in reply to Chiefy]

Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer, it is much appreciated! Could you tell me what is the maintenance cream you use? Great advice about pushing for a referral to a dermatologist. I will do my best. I had a telephone consultation with one back home and they too recommended the gradual weaning off the steroid cream and taking antihistamine to stop the itching. At what age did you start using the piriton? Thank you so much once again for sharing your experience!

[Chiefy in reply to Eloquentia]

We started piriton at 6 months. It's not licensed in the UK for under 12 months but the gp was happy to prescribe it in our case due to the severity of the eczema.

The maintenance cream is prescribed by the dermatologist and its called Elidel. We use that along with a steroid cream called Trimovate.

We don't use any soap or bubble bath etc, just the epaderm and he only has a bath once/twice a week as the bath actually dries the skin out.

My son also has a nut allergy, which is another link to the eczema.

[Eloquentia in reply to Chiefy]

Thank you so much for sharing these details! The dermatologist back home that I spoke to also mentioned Elidel cream in combination with Protopic when she is 6 months old. So much to wrap one's head around... My husband has a nut allergy. So far baby seems to respond negatively to chocolate, soy and eggs in my diet.

[Twiglet2]

the steroids was the only thing that finally cleared the really bad bit for us, a big patch on his right side that was broken and was always getting infected that he had also started to itch as soon as he was able at about 6 months old but had since younger (we did use the cream a few days longer than prescribed as it was always almost gone by the end of the course but not quite so the time that cleared that patch up once and for all we just went a bit longer). the rest of his skin was more the ‘rash’ type or small broken patches that the emoilmemt etc kept under control. but I always saw it worse in winter as in that’s the trigger for some reason! We haven’t had it for months and months at all (he is 2.5 now) but it’s appeared again the last few weeks. I didnt breast feed so wasn’t food related at all. He stayed in the same formula throughout and it wasn’t changed when we started weaning. He has also had a a lot of allergy tests, he also has breathing issues since just under a year when he spent a night in A&E it got so bad and is now on inhalers so the allergy tests were mainly for that to see what triggered it. He was allergic to nothing in those tests either (animals, dust etc there were 10 things in total they tested for). It’s just colds and coughs that seem to trigger the ‘asthma’ and the inhalers really help. Again winter the worst. We did cut down on baths to a few times a week and loose clothing which also helped us but couldn’t leave it too long or skin did get a bit too dry as well and the baths really help his breathing so it was a bit of a balance. Surprisingly in hot weather on holidays and in pools all day doesn’t trigger it 🤷🏻‍♀️ and when we go winter holidays (which we’ve done every year so far) it has actually helped clear it? so I tried not putting his clothes on after baths straight away to kind of mimic that. It has defo got a lot lot better as he’s gotten older and the doctor has said he may just ‘grow out of that and the asthma so I’m hoping so! Not sure if any of that helps! I remember being so worried when he was that age you just feel so bad for them don’t you Xx

[Eloquentia in reply to Twiglet2]

Thank you Twiglet! This is really helpful. How interesting about the holidays, something definitely worth exploring. When you say winter holidays, do you mean ones abroad in drier climates and sunnier weather or also home? Sorry to hear about the asthma and all fingers crossed it goes away on its own soon! xx

[Twiglet2 in reply to Eloquentia]

Yeah sorry we go to the canaries in winter months to escape Scottish winter weather to swap it for 23 degrees and sunshine ☺️ (also a LOT cheaper time to go lol) I was worried at first warm weather would make it worse and even asked the GP for some steriod cream to take with us the first few times but it never has and actually the opposite! The inhalers have really helped the asthma made such a difference! So even if it doesn’t go away its now under control which is the main thing I guess. Hope your wee one clears up soon xx

[Purpledoggy]

I have eczema as does my nearly 2yo son. It’s hard finding emolients without paraffin in them, which I wanted to avoid as they don’t actually moisturise the skin (not saying they aren’t useful or helpful-eczema requires a highly individualised regime as you probably know). We use Balmonds bath oil in the bath (no other soap/bubbles etc-smear it on once the skin is wet then use a soft face cloth to gently rinse at the end to remove excess), their shampoo for hairwash, and their Skin Salvation to moisturise before pjs go on. Steroid cream for flareups. Extra rinse for laundry cycles. I am sensitive to synthetic perfumes (can tolerate in Fairy washing liquid) so avoid those for him as well. Remember chocolate often contains soy lecithin, which some soy allergic babies can’t tolerate in breastmilk. (Hotel Chocolate vegan nutmilk choc contains sunflower lecithin instead and is yummy FYI! It’s a ‘may contain’ for gluten but myself (non-coeliac gluten intol) and my coeliac coworker are both fine with it.) Strawberries seem to make my son’s eczema worse so we avoid those. Xx

[Eloquentia in reply to Purpledoggy]

Thank you! These are all really helpful tips! I too noticed chocolate makes my daughter's eczema worse. Not sure if it's the soy lecithin or the cocoa. Soy is also on the list of exacerbating foods. I guess I will have to make do without it whilst breastfeeding. xx

[Purpledoggy in reply to Eloquentia]

There will be other free from choc without soy lecithin-if you like it, dark chocolate is obviously easier to manage dairy free although occasional ones do contain milk! 🤯 green n blacks 70% does not contain soya (at least according to ingredients). Cocoa I believe would be an unusual allergen so hopefully it’s the soy, especially if already identified independently of the chocolate Xx

[Jogsandwalks]

Everyone has kind of said it all. But for my son, the 2nd level stronger steroid cream called momesatone I use for flare ups only. I was so worried about steroid withdrawal that it would be used very sparing. So he has a bath then squeeze a finger tip sized ball mix that with QV cream and cream him. Only do that for 2 consecutive days, then nothing for more than a week until another flare up hits hard. I only started using QV cream as his emollient because it was on special at the chemist but then have stuck with it because it worked well and is about £4 cheaper than diprobase. Diprobase, I've heard is very good also. Cetraben is terrible, I feel like it was making things worse. So we stick with QV Cream for him. Bath only twice a week washing with plain aqueous cream, no soap.

Final thing I would say is, as you cut out all the allergens, it's worth doing the allergy prick test to see the allergies. We did it for a our son at the private hospital for £200-£250. We found he's allergic to everything. But we persevered with the milk ladder over a whole year and now he's finally back on milk. I'm starting an egg ladder soon, but he's been doing well with egg.

She's only 18 weeks, very young. My son is nearly 2 years so it is a journey for sure.

[Essence1]

Hi Eloquentia,Sorry to hear about your little one's struggle with Eczema. My 2 year old twin boys have had eczema since they were 3 months. They got it from me.

We recently saw a dermatologist who advised that their clothing needs to be made out of cotton, at the very least the base layer must be cotton. I noticed if I put them in anything other than cotton i.e. polyester, eczema flare ups occur.

The dermatologist also advised that during the summer months that clothes should not be dried outside as there are a lot of air bone allergens pollen, dust, grass etc. She also recommended changing their clothes after playing outside in summer.

One of my twins has severe allergies, he has an epipen and is under the care of our local Paediatric Allergy Team. The allergy nurse advised to moisturise before bathing, then to wash with prescribed emollient and then to moisturise again, I think the key is to lock in moisture at all levels.

To help with their eczema I also bought a bath filter, which further softens the water.

Unfortunately it can be a lot of trial and error to find the right cream, what works for some may not work for others. Dayleave doublebase gel is really working well for one of my twins as an emollient, we moisturise with it three times a day and bath with Epimax excetra. He has also be prescribed an immune suppressant cream called protopic to reduce the flare ups, it is an alternative to steroids and can be used for a longer period of time. However, as your daughter is only 18 weeks, protopic may not be appropriate, maybe discuss with your doctor.

With my other twin dayleave is not working that well, so waiting for his dermatology appointment in April this year.

The dermatology also told me that with time that sensitivity may occur to emollients that have been working. In this case it is best to switch to another emollient, I found this with Certraben, worked well for one of my boys for several months, then stopped working.

My best advice would be to keep going to the GP and eventually push for a dermatology referral.

I really hope that this helps. Xx

[Eloquentia in reply to Essence1]

Hi Essence1! I am sorry that your twins have eczema and that one has severe allergies, that must be really tough. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, it is hugely helpful and raises points I haven't even thought about like the pollen contamination when drying clothes outside. I am glad you have found emollients that work for you. The dermatologist I spoke to recommended the Avene Xeracalm and the La Roche Posay Lipikar ones, so we are giving them a try to compare with the Epaderm we have been using so far. I will definitely be pushing for a referral! I hope your boys' symptoms recede as they grow up! xx