How Have Other Moms Dealt with Baby Eczema?

Eliminating foods did nothing for us, but what did help was Johnson's Creamy Baby Oil, and prescription cream called mometasone, and only bathing once every 4-5 days with spot cleaning in between.

I've dealt with this for almost 6 years with my oldest, and my newest daughter has it too. Nothing else worked for us...Aquaphor almost seems to make it worse, as did every other thing my doctor suggested over the counter. Honestly, though it isn't recommended, the creamy oil was the best...slather on a ton of it...and the mometasone is similar to a cortisone cream.

I just went to the homeopathic pharmacy in Santa Monica yesterday to get something for me and got a gel that is specifically for eczema (named UNDA) There was also a brand that I had used before named DERCOT. I am not familiar with the stuff you are using, but I always trust homeopathic stuff better than medical stuff. The UNDA says that it is also good for diaper rash, so it is for babies. The woman also gave me a list of highly allergic foods, and it was a long list, so ask for that.

My daughter also has eczema, the Dr says it is mild but it doesn't seem mild to me. Well I use a product called Renew™ Intensive Skin Therapy
It is from Melaleuca the wellness company. I used to be a member of the company but it was took hard for me to buy products every month. But you should be able to buy from the website, or find a member that will help you in buying. It is the BEST lotion out there! We have tried Avveno, and all the other lotions even hydro cortisone cream NOTHING works like the Renew. I am just running out of my supply and I need to figure out how to get some more too.

Aveeno baths are soothing. We've had better luck with the Aveeno lotion (unscented) than Aquafor. You never know with such sensitive skin, but I'd be careful not to overdo the lotions. Sometimes, one of the ingredients is irritating. Too much lotion clogs the pores and that can cause more itching, too.

Because the rash gets worse and itchier with scratching, I used to zip my daughter into an all cotton onesie that covered her arms and legs and keep her nails short. As far as eliminating foods, my daughter did turn out to be allergic to milk and eggs, seafood and nuts as well as some environmental allergens so we used fragrance free and hypoallergenic products around the house.

Your baby's eczema sounds miserable. I bet your pediatrician wouldn't call it mild if he had it all over his back, arms and neck! I hope you find some answers soon.

If you find out for sure that the eczema is not caused by an allergy, you may want to look into trying witch hazel. There's a lot of information out there about it being a natural alternative to RX medications. A company I found that was interesting was Hazelaid (search online). They actually offer necklaces that are made of hazel wood that extract acids from the body. For my daughter who suffers from eczema, the necklace did not work b/c hers is caused by allergies. We knew that going in but still decided to try it. There are LOTS of testimonies on there though from people who it has worked miracles for. I figured if it didn't work for my daughter, the worse that would happen would we would end up with a really cute necklace :) Good luck!

We started using Sensaria's products because of my daughter's severe eczema that she had had since she was just days old. Haven't had a problem since and there is a one-year guarantee. Right now the body was (which replaces all soap and bubble bath) is on sale in the 16-oz size and the body lotions are also on sale. You may contact me directly if you would like to try them and get a further discount.

With my daughter it was eggs, soy, dairy, wheat and yeast that caused the inflammation. Sodium laurel sulfates irritate the skin even more and petroleum can messes it up more.
www.sensaria.com/J.

Hi M.,

Any type of ezcema is systemic. It comes from the inside out. This is a nutritional deficiency. Since you're breastfeeding you do need to watch your diet. Also make sure you are still taking an absorbable multivitamin/mineral complex so your little one is getting enough. Some little ones "grow out of it" as their digestive system becomes more developed. It may be that simple. (This is fairly common with premmies.) Watch and make sure it doesn't get worse.

Renew lotion is the only lotion or topical care I have ever seen that actually heals it. Lotion is not ever a cure, but it ca temporarily heal and it is a comfort.

God bless,

M.

My son had the same problem, starting at the same age. Reduce bathing to twice a week, initially, as bath takes away the protective film of the skin, or limit the bathing on the lower part of the body, since it doesnt present eczema. Use lukewarm water and neutral soap, then pat dry gently. Ask your ped to prescribe ELIDEL, it's the only thing the worked for us. A thin layer will do. I couldn't undestand which foods were causing the reaction, if you find out let me know! Good luck

My little nephew had it SOOO bad. He was labeled as severe. Poor little guy looked like he was diseased or something. :( The pediatrician prescribed an ointment for him, and they had to switch it every month or so because the eczema would 'get used' to the treatment and it wouldn't be effective any more. My SIL gave him occasional oatmeal baths to help with the itching. Bathing too often dries out the skin and makes it worse. They formula fed, so the diet wouldn't have had any effect for them. They pretty much just used topical ointments to control it as much as possible, and tried to keep him comfortable... and learned to live with it. (I know that's not what you wanted to hear...) The good news is that he grew out of it by the time he was 2. He still has flare ups once in a while, but since it's not constant any more the creams work. Good luck!

We used Cetaphil creme (not the lotion) on the rash. It really helped.

Eliminating dairy and wheat helped immensely for us. And eggs, when we found out she had an actual allergy to them.

The lotion that works best for us is Locoid. It's a newer, milder steroid that clears up bad patches within a couple of days. Not all doctors seem to know about this one. Only the third dermatologist we saw knew of it and prescribed it for us. the others suggested things like Aveeno and Aquafor which did nothing for us. good luck!

www.locoid.com

My son started having problems with eczema around that age. We switched to an all natural baby wash (Nature's Baby Organics), washed him only every other day or every 3 days, lotion after every bath and whenever else we felt he needed it (all natural again, Burt's Bees), and switched laundry detergent. I use the All Free and Clear now, which works really well, but I have tried other ones that are supposed to be natural, and if they have any kind of scent, it makes his skin start to have problems again. I saw a lot of people suggest the Renew lotion from Melaleuca, which is probably fine, but I used the Melaleuca detergent for the first time a few weeks ago, and it did make my son break out, so I would be weary of that.

I would try cutting out things like this first, and then do the food, since it is easier to get rid of those things than get rid of everything you mentioned in your diet.

My Mom gets Eczema. For each person it is different, BUT for my Mom... it is Oats and Citrus, that makes her flare up.
Anything with Oats in it, and citrus.
If she avoids those things, she does not get, Eczema. At all.

Also for topical application for Eczema relief, this is good, it is an all natural alternative to hydrocortisone cream, and it is for Eczema and itchy skin:
"Boericke & Tafel - Florasone Cream"... which you can get at Whole Foods or natural food stores.
Also, Amazon has it, and you can read the reviews of it there:

all the best,
Susan

We use just plain vitamin E oil after every change and when it crops up it seem to get rid of it in a couple of days with our two year old. It's also great for diaper rash. I have eczma myself and the vitamin E oil works for me too.

Don't let anyone use vaseline/petroleum jelly. It aggrevates it. Also, a water softener would really help. We had to bath only the important areas daily and everything once a week. We fed her formula only until 6 months then we introduced cereal. We also swithced to Lactose Free milk called Dairy Ease(I believe red carton). Our baby had bleeding skin and within a few weeks she was cleared up with these changes. Good luck.

My son is now a year and his eczema was mild early on; it has gotten worse over time. I also bf, and we've eliminated allergies since he eats pretty much everything (the boy loves his food... lol). If you've tried the allergy ideas and that doesn't help, we've found that bathing him on a schedule works well- our pediatrician recommended this. If he gets a bath Monday, he gets another one Thursday, then on Sunday and so on. You can wipe him down with a washcloth in between. No baby wipes on face/hands/body, etc. And we've found Aveeno Baby to be our favourite. We put in on him in the AM and PM, and spot-lotion throughout the day.
Hope you find something that works for you and your little one!

California baby wash (gave him a bath only every other day)and their body lotion worked for our son who had a moderate case, the aquafor did not work for us. I also breastfed our son and tried California Baby first before doing the diet thing and it was a success. He had one bad flare up after we started using Cali baby stuff and our dr. did prescribe a steroid which helped. Around 3 months old is when the eczema really started for my son and the good news is that now he just gets an occasional dry patch here n there(he is now 20 months).Good luck!!!

My son had mild ezcema as well. We did 1% hydrocortisonal which helped. Later used Vanicream as his doc recommended. Helped a lot. It did go away on its own when he was 6-7 months old.He is now almost 9 months , we dont see it anymore.

My granddaughter had eczema as a baby. Her mother took her to a pediatric allergist who said to bathe her everyday and then immediately smear her with heavy duty cream, not a lotion. He recommended using petroleum jelly. Vaseline makes a creamy jelly which works well. It doesn't feel as greasy.

The reason for the daily bathe is to hydrate the skin. When the skin is in warm, not hot water, it absorbs the water and the cream seals it in. He also told us to use cortisone cream. Elidell is a prescription cream that we used when the rash was worse.

The allergist also tested for food allergies. She tested allergic to milk, eggs, soy and peanuts. She's outgrown the milk and eggs allergy. She was formula fed and he prescribed Alimentium. This did help.

Yes- my daughter had this -- was sign of a dairy allergy in her (not diagnosed until she was 12 mos and had an allergic reaction to peanuts as well so we had her tested). With baby #2, I eliminated a lot of dairy while nursing until I had him tested at 6 mos by an allergist -- he had zero allergies. Aquaphor would seem to help but it never really cleared up for my DD until we switched her to rice milk and Silk Live Soy yogurt at 13 mos of age (she wouldn't take the soy milk the doc suggested...rice was our back up alernative since she also has peanut, fish and egg allergies). Good luck!

EDIT: and it takes a WHILE to get all the dairy out of your own system and breastmilk while nursing -- and out of the baby's. I would say, give it like 3 weeks after you start the elimination diet to see if you have any improvement.

i have used a few products from the company amoil. they are an all natural essential oil company. the products i have used for myself and children have worked wonderfully when nothing else did. i have not used the excema product i will tell you the products do take persistent use like they warn you have to use it exactly how they direct you to, but they worked great for me plus there is a money back guarentee which they promptly address. they have a product for every need. hope this helps good luck. website is www.amoils.com

If her eczema is caused by allegies, eliminated the allergen should help. Renew bath wash and lotion will help as well. Another thing that can help (especially if it is contributing to her condition) is to eliminate the chemicals in your home...cleaning products, personal care products, laundry supplies, etc. There are safe alternatives...I use them in my home.

dd's pedi told me to use Cetaphil moisturizer along w/ the Cetaphil wash. Also make sure you're using free laundry soap. A lot of baby detergents have that baby scent to them, so they are not free.