I have no experience with this but if you would like to talk to more ladies that might be able to help please join us here. It's a parenthood forum/message boards. They have playgroups/expecting/toddler forum to talk to and about your kids and family such.
Here is the link http://forums.parenthood.com/index.php?sid=9c22f173c616f5647a5703a6df0db7ec
My son also has eczema (13mths) You have to eliminate the use of ALL scented products. Lotions, soap, laundry detergent, diaper wipes, creams..everything. We have used the Eucerin baby soap & although it worked ok it still left him pretty dry. We switched to Aveeno calming skin baby wash. We also switched to the Aveeno baby calming cream for his lotion. The Eucerin lotion worked okay but was a little more greasy and way more expensive. Not to mention we still had to battle breakouts often. Since we moved totally to Aveeno his skin is great. For laundry detergent we use ALL free & clear. No scents & hypoallergenic. When he was a baby his face breakouts were bad. We mixed equal parts of hydrocortisone cream (also used the Aveeno brand) and lotion (at the time Eucerine now Aveeno) and applied it to his face. He cleared up in a week and we haven't had any issues with his face breaking out since. He does get other breakouts on his body still though and anytime it is inflamed I use the same process. If it's a really bad flare up you can put full strength cortisone on it just don't do a lot.
Eczema is a form of an allergy though and does not simply disappear as your doctor suggested. You may want to evaluate your sons diet and see if he's having a sensitivity to something he's eating. If it's not his diet then something he's coming in contact with. For example my sons is dairy, eggs, soy AND any perfumes or scents. He's also allergic to metals. Once you eliminate the allergen from his world you simply have to make sure he stays moisturized. Now your son can out grow the allergy which may make the eczema go away but the eczema is the body's response to the allergy. Baths are very drying so if he gets one everyday switch to every other day OR don't fully submerge him in the water. Once you get him out of the bath pat him dry don't rub and get a good cream on him within 2 minutes so that his skin will fully absorb it. Stay away from lotions and go with thicker creams. Ok sorry I went on for so long...I've been finding ways to battle this for a year now. Let me know if you have any other questions.
My nephew has eczema and my sister doesn't like to use the steriod creams the doctor has provided. She uses a cream that beauticontrol has for this. It has no steriods and really works. I know someone that sells beauticontrol if you want to try it. My sister only uses the prescription stuff when it's really bad which since she started with this other stuff that is rare. She also says that unscented lotion and dye free unscented laundry soap help to reduce the eczema outbreaks. Hope this helps. If you want to email me my email address is [email protected]
You might want to try aloe gel the one I like is called Aloe Life and you get at the health food store (I go to Abby's and Nutrition Smart). I use it for ALL skin issues including breakouts of pimples on my skin.
If you still have a problem, it could be a food allergy. both of my girls suffer with this (often dairy is the culprit)
Good Luck.
My son had something that sounds similar all through early childhood. It doesn't sound like eczema though...that usually is more like scaly patches rather than bumps. My son had very dry skin with little bumps, and like yours, sometimes his skin was very normal. I spoke to his pediatrician about it and was told he would grow out of it. It was never very noticable and didn't seem to be painful, but it did get worse at times. Our pediatrician prescribed Differin cream (no steriods and not used for eczema). It worked well and my son is nine now and it has gone away:)
My son has eczema. I have to carry a really large blanket around for him to play on that is washed in his detergent and double rinsed. We use Cetiphil for all his lotion and soap needs...I'm not sure how terrible your childs condition is but that is what I use and it works really well. I buy them at Wal-mart in the face wash areal. Hope that helps.
try using kiss my face olive & aloe moisturizer for sensitive skin, I brought it at a health food store, I think it was at the regency mall in arlington, also use no perfume soap such as coco butter soap, and luke warm showers not to long in water. my son is 10 years old and we finally have it under control...good luck.
At around 4 months old our son developed a horrable itching rash on his face and I noticed that his knees, legs and elbows, and arms were very dry feeling. He had issues at first with baby acne which cleared up and issues with prickly heat rash. After changing laundry soaps, using soap free bathsoaps and trying different aveeno products along with what I could think of as conservative measures, I finally consulted our pediatrician....she prescribed a couple of mild steroid creams (she gave us a couple different ones to try) and i found that Locoid Lipocream to magically fix his skin. She had also prescribed Zyrtec for the itching. She had suggested that right after his bath, before we dry him off, to cover him with Eucerin lotion.....I decided on another ointment that I know off that is used often for wound healing purposes.....Auqaphor ointment (either baby Auqaphor or regular). We apply this on a nightly basis and it has kept his mild eczema under control for the last 8 months.....only occasionally do I use the steriod cream if he seems to be getting flaky around his eyebrows. He is a bit slimy afterwards, but it absorbs pretty quickly....and he seems to enjoy this nightly massage that he gets!! We buy a big tub of it now from either Walmart or Babies R Us. Smaller tubes can be found at Publix and other stores.
Hi Melissa. Both my little guys had eczema issues. Our ped also recommended Eucerin lotion which didn't do much for the problem. What DID work was Burt's Bees baby creme (it's in a little jar). I also found that washing their faces with warm water only (no soap -- or only a natural soap) really kept the break-outs down. Good luck!
My daughter had eczema as well. I found Nature's Gentles to be the best and safest product out there. Be careful about putting steroidal creams near his eyes because it can lead to glaucoma.
Also - don't use the cheap smell good baby lotions or soaps, they are garbage and don't help this situation. For lotion use Lubriderm and for soap (hair and body) use Avino Baby. I also switched the laundry soap to Dreft for the first year. After about age 1 she grew out of it and it went away.
My daughter is 13 months old and has incurible eczema. My daughter is now on elidle. its a crema you put on and when it starts going away you stop using it. Only use it when it comes back. my daughter has it all ovre her body. Not only does she have from a food allergy but also because I have asthma. Hope this helps
In addition to the aveeno baby product (which are fantastic) a friend of mine suggested putting some breast milk on his face. I did and it works like magic. When I first started b/f my lactation nurse indicated that if my nipples would get red, cracked or dry- to put some breast milk on them which would help- I guess it also works for eczema.
Thanks ladies! Once again you all delivered fantastic advice. I bought some of the Aveeno products and after a couple of days it made a big difference. My sons face is no longer red and the bumpy areas in his cheecks, arms and legs have decreased. In addition, this is the first time in his life that his skin actually feels “baby soft” - it really is incredile.
Again, thank you all for your help,
M.