Eczema

[Anese]

My 6mth old has eczema. It isn't severe but her skin is very dry & some patches are worse than others. I don't use any 'baby' products in her bath or on her skin; I just keep to the basic skin products recommended for eczema skin types. Does any one else have any further tips on managing eczema?

[Helen09]

Hi,
My #1 DS had it badly but grew out of it (thank goodness) by the age of 18 months, still has it on the usual places like the knees and elbows bit not as bad as DS #2 who has it quite severely.All over the body and scalp. My GP recommends no heaters in their bedrooms and layering up their clothes as sweating makes it worse.

I use sorbolene (the tub, it's thicker than the pump packs) for daily use (2-3 times a day)
and alpha keri oil in his bath, it coats the skin in a thin layer of oil to form a barrier and moisturise him again(I was told within 3 minutes). QV is good as well.

I have cortisone creams for bad days and they work really well on a flare up. I have used Elidel on my #1 DS but it didn't really work as well as a cortisone based cream.

If you do a search on google, the childrens hospital in Melbourne and Sydney have good tips on managing eczema and at least you know it comes from a reliable source too.

Just remember she'll probably grow out of it and just look even more gorgeous!!

Cheers

helen

[KC.]

we use QV products they have a great one for dry skin in the bath

[Tracy89]

Hey there!
My 6mnth old has eczema aswell, and i also suffer from chronic dermatitis i found that it got to a point with my sons skin that i could not use any skin creams on him not even the ones the doctor had prescribed i was desperate to try anything to find some thing that worked.
i came across a really good brand which is great for eczema the link: www.babybaby.co.nz they have natural skin calming ingredients and i swear by there products now it has worked wonders for his skin, and my hands when rubbing it on him lol.

Hope this helps!!;)

[JSCnO]

Hi my DD #1 had some eczema re appear recently and i found some really good products that have cleared it and kept it away.
It's called moogoo you can see it at http://www.moogoo.com.au i got the udder cream with MSM have a look at what they say about it.

I also have the body wash and shampoo and think it works really well

[Jennielm]

Hi, my daughter and I both get severe eczma - actually it runs in the family my Mum and sister have it to. I have tried every product under the sun! I find that the products that doctors usually prescribe only work to a point and never quite clear it all up. I saw a dermatologist and was told to try some natural products and so I have - and they are definitely betterI I was using the Aromababy skincare range which is good but still got the odd patches of it and then recently I was given a tube of Weleda's rash relief creme and my life completely changed - the stuff is brilliant - you can get it in most health shops and pharmacies in NZ and on-line from www.nourish.net.nz I have since started using their baby products as well and they are really good and not too expensive.

[Nikki*]

Thanks for all you info! My baby girl gets eczema and unfortunately has multiple food allergies which is a major problem. I will look into all the useful websites mentioned though, that's fantastic.

One main thing that has cleared up our girl dramatically in general is getting rid of all the carpet in the house. It is amazing to see the change and after sweeping twice a day I can now see just how much dirt we live in - yuck!

[loveablecherubs]

Hi My ds son has this as well. I have tried everything the dr told me to. then another HUggie$ mum sujested the J&J soothing natrals range. I emailed J&J and they sent me some samples. i now will use nothing else on my baby. with in 3 days of using it ds eczema has totally cleared up. and an added bonus is he smells soooooooooo good.

[Harris Family]

Hi there, My DD has had eczema since she was about 6 weeks old (she is 5mths now) on the back of her knees and elbows and behind her ears and has a constant rash on her belly and back. I have been using the QV range and have found it really good. I ditched all the baby washes and creams cause they all had perfumes in them that seemed to dry her skin out even more. We have just had allergy testing (bad reaction to formula) and she is allergic to all dairy, egg, soy and wheat. The doc said this would be the reason for the rashes and more than likely the other patches as well. she also has red cheeks which i thought was teething but is from her allergies. I am BF so I now have to cut out all of these things from my diet as well to see if that makes a difference. Hope this helps! :)

[MummyChef]

Just thought I would add that I have been reading up on food intolerances as my 22 month daughter is gluten and dairy intolerant and it mentions that cutting out gluten (spesh wheat) reduces eczema symptoms in a lot of cases...

[justinefrost]

My 4 month old has bad eczema on her head and other spots. I have found a product called XMA which is all natural and clears it up really quickly.
The website is www.xma.com.au - I think its great!

[DM3247]

My soon to by 13 year old has had eczema all his life. Last year someone suggested Waihi Bush Flaxseed oil. I put him on the maximum dose and it almost completely went away. In the six months before trying flaxseed oil it cost us $200 in doctors visits and prescriptions, we haven’t been back since. He often forgets to take it now but if his eczema gets bad he gets back on it.

[emma0311]

hi there - our boy had eczema from around 3 months, till he was about 15 months when it started to disappear. looking back i think he may have had a mild milk allergy, he stopped his bottle at 15 months, and the eczema went away. it might be a good idea to get bubs checked for allergies. i found that alpha keri oil was amazing for his skin. we only ever used dermasoft cleanser in the bath (even to wash hair), and then lathered him in alpha keri oil after his bath, then again in the morning when we got him dressed for the day. i did try lots of the aqueous creams etc, but none of them seemed to form a good coating like the oil did. then steroid cream for really bad flare ups.

[FL33C5]

my wee girl got exzema at 8wks old in the middle of winter. She didnt get red patches but more very dry skin all over that it just flaked. You could shake her singlet out and would look like lux soap flakes. After geting under control with cortisone then tried numerous things find only sebamed ph 5.5 bodywash and fattylemnis cream work. the fatty lemnis is also known as HEALTHE cream and is sold for $6 in 500g tubs. this stuff is way more greasy than aqueous cream so works fantastically. I apply this religously after every bath.

[Sheridan74]

My 7 month DD has just broken out in a rash all over her arms and legs. I was washing her in QV flare up for 2 days then I put Dermaveen on her last night and I think she had a reaction to it. She is now covered in a really angry red rash. I have now started to bathe her in Pinetarsol and lather her with sorbolene cream. Tomorrow morning I will know if that works.

Does anyone have any other suggestions and how long do I have to try some things before I can tell if it's working? Does it get worse looking before it gets better? or does it just get better?

TIA

[mudpies]

My little man also had it really bad - carpet was one of the main culprits. We tried everything and had to resort to cortisone when at its worst. One great thing we tried was you get a jar of "base cream" (we used the Olive Garden brand)and mix it with 4 teaspoons of hemp oil (small jar of base cream, 250ml?)- both from health food store. Magic stuff. Luckily he has mostly grown out of it now. Hope your bub does too.

[3at40]

My daughter had all the "fatty layer" they are born with stripped as we used the J&J wash in hospital....The ped. gave us the names of the cortisone cream and ointment as one is for wet areas and the other dry. But because he doesn't like them used too often he suggested we get DERMEZE OINTMENT from the chemist. This ointment has been developed by the Pharmacy Dept Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. After bath times we used it ALL over head to toe for 2 days and then homebrand olive oil the next two days on the fifth day nothing and then repeated until she was 6months old, we then used the demeze only when her skin was dry. Her skin was amazing. He also told us NOT to use any form of soap as babies dont really need it.
She is now 2 and we have at least half the container left its original cost was $15.
We also found that when she got cradle cap we rubbed it on her scalp,even though her hair looked like it had brylcream in it - after a couple of days when you combed her hair the cradle cap just lifted and combed out!
We still use it on her after bath time but only on the areas that need it.

[CS0D8A]

My 1 yr old had a lot of problems with eczema from about 6 weeks old. This was'nt a surprise as I have always had problems in the winter months.

I started to wash my daughter wth Baby Billy Goat Soap and even used it to wash her hair and then lather her in QV Cream every night. Her skin is fantastic and I have even had people comment how nice it is. Every now and then we get a few scaley spots on her elbows or her back, but they are not red or sore and disapper very quickly after a few days of extra cream being rubbed into them. Baby Bily Goat Soap is fantastic plus it is Australian made.

[Sheridan74]

I was just surfing and came across a reference to "winter itch". Sounds very similar to eczema with dry flaky skin, etc and the site recommends getting a humidifier to keep the moisture content in bubs room at a level that won't dry the skin out so I'm going to give it a go too. I've ordered some Moogoo cream because the Sorbolene doesn't seem to be able to completely get rid of it, and now I'm also thinking that the Pinetarsol has dried her out too much so will have to change her back to QV bath oil. (Would Pinetarsol dry eczema out too much?)

I've also ordered a hazelwood necklace to see if they work. Apparently the American Indians used to use them for teething and they're widely used in Canada to treat eczema. (They're supposed to decrease the acidity of the skin or something). Will let everyone know if that works or not.

Sheridan