my Iris has eczema

we went to pedi yesterday and she said it's eczema. she gave cortison based cream and antihistamine. put cream on last night and finally we all get a good nights sleep.
i could kick myself for not realising she wasn't sleeping because she was itching! i could also kick the dr for not diagnosing last month or the month before and saying it was dry skin.
anyway, rather than kicking I thought i should find out more about this. what should i do or not do? does this mean she will have it all her life? will she be allergic to food or vaccinations? any advise would be so helpful. i'm very sad about this. i hate the idea of immune system problems :-(
moderators please link to health issues!

 

My Ava has it too!! from what I understand it is their bodies way of
"protecting" the skin from irritants. I feel sorry for them because they are too little to tell us that they itch and too young to
be able to scratch when they do! their are lots of ladies here who's
kids have it that are more experienced than me that can give you more
information - I do have a nephew that has had it since he was an infant - he still has it he's 9 now. it doesn't look as bad as it did when he was a baby but it's still there!
I am thinking about taking Ava to the dermatologist - our pedi.
did not give us any cream - and I know it must itch (I don't know
if it's because of her age or what!)

 

My DD was diagnosed at 5 months. She's now 4 and still has dry skin, especially in the winter. We used a lot of eucerine over the years. She never developed any other immune problems - just dry skin in the winter. My twins also have some dry patches - nothing serious. Moisturize moisturize, moisturize.

 

We never had it with my daughter- and I never used any lotion on her ever! The boys have had a little bit on their legs and the ped. said to buy cortizone cream OTC and use lotion all the time. It cleared up right away!!! I don't think you have anything to worry about for lifelong problems with it- just try and get it in check now...
Lanie

 

My guys both had really bad exczema. It is a lot better now because we completely took out baby soap/shampoo and lotion. We found out they were allergic to baby magic/Johnson's & JOhnson's, ect. I recommed removing ALL bath/lotion products and switching to something VERY mild. MAinly being cetaphil bathwash and lotion. We started this and the exczema got tons better. This stuff is expensive but Walmart makes a generic brand (equate) for about 3/4 of the price and it works great. We only use this to wash their hair/body and put lotion on after every shower/bath. We also saw a dermatoligist and got a perscription for a non-steroid cream called desonide that we use when they get flares and it works great. I also used baby detergent until they turned 2 to prevent any issues from that. PLEASE try this, I think you might be suprised at how much it will help.

 

I just took Morgan to the derm for this. Here are the recommendations...
1) use white dove soap only. No baby washes, even aveeno. I can attest to my baby breaking out with j&j bath wash and especially shampoo.
2) use a fragrance free detergent and softener (if you need one). All Free and Clear is fine. And they make Downy Free and Sensitive Softener.
3) get some sort of prescription hydrocortisone cream (or whatever your ped or derm recommends). We are using Licoid Lipo. I only use it for flareups.
4) MOISTURIZE!!! The derm suggested eucerin, aquafor, aveeno, or any other lotion/cream that doesn't cause your little one to break out. We are currently using Mustela Stelopia (sp?). It's $16 at BRU, but so far it's the only thing that doesn't break him out. (He even had breakouts with Eucerin.)

Good luck! Just keep moisturing and it will get better.

Shannon

 

almost forgot...you'll need to wash all of your clothes and linens in the fragrance free detergent too since you'll be holding them against you.

And no perfumes or cologne for you and DH!

 

My son has really bad eczema, and has since he was about 6 weeks old. We've gone through several steroid creams...and are now on the very top level kind they can prescribe. The tough thing about it is: you can only use the steroids on flare-ups, and then as soon as it's gone, you've just got to try and keep it at bay by constantly greasing them up with aquaphor (that's what works best for us). But ultimately you'll have another breakout--and then the cycle repeats! It's just an on-going battle, and something you have to stay on top of everyday.

As for food-allergies as a connection...we thought that might be a contributing factor so we took him to an allergist and had the whole testing thing done. The kid isn't allergic to a single thing on the planet. It's just a skin thing. The Dr's say they usually outgrow it at somepoint in their teens. Oy! Using a humidifier in the winter definitely helps, as does covering them with lotion all over and then sticking them in footie pajamas to sleep. it's like a little lotion sauna in there.

HTH. good luck!

Reyna

 

Thanks for your great suggestions. There's one thing I don't understand. If there are certain things that aggravate her condition will that be immediatly obvious? for example, if it is the soap will her skin look different right after she has a bath? or do you just eliminate a bunch of things that are possible aggravating factors?

 

Not really. My guys skin got more red after baths just because the water/soap is drying, but it didn't look much worse than usual. Since the soap residue is on their skin for a bit, I don't think it would look any different at different times.

I would start by removing all bath wash/lotion products and switching to cetaphil bathwash and lotion. We used baby detergent from target (generic brand). If this is part of the culprit you should notice a big difference in just a few days.

 

I agree with Amy...eliminate all fragrances...from your detergent, from your softener, from you and DH. Then change to a mild cleanser. We're using Dove and so far, it's working really well. And, pick a lotion that does not contain fragrance. I'd try Eucerin or Aquafor first to see if that helps.

You can also try an oatmeal bath to soothe their skin if it's irritated. We literally use old fashioned oatmeal that we grind in our food processor. Put it in the bath water and let them soak for a few minutes. (Aveeno also makes an oatmeal bath.)

For me, I'm not 100% what is triggering Morgan. Just yesterday and early this morning I noticed a bad flare-up again. I can't tell if it's because my MIL came over and kept him (and I don't control her detergent) or we tried avocado for the first time or if it was something else totally random. BUT, I am eliminating avocado for now and praying his skin starts calming down again. Once I do that and MIL keeps him again, then I'll know if he flares it was something she had on, kwim? It's all a guessing game. We switched formulas like 5 times, and none of that made a difference.

Shannon

 

I'm glad you're talking abou this. My 6 month olds both have it and I'm trying everything. The worst part is that we are in the process of introducing solids and drooling like crazy so I never know what's causing it! I thought about switching formulas but they like it and are otherwise in great shape. I'm going to add a humidifier to the room and only bathe with Dove or Cetaphil... what about hair? Cetaphil for hair also? Anyway, thanks for the tips. I'm sure it doesn't feel great for them!

Best,
Jenn
Ella 10
Iris 7
Leo and Charlotte 6 months