Eczema

My son, Noah, is about 21 months and he seems to have eczema. Last time we were at the ped's I told her about his skin but it didn't look that bad at that time. I bought the Johnson's baby eczema cream and the ped said that it should help. Well, today I noticed that the patches of eczema (if that's what it is) seem to be spreading. Is there anything OTC that I could give him or should I just take him back to the ped?

[peekawho]

I'd take him back in.  He might need something prescription, it might be mildly infected, or the ped may have useful information about it.

I don't know that much about infant eczema.  I'm sorry.  

[houseofgirls]

We had to use cortizone cream over the counter for my first dd.  She had eczema patches as well.  Also, do not bathe him every day, that drys out the skin.  We never needed anything stronger than the cortizone, so no prescriptions.  She is almost 4 and doesn't get it any more.  It is also pretty common starting around this time of year.   You should call and make sure to talk to his ped or nurse before using anything, even over the counter cortizone.  If you do use it, be careful not to use it too much.  If it doesn't help pretty quickly, then something stronger may be needed.

Oh, and also try and use lotions without perfume or dyes.  My husband has eczema as well, and has to be very careful about what he uses.  Same with laundry detergent.

[DollChina]

Moisture,moisture, moisture.  Aveno, Eucerin, etc. are great brand.  No fragrance lotion, laundry detergent, dryer sheet.  We battle with this since DS was 6 weeks old.  We ended go going to the derm and have touse steriod.  YOu need to get DX from the doc.  OTC cortizone will help with the itch and redness but it's hard to tell the degree of the skin condition with words.....

[CYW]

cameron had the same thing.. the dr gave him cortisone...it didnt work.. anyways he told me to try the baby aveeno cream.. they have a tube thats for eczema.. give it about 2 weeks and they should go away...at least it did with cameron.. i did this twice a day...and now i do it after his bath or after being wet(e.g. swimming) it is small but you dont need much. lasts about a month or so...7$... worth it...good luck

[GRose]

Thanks for the advice, I tried Eucerin and that didn't seem to help and I only bath him 2 or three times a week as to not dry out his skin. I will try the Aveeno but I don't know if I want to wait much longer. Noah doesn't seem to be bothered by it but I fear that it is going to get worse because the cold weather will be here soon (stupid Wisconsin).

[cantwait4baby]

My dd has eczema and she has been to a pediatric dermitologist for it.  The prescriptions actually did not even work what worked and still works is aquaphor.  I swear by that stuff for everything especially eczema

[lhughes]

We just switched to aquaphor after some of the prescription stuff quit working as well as it was.  This week, aquaphor is holding the eczema down, but I don't think it's the answer, either.  Aveeno didn't touch dd's eczema.  Eucerin combined with a steroid worked for a while, but then stopped working.  

Hylira worked well for us (that's a non-steriodal goo ... prescription), but then our dd said it was burning (well, it was more like screaming), so we had to stop that.  I think that works best when the flare ups aren't so bad.  

The corticosteroids seemed to work for a time, but then stop working.  It's a try and see what works kind of disease.  Good luck to you, I hope you can find some relief for your child.  It's awful to see them broke out so much and itching.  Not to mention it interferes with sleep.

I might suggest that you have your son checked for allergies, that might lend a clue.

[alikat1205]

my youngest daughter had it so bad she was hospitalized.  it was horrifying.  we used every prescription cream and lotioin and antihistimine there was.  at the hospital they told us whirlpool bath (if you have a bath with jets) something about the water swirling, no idea why, but even if no whirlpool, long soaking baths, at least 30 minutes, and out of the bath, either the prescription lotion or vaseline.  we also used aquaphor, but it is sooo expensive, and when the dr. said vaseline worked -- wow alot cheaper and since we had to use so much, it was nice! we would do that and wrap her in a towel to let the vaseline/ointment soak in and not dress her until she wasn't greasy anymore! sometimes two baths a day when it was really bad -- we also had to wrap her in gauze like a mummy (don't do unless dr. says to do that) her eczema was that bad.  she's 6 now and she barely gets it anymore, thank goodness, it is was a nightmare, poor child.  and do check for allergies.  after she was hospitalized they did more extensive testing (we had done them in the dr. office once) and found out she was allergic to eggs -- which she was eating scrambled eggs every day (she was 2 at the time) -- so finding out and eliminating that helped tons.

[Pearl99]

My son had it since 7 months or so. It spread as he ate more foods even though docs kept saying it was "just a rash" and giving us steroid (cortisone+stronger) creams that affected his growth rate. At 14 mos. they tested him for food allergies and he had severe allergies to all grains, dairy, eggs, soy and nuts/peanuts plus some more less common things. Once we cut these out, it took about one year to totally go away. He's fine now and as of about 8 years old could eat most of these foods (not nuts/peanuts). Eczema is an allergic manifestation--it doesn't just happen. Check out any medical literature written by Dr. Hugh Sampson. The creams help but it won't go away until you find the trigger.