Eczema in infants

[lilysmum09]

My little girl is 4 months, recently got eczema & i was given advice by doctor to use QV cream all over skin & given a prescription for a steroid cream for red areas, does anyone have any other ideas, remedies or info on infant eczema, i am a little concerned using the steroid cream, as reading side effects, has scared me a little, are there natural products & any success stories? also stories of your own would ease my mind!

[Happypiglet]

Hey there!! All of my kids have had chronic eczema so I feel you pain (and theirs). What state are you from? I can help if you want to chat about it

[Enchanted]

My DD2 has severe eczema and we are using Calendulis plus on the reccomendation of the natropath. It smells pretty nasty but works really well. We have only been using it for a few weeks but her rash has almost fully gone. She is still a bit scaley but no where near as bad as it was. Bub is just 7 months.

I won't use steroid based creams if I have the option not to.
good luck.

[2mamas]

DS's is mostly mild, but it does get a bit red and angry looking depending on what he's touched sometimes.

We as natural as possible:

baths are alternated between sea salt/Epsom salt or bicarb or a couple of teaspoons of olive oil.

Straight after a bath, we pat dry him, and while still damp, apply olive oil to his whole body, focusing on the eczema patches- a very very light layer, like a moisturiser, so we don't need to wash/wipe it off, it just sinks in. We patch treat with more olive oil on a cotton ball or sometimes Lucas papaw. Just found out Lucas is petroleum based though so have ordered an organic papaw ointment, hope it works as well!

Laundry: we use a teaspoon of Eco store per load of MCNs and 2 teaspoons per load of clothes. We do an extra rinse to make sure it's all gone and dry in the sun. When the weather is bad and we have to dry clothes indoors we add dettol to the rinse cycle (followed by an extra rinse to wash that out)

we have him in natural fibres as much as possible and keep baths/showers lukewarm. We keep him dressed as lightly as possible.

HTH

[kristie2]

My DD3 had really shocking eczema.
I was like you and didn't want to use a steroid cream on her.
I found this product called binda baby it is brillant.
Here is there website.

Binda Baby Essentials. Organic Baby Products, Babycare, Baby Skincare, Australian Made, Organic Cotton, Binda uses only 100% pure, Natural ingredients for Babies, 100% Chemical Free, Chemical Free Baby Products, Baby Skin Care Range

[munzo]

We use Moo Goo - the specialised excema cream. And we use the wash as well.

[Loe]

I love GAIA products. I have used them for both my children and now that I have the eczema under control I only need to use the steriod creams with flare ups.

A few tips... lather them up with moisturisers, QV bath oil, use a sensitive laundry detergent, only dress them in 100% cotton, I also use the dryer for all their clothes because it makes softer.

[frenchieM]

My poor DS flared up with eczema at 6wks old and had it until 6mths old.

The important thing (if you can) is to find the trigger of the eczema. It took us 6mths to find the trigger for DS but his was food allergies (cows milk, soy milk, egg and peanuts that was passing through my breast milk). You can request a RAST blood test from your GP to eliminate the obvious allergies, cows milk protein is the most common allergy in infants! It presents in up to 7% of babies and can last until they are 3-5yrs old. DS is 2.5yrs old and can drink cows milk now no problem but in those early days his body was fighting it and it presented as eczema.

Secondly, if you can't find the trigger and are just trying to control it, this is what we did:

- 100% Cotton clothes only. Dress bub cooler rather than warmer
- We used a really oily vaseline type moisturiser called dermeeze. It was developed by the Royal Childrens Hosp in Melbourne specifically for eczema and skin conditions. It is very very oily! Moisturise at least 3 times a day preferably after a bath
- keep baths short and not hot. Water draws moisture out of the skin

This is all I can think of at the moment, We had to use steroid creams for a short period but I only used it when the other things I listed above were making no difference at all. Its important to get eczema under conrtol and after that, you can usually maintain it just by moisturising.

I hope that helps I was so concerned about using steroids on him, especially his face, but his eczema was so bad it was weeping and he ended up on antibiotics from risk of infection so sometimes you just have to do what you have to do!!

[Krystal]

I second the Calendulis Plus!!! We call it the 'Miracle Cream' as it stops the itch within about 24hrs. Yes it stinks but it's worth it!!! Makes me stop feeling like a dog with fleas