Well, none of my kids have been this sensitive yet.
DD2 gets eczema through winter, nothing major & it didn't appear til she was about 18 months old.
DS used to have the odd redness in his nappy area if we used shampoo/cond/soap in the shower with him (us using, him playing on the bottom) & I can't use powders on his nappies. Other than that he's fine.
Poor DD3 has dry red patches that are peeling all around the creases of her neck & the top of her back/shoulders.
Thing is I know how sensitive the others are, so I'm pretty careful, but I guess not careful enough. I don't use any soaps on her, but will now start with goats milk, & use no powders with her nappies, wraps or clothes. But, I guess I've let singlets & suits go into our washing on occasions...
If it wasn't raining I'd have rewashed all her clothes today in just water. My dryer died, so can't do it til the rain buggers off
I covered her back in aloe vera gel this morning & I'm wondering if anyone else has used this & if its helped? I'll be stocking up on all the relieving stuff for eczema tomorrow.
The CHN had a suggestion for us today. Smother her in sorbelene (the right one obviously), then get one of her jumpsuits, wet it, wring it out & put it on her.
It will sooth it & cool her down a bit (obviously not when its cold) & help her skin absorb the sorbelene. Has any one else tried it?
What do you use? Goats milk, sorbelene, olive oil, oatmeal?? Something else?
Dermeze (NOT Dermaveen...the two often get confused) from your chemist has been made and developed by the Children's Hospital here - PMH for Children.
It's the best commercial product I have found so far. Works really well for DD.
It's also CHEAP.
It's a bit greasy, so stick a towel on their bed at night to stop it getting on the sheets.
Not sure about cornflour, but it might stop the itch...not sure if the flour's texture would essentially act as more of an irritant or a helper though.
It is important to put some oil in their bath water because so much of the skin drying out happens in water (I just use olive oil from the supermarket for DS). I then pop Grahams Calendulis Cream (great stuff, quite exxy, available at health stores) just before I change him. It really does help control it and on occasion when we have taken a break from it, the eczema comes back. In all honesty, I would stay away from any cream that contains mineral oil (like Sorboline, QV etc.) because it doesn't get absorbed by the skin like natural oils do and the fact that it is petrochemically-based, it can irritate the eczema even more. We find if DS gets too hot, his eczema flares up horribly. Just make sure that she isn't getting hot and sweaty at night. We eventually had to dress him in lighter clothes and put a heater in his room (so that the heat came from an external source, and not the clothing against his skin).
It is a stressful ordeal, I know. All we can do is manage it day-to-day and do our best to prevent flare-ups. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.
Ditto to that. P has been sleeping in bottoms only and going to daycare in the lightest clothing possible (with spares incase she gets cold in the aircon) and it's been looking less angry and red lately.
Thanks heaps.
I was using the QV oils in the bath with DD2, but stopped when she seemed to be getting better. I was using an organic shampoo & conditioner on her, but changed to oatmeal based. Should get some more for her I guess. Hers flares up with the heaters etc in winter coz of the dry air, but has never been this big/spread out iykwim.
A little under her arm, or behind an ear. I have used cortisone cream on it, but as I said, she was alot older when it started. I try to avoid it now unless I have too. Might use it once a year.
Will try get to the health food shop & have a look around there & the chemist to see what they have.
MIL swore by supermarket olive oil for BIL too.
My DS (he is 2) has always had mild eczema but in the last 2 weeks it has flared up horribly. He was covered from head to toe - even his face - overnight. We took him to the doctor and got a steriod cream to get it back under control. We haven't been using sorbelene because DH also has sensitive skin and it just makes it worse. We have been lathering him in vitamin E cream which has helped a lot (except as soon as his eczema wasn't as painful, he hated having cream rubbed on him so it has been a huge battle to put it on him a few times a day).
I went into the chemist today because we want to try giving him a dose of aloe vera juice everyday - DH had eczema as a child and said it was the only thing that helped him. I spoke to the guy working in the natural remedy department and he was really helpful - he said one dose of aloe vera juice a day (which is 5mL for DS because he is only 12kg) and gave me some salt tablets for him to have 4 times a day that is meant to repair the tissue. He said if that doesn't work there is a probiotic to try as a next step. He also explained that eczema should spread downwards in the body if it is on it's way out rather than upwards towards his trunk and face and that with any new treatment there may be a flare up for up to 48 hours which is okay but if the flare up lasts longer than that, to stop using the treatment and try something different. My doctor told me nothing like that when I saw him - he just printed me out an information sheet on eczema that told me nothing more than I had already figured out by reading info on Dr Google.
I really am new to the whole eczema thing because DS has never had any major problems with it before - just a reaction to mossies and sandflies that resulted in a bit of eczema. The humidity here has been horrible for the last couple of weeks. If we spend any time out of the air conditioning, his eczema becomes unbearable. I noticed a big different because we spent 30 mins outside at playgroup the othe rmorning.
I am finding it really stressful because he is in pain and his skin looks awful. He stopped sleeping altogether for a few days and nights because it was so itchy and even phenergan (recommended by the doctor) didn't get him off to sleep.
Sorry, I haven't actually said anything very useful but wanted to share my last couple of weeks because I understand how horrible and stressful it can be now. We are going to have to be so careful from this point on because it doesn't seem to take much for his skin to flare up. I really am still getting my head around what it is and working out the best way to treat his skin. There are so many products available out there and we could spend a heap of money and do terrible things to his skin trying to figure out what works best when all I want to do is make him better. Poor little guy.
Anyway, I hope you find something that works for your DD Clover, it's not easy
Avoid creams that contain minerals, they may appear nice and moist to begin with but long term dry the skin more. Sometimes is the chemist brand, no fancy marketing moisturisers that are best. I second oatmeal based stuff. Goat milks soap too.
If we are unable to get our girls skin's dryness under control, we use a hydro cortisone cream for a couple of days, mixed on with the moisturiser, it helps to retain moisture in the skin. If flare-ups occur and don't calm down within a week or so using the hydro cortisone, I use a corticosteriod in the patches. Luckily now we can control it by keeping the skin moisturised, which we actually do twice daily, even if I miss one I can tell the difference the next day. We've had to switch DD2 clothes to all cotton, cause anything synthetic that doesn't breath makes her sweaty and this makes the breakouts worse. At the moment she spends most day in a cloth nappy and thats it.
We use Moo Goo msm when DD's flares up alot and find it works really well, then to maintain we use QV lotion. Th key as others said is to keep htem moisturised, so no soaps or drying agents in the bath. I know some people add a little bag with oats in it. Good luck with it, it's awful seeing your little ones itchy and bleeding and in pain.
We also use MooGoo balm here - I found that DS was irritated by sorbolene, and dermeeze didn't work for him.
There is a non-cortisone medicine for little babies or for faces of older kids - it's called elidel, and it works well too - you'll need a special authority from your doctor, otherwise its very expensive.
Also - remove any tags or labels and so on - even the ones that feelsoft can be scratchy
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Eczema...
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