Eczema Appearing! Help Me To Try Every Possible Prevention Method!

DD is 7mo and I have seen a tiny patch of eczema appear on her arm, and on her back behind her shoulder. Nooooo.
Her skin otherwise looks and feels great, not dry.

Being a chronic eczema sufferer myself, I think i've got all the treatment ideas covered, but is there any way of preventing further outbreak that I haven't thought of?
Here's what I have already been doing since she was born:

Bathe with lukewarm water, no soap, no shampoo.
Wash all her clothes/sheets with homemade laundry powder (soap flakes, borax and washing soda)
Breastfeed exclusively
No wool/fleece/flannelette clothes/sheets.

I am going to stop using the heater so much, as this dries the skin.


Any more ideas?

Also, any ideas about my diet affecting her skin? I have very little dairy usually, though I have been drinking Yakult lately (this is apparently Good for eczema though?) and I did drink one glass of milk this week.. but surely ONE glass of milk isn't enough to trigger? WDYT?
Otherwise, my diet is quite healthy, full of veg and not a lot of red meat.

EDIT: I'm trying to avoid resorting to any creams, and also want to keep any form of moisturising as a last resort, as I believe it makes it worse in the long run.

Please any ideas would be great, I really don't want DD to have to suffer her whole life like I am :(

Moogoo have an eczema cream that was the only thing that would get rid of my SIL's DS's eczema. I use the MSM soothing cream on my DS as sometimes he gets a bit of an irritation between his fat rolls and a little bit of red bottom and it clears it up straight away.

dd had a bit of excema as a new born, and i actually used almond oil on it.. just dabbed it on (quite thick), with a cotton wool ball. it soothes it, and i found after maybe a month (?) it cleared up completely. i too am an excema sufferer, and at the moment, i am using aveeno skin relief moisturiser on myself, and if the kids want a massage i use it on them too

Try not to bathe her every day - it dries out the skin. We found every 2/3 days and DD's skin issues resolved pretty quickly. xxx

What about something you're feeding to her. My DD had eczema on her thighs and tummy and the dermatologist suggested an elimination diet. I stopped thickening her food with farax and it was gone a week later!

Isn't it awful when you discover the first patch of ezcema. My second son has it, and when I had my third son he had beautiful skin, soon enough I saw the tell tale signs. Anyway to answer your questions I have started using a brand of laundry powder called ecostore, it is sold through Woolworths, must say I have seen an improvement in both of their skins. I also put QV Oil in the bath just to give that bit more moisture.

I know you said you are wanting to avoid creams, but if you do go down that path my Dr recommending getting a pharmasist to mix in 10% Olive Oil into 500gm of Aqueas cream it also seems to be helping.

I haven't gone down the elimination path my older son who is coming up 4 is starting to grow out of his so I am hoping DS 3 will do the same

Avene water/products are great for this. (I know it was on today tonight - tonight) but I have actually used these products with success and my DH still swears by it.

I know you say you want to avoid moisturing, but its part of the recommended treatment/prevention program. If you don't want to, and you are doing basically everything else there is to do, then I would suggest using a hydrocortisone cream on the patches immediately. It helps the skin retain its own moisture content and can be weakened if you wish by applying with a little moisturiser. I have found dermaveen or aveeno to be the best in the way of moisturisers.

Think about joining the Eczema Association, they send you all the latest information and samples about once a year, and you can always contact them for advice.Eczema Association of Australasia Inc

Hi Turtleschell,
I have 2 daughter 7 & 3 who are suffering from Eczema since age 3 & 2 respectively.Both very mild so I've have managed to keep it under control just applying cortisone cream (Dermaid,Advantan,Elocon) when neccessary, fragrance free Vitamin E cream the rest of the time and using baby shampoo for hair & body. None of my kids have food allergies so the only triggers are environmental. About 3 months ago as I was packing to move house. I came across a patch of mouldy carpet in a hidden corner of my closet. Miss 3 was hanging around me as I was trying to clean the mould stain on the wall & carpet. A few days after Miss 3 Eczema has gone from just a few rashes on her arms to full blown Eczema covering from her neck down to her thighs. It has gotten worser by the day even now that we've moved into the new house. Miss 3 also made it worse by clawing at the rashes breaking the already thinned out skin due to steroid cream. So I took her to a dermatologist & he prescribed a stronger cream called Celestone M ointment, QV Moisturising Ointment & QV Bath oil. He also prescribed Phenegan to sedate Miss 3 at night so she wouldn't scratch. I religiously followed his regime for both of my girls for more than a month but BOTH reacted badly to the bath oil and the moisturising ointment only made their skins oily rather than hydrate. Miss 7 now has rashes appearing on her tummy & the rest of her arms. Miss 3 just looked like she's got 3rd degree burns from her scalp right down to her ankles. I got scared so I switch to T-gel for shampoo & Goat Milk soap for body. Both with terrible results. I also used Sudocrem which reduced the redness but caused the rash to dry out. This then in turn cause Miss 3 to scratch even more.Then last week I was talking to my grocer lady & she recommended her daughter's GP in Inala who treated her daughter of the same condition. The Doctor prescribed for both my girls a course of antibiotic called Ialex to get rid of the skin infection, Advantan ointment once at night after shower for 1 week and she rang up the chemist and asked them to make a special blend of 20% soft white parafin in an aqeous cream base.I have to apply the moisturising cream every chance I've got. I also bought Dove Beauty Bar and Zyrtec for kids that treats skin hives. I give them the zyrtec in the morning. Just 2 days after commencing this regime the redness started to disappear by the 4th day their skins are as smooth as a babies bottom. I am done with the antibiotic & the advantan ointment. I noticed miss3 is starting to get some rashes appearing on her arms and legs so I really dont want to keep using the Advantan unless as a last resort so My regime now for Miss 3 is:

Zyrtec morning. Hopefully when summer comes around I can drop this too.

Rashes & itchiness- Thursday plantation tea tree ointment (becareful not to apply on broken skin as it will sting). Some kids might not like the smell. I also have tried a natural lotion from Sharainne called (What A) Skin RElief which works quite well to ease their itch. It cost about $9 for 50 mL but I found that it was not really 50mL in the bottle.

Moisturising - 20% WSP in Aqueous cream apply when ever I can.
I've moved her bed into my bedroom so if she starts scratching in the middle of the night, I will apply the moisturising cream then the Tea Tree

Hair & Body - Dove Moisture Beauty Bar

shower- short shower only no bath. I found that if they shower for more than 10 mins they start to itch.

Clothing- loose cotton clothings only.

washing - I use normal laundry powder & fabric softener but I programmed my washing machine to add 2 extra rinse cycles to ensure all detergent residues are removed.

For Miss 7 I do all above but only morning & cream after shower.
So I will keep you posted as to wether these will keep the Eczema under control.

regards
ps I also found Sorbolene cream caused them to itch & Graham's natural Eczema Cream to be non effective and has such an overpowering odour.