Infant Eczema Help

[rachydc]

DS (5 mos) has severe eczema. He's had it since birth. Not sure if it's genetic or just this dry winter weather we've been having. We have his body under control, but his face is another story. As background, he was "diagnosed" with a milk and soy intolerance around 3mos. We've had him on Similac Alimentum since then. The pedi thought the eczema would clear up, or at least get a little better once he was strictly on this formula, but it hasnt. We also use dye and scent free everything as DD and I have very sensitive skin as well.

I cut his nails as short as I can and file them but he still gets these scratches! I glove him, and apply aquaphor to his face and head constantly but every time it clears up, it comes back within a couple hours. The pedi prescribed us stuff for his body, but as far as his head, she just said continue using aquaphor. His preferred soothing method is scratching his head and face until blood is drawn. He's basically Edward Scissorhands

Nothing seems to be helping and it's so heartbreaking to see him like this. Any experience or suggestions as to what would work best for his poor head?

[gimmeaQ]

oh man, this sounds awful

have you tried completely eliminating dairy? I believe there is milk protein in Alimentum but maybe there is a soy that would be better? I have heard second hand that eliminating dairy and gluten has helped some babies.

at the peak of my son's eczema, we were using Aveeno eczema soap and occasional oatmeal baths. We then were putting straight Vaseline on his rough spots, but it sounds like your little one's is much worse than his.

[bridge]

Apr 3, 2018 8:23:38 GMT -6 rachydc said:

DS (5 mos) has severe eczema. He's had it since birth. Not sure if it's genetic or just this dry winter weather we've been having. We have his body under control, but his face is another story. As background, he was "diagnosed" with a milk and soy intolerance around 3mos. We've had him on Similac Alimentum since then. The pedi thought the eczema would clear up, or at least get a little better once he was strictly on this formula, but it hasnt. We also use dye and scent free everything as DD and I have very sensitive skin as well.

I cut his nails as short as I can and file them but he still gets these scratches! I glove him, and apply aquaphor to his face and head constantly but every time it clears up, it comes back within a couple hours. The pedi prescribed us stuff for his body, but as far as his head, she just said continue using aquaphor. His preferred soothing method is scratching his head and face until blood is drawn. He's basically Edward Scissorhands

Nothing seems to be helping and it's so heartbreaking to see him like this. Any experience or suggestions as to what would work best for his poor head?

My DS had severe eczema at this age too. His poor face was covered in scratches, in all of my pics of him he’s shiny and all scratched up. We took him to a dermatologist who basically just said that it’s super common in our area because it’s so dry and he gave us a steroid oil. I really didn’t want to go that route but he was miserable and it worked pretty much instantly. He was on a regimen of 2 weeks on the oil and one week off and he would get really bad again the week off. We also tried completely eliminating dairy but it didn’t help and our doc didn’t think it was allergy related. It took a while but he’s 2.5 now and hasn’t had a flare up in probably a year. I know it’s really tough to watch, I hope the spring weather brings him some relief, I know dry winter air seemed to make it worse for us.

[GhoatMonket]

We could never get a handle on the face eczema. It ended up being something he outgrew.

Is there a reason you can't use the prescription cream on his head and face?

[misskilljoy]

My baby (also 5 mos) does the same thing with scratching his face, especially when he's tired. Everything except Glaxal Base irritates his skin, so we use that everywhere except his face, then just water on his face for lack of a better solution.

The only thing that we can do to get him to stop digging his nails into his eyebrows and eyes while tired is to hand him a small toy or soother to play with. We prefer to give him small baby-friendly soft toys from his playmat because they don't leave marks when he rubs them against his face.

ETA: I don't use Glaxal on his face because MH can be a bit extra when it comes to things on/near our kids' faces. DS scratches his face and then sucks on his hands all day, so MH doesn't want anything on the skin. My doc said it's fine to use on his face if we need to.

[piratecat]

Ouch, poor guy. My 10 MO has mild eczema on his body but has had it pretty bad on his chin all winter. My pediatrician had us use Desonide, which is a low-strength prescription steroid cream, generally safe to use on the face, but only for limited periods of time (1-2 weeks at a time). I've done two rounds of it and it does clear up but comes back. I have tried many other creams/ointments without success but have been using Honest Company's healing ointment that was suggested here for the past two weeks and it seems to be on the mend. It still isn't clear but it is slowly getting better and this is the best progress we've seen without using the steroid cream.

[frantastic]

For my DS1, I did coconut oil on his scalp and let it sit for 15min or so (I usually laid him on an old towel to avoid oil stains on blankets, etc). Then I washed off with the California Baby eczema relief shampoo. I also only bathed him 1-2 times/week.

ETA: Our pedi gave us the OK to use cortizone-10 cream on his face very carefully.

[piratecat]

rachydc, my kiddo doesn't scratch though and I would be more tempted to ask for a prescription cream that you could use for the face if I were you, to have a chance to get it cleared up as soon as possible. It is easier to maintain by keeping it well moisturized once it's been cleared. I have read that you really need to keep using the steroid cream for some amount of time after it clears, otherwise it will come back worse once you stop using it, which I think has been our problem.

[rachydc]

Apr 3, 2018 8:39:56 GMT -6 GhoatMonket said:

We could never get a handle on the face eczema. It ended up being something he outgrew.

Is there a reason you can't use the prescription cream on his head and face?

DD outgrew hers as well, but it wasn't nearly as bad. She was a Summer baby though. I'm sure he will too, it's just been a rough winter.

Pedi wanted to wait on the steroid cream for his face. Mainly for the reason others have stated, it works but always comes back on the "off" weeks. She said lets just try aquaphor until his 6 month appt (End of this month) when we can re-evaluate everything and make another plan that includes the facial steroid oil if need be. 

[rachydc]

Apr 3, 2018 8:31:40 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

oh man, this sounds awful

have you tried completely eliminating dairy? I believe there is milk protein in Alimentum but maybe there is a soy that would be better? I have heard second hand that eliminating dairy and gluten has helped some babies.

at the peak of my son's eczema, we were using Aveeno eczema soap and occasional oatmeal baths. We then were putting straight Vaseline on his rough spots, but it sounds like your little one's is much worse than his.

Alimentum and Nutramagin (or however you spell it) are the go-to formulas for kids with intolerances. They do have small traces of dairy and soy, but they're extremely broken down from what I've read. Pedi was unsure about goats milk formula, so we just decided to try Alimentum for the time being and reassess at his 6 month appt.

Oatmeal baths are such a great idea that I overlooked, thanks! I use Vaseline for everything, so I might as well start slathering him up with it too haha

[rachydc]

Apr 3, 2018 8:40:17 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Ouch, poor guy. My 10 MO has mild eczema on his body but has had it pretty bad on his chin all winter. My pediatrician had us use Desonide, which is a low-strength prescription steroid cream, generally safe to use on the face, but only for limited periods of time (1-2 weeks at a time). I've done two rounds of it and it does clear up but comes back. I have tried many other creams/ointments without success but have been using Honest Company's healing ointment that was suggested here for the past two weeks and it seems to be on the mend. It still isn't clear but it is slowly getting better and this is the best progress we've seen without using the steroid cream.

We've had a lot of luck using Tubby Todd's all over ointment on his body and the steroid cream for flare ups. The pedi scared me talking about using anything besides aquaphor on his face since it could get under his nails and into his mouth yada yada yada, but reading the responses here I think it may be the best course of action since nothing else is helping.

[hawkward]

Winter and early spring are very rough on my eczema boy. I swear by Honest Co healing balm. It's more effective on open skin than Aquaphor or Aveeno for us. We would keep it in the refrigerator because the cold can be soothing for itching. A cold teething ring on sore spots can help too.

[rachydc]

Apr 3, 2018 8:58:53 GMT -6 hawkward said:

Winter and early spring are very rough on my eczema boy. I swear by Honest Co healing balm. It's more effective on open skin than Aquaphor or Aveeno for us. We would keep it in the refrigerator because the cold can be soothing for itching. A cold teething ring on sore spots can help too.

Ahhh, the fridge is an amazing idea!! Im going to pick up some Honest Balm today since Piratecat mentioned it too. 

[piratecat]

Apr 3, 2018 9:00:24 GMT -6 rachydc said:

Apr 3, 2018 8:58:53 GMT -6 hawkward said:

Winter and early spring are very rough on my eczema boy. I swear by Honest Co healing balm. It's more effective on open skin than Aquaphor or Aveeno for us. We would keep it in the refrigerator because the cold can be soothing for itching. A cold teething ring on sore spots can help too.

Ahhh, the fridge is an amazing idea!! Im going to pick up some Honest Balm today since Piratecat mentioned it too. 

I got the idea from hawkward!

[hawkward]

Apr 3, 2018 9:00:24 GMT -6 rachydc said:

Apr 3, 2018 8:58:53 GMT -6 hawkward said:

Winter and early spring are very rough on my eczema boy. I swear by Honest Co healing balm. It's more effective on open skin than Aquaphor or Aveeno for us. We would keep it in the refrigerator because the cold can be soothing for itching. A cold teething ring on sore spots can help too.

Ahhh, the fridge is an amazing idea!! Im going to pick up some Honest Balm today since Piratecat mentioned it too. 

I bought it out of desperation a couple of years ago for DS2. He had open sores all over his neck and shoulders from scratching. It was almost instant relief from the itching for him, and I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly his skin healed up. DS1 says it doesn't sting at all when we put it on over open sores, so that helps too. 

[piratecat]

Apr 3, 2018 8:58:33 GMT -6 rachydc said:

Apr 3, 2018 8:40:17 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Ouch, poor guy. My 10 MO has mild eczema on his body but has had it pretty bad on his chin all winter. My pediatrician had us use Desonide, which is a low-strength prescription steroid cream, generally safe to use on the face, but only for limited periods of time (1-2 weeks at a time). I've done two rounds of it and it does clear up but comes back. I have tried many other creams/ointments without success but have been using Honest Company's healing ointment that was suggested here for the past two weeks and it seems to be on the mend. It still isn't clear but it is slowly getting better and this is the best progress we've seen without using the steroid cream.

We've had a lot of luck using Tubby Todd's all over ointment on his body and the steroid cream for flare ups. The pedi scared me talking about using anything besides aquaphor on his face since it could get under his nails and into his mouth yada yada yada, but reading the responses here I think it may be the best course of action since nothing else is helping.

Mine was older than 6 months when we first used the steroid cream so I don't know about younger babies. We used the steroid cream twice daily but I would think at least at night time it would be fairly easy to cover his hands with mitts and he would leave it alone. Also, when I was digging around for information on eczema and how to treat it, I read that sometimes the extra ingredients in Aquaphor could make it worse and that plain Vaseline is recommended. 

[piratecat]

Apr 3, 2018 8:39:56 GMT -6 GhoatMonket said:

We could never get a handle on the face eczema. It ended up being something he outgrew.

Is there a reason you can't use the prescription cream on his head and face?

I'm glad to hear it's something they grow out of. 

[piratecat]

Apr 3, 2018 8:58:33 GMT -6 rachydc said:

Apr 3, 2018 8:40:17 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Ouch, poor guy. My 10 MO has mild eczema on his body but has had it pretty bad on his chin all winter. My pediatrician had us use Desonide, which is a low-strength prescription steroid cream, generally safe to use on the face, but only for limited periods of time (1-2 weeks at a time). I've done two rounds of it and it does clear up but comes back. I have tried many other creams/ointments without success but have been using Honest Company's healing ointment that was suggested here for the past two weeks and it seems to be on the mend. It still isn't clear but it is slowly getting better and this is the best progress we've seen without using the steroid cream.

We've had a lot of luck using Tubby Todd's all over ointment on his body and the steroid cream for flare ups. The pedi scared me talking about using anything besides aquaphor on his face since it could get under his nails and into his mouth yada yada yada, but reading the responses here I think it may be the best course of action since nothing else is helping.

Also, I don't know which steroid cream you use on his body but I know that there are different kinds of varying strengths and some are considered safer to use on the face. 

[radiantfate]

My DD had it when she was a baby too. Our pedi had us use 5% hydrocortisone on her face, but that was almost 10 years ago so I don't know if docs would still recommend that. It did work like a charm, though.

[rachydc]

Apr 3, 2018 9:14:46 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Apr 3, 2018 8:58:33 GMT -6 rachydc said:

We've had a lot of luck using Tubby Todd's all over ointment on his body and the steroid cream for flare ups. The pedi scared me talking about using anything besides aquaphor on his face since it could get under his nails and into his mouth yada yada yada, but reading the responses here I think it may be the best course of action since nothing else is helping.

Mine was older than 6 months when we first used the steroid cream so I don't know about younger babies. We used the steroid cream twice daily but I would think at least at night time it would be fairly easy to cover his hands with mitts and he would leave it alone. Also, when I was digging around for information on eczema and how to treat it, I read that sometimes the extra ingredients in Aquaphor could make it worse and that plain Vaseline is recommended. 

My aunt  (40s) still suffers from Eczema and actually told me this past weekend that the extra ingredients in aquaphor make her skin worse! I would have never imagined. That's what prompted me to make this thread

[piratecat]

Apr 3, 2018 9:24:03 GMT -6 rachydc said:

Apr 3, 2018 9:14:46 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Mine was older than 6 months when we first used the steroid cream so I don't know about younger babies. We used the steroid cream twice daily but I would think at least at night time it would be fairly easy to cover his hands with mitts and he would leave it alone. Also, when I was digging around for information on eczema and how to treat it, I read that sometimes the extra ingredients in Aquaphor could make it worse and that plain Vaseline is recommended. 

My aunt  (40s) still suffers from Eczema and actually told me this past weekend that the extra ingredients in aquaphor make her skin worse! I would have never imagined. That's what prompted me to make this thread

Yea my pediatrician said to use Vaseline and I was still using Aquaphor because I figured they were basically the same until I did more reading online. I know some people swear by it so I guess it just affects people differently.

[silverspoon]

Apr 3, 2018 8:23:38 GMT -6 rachydc said:

DS (5 mos) has severe eczema. He's had it since birth. Not sure if it's genetic or just this dry winter weather we've been having. We have his body under control, but his face is another story. As background, he was "diagnosed" with a milk and soy intolerance around 3mos. We've had him on Similac Alimentum since then. The pedi thought the eczema would clear up, or at least get a little better once he was strictly on this formula, but it hasnt. We also use dye and scent free everything as DD and I have very sensitive skin as well.

I cut his nails as short as I can and file them but he still gets these scratches! I glove him, and apply aquaphor to his face and head constantly but every time it clears up, it comes back within a couple hours. The pedi prescribed us stuff for his body, but as far as his head, she just said continue using aquaphor. His preferred soothing method is scratching his head and face until blood is drawn. He's basically Edward Scissorhands

Nothing seems to be helping and it's so heartbreaking to see him like this. Any experience or suggestions as to what would work best for his poor head?

My kid went through this starting around 2 months and it has gotten significantly better at the age of 2. He started figuring out how to get the gloves/socks off his hands around 6 months old which was not ideal.

I started bathing him every night in a quick, warm but not too warm bath and that helped his scalp tremendously. I used the Mustela eczema line and it helped his whole little body. Triamcinolone ointment once or twice a week for maintenance to keep it at bay also worked for us. 

Aquaphor will protect the skin, but it won't heal anything so I'm not sure why she would have you continue lathering him up with only that. Eucerin or Cerave first and then Aquaphor on top is what my kid's dermatologist recommended.

ETA We started using the steroid ointment at 3 months old. As long as we didn't use it everyday his dermatologist wasn't concerned.

[katelou]

I agree with PP, aquaphor is just a moisture barrier. I was told by the ped to use use a maintenance cream with ceramides. Eucerin baby eczema cream is one, but I'm sure there are more. We also use hydrocortisone for flare ups. I've also been told to apply cream within 3 min after getting out of a bath to "seal in" the extra moisture. GL.

[notexactly]

My son had severe eczema, too. Bleeding, cracking skin. Sounds just like everything you described. It was truly horrible and no matter what we did, it kept coming back. That is until I took him to an allergist and got him tested. Turns out he is allergic to dairy, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts and tree nuts! Once I eliminated all the foods from my diet (breastfeeding), his skin truly cleared up and has stayed that way.

I considered formula in case I would not be able to nurse him anymore, and if I am remembering right, his allergist was recommending Neocate and Elecare.

For a daily lotion, his allergist has us using Vanicream.

[sunnysideup]

I started using Cortisone 10 eczema lotion for DS2 and it’s made a world of difference. The eczema on his legs was so hard to control. We haven’t had any issues since I started using it. We also switched to Cetaphil shampoo/body wash.

Cortizone-10 Intensive Healing Lotion Eczema 3.50 oz (Pack of 2) www.amazon.com/dp/B00JEGFXCG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_iT6WAbMPXQDZH

[grumpycat]

Ds2 is 5.5 months and had eczema severe enough to prompt a referral to an allergist to check for food allergies before we give him solids.

We do a daily soak in the tub. No soap or body wash. Just warm water for 15 minutes or so. I cover his head with a wet washcloth. We were using rx steroid creams (one for his body, one for his face/head/neck), we just use cetaphil and vaseline now that his eczema has mostly cleared up.

I coat him with cetaphil at every diaper change. I cover his spots on his scalp with vaseline then put a hat on him ("skin to skin" brand).

You can try wet wrap therapy too. They have YouTube videos for body and face. My mom also picked up a bolero type jacket thing that has scratch mitts attached ("scratch me not" brand, I think). I think the hat has made the biggest difference after the steroid cream cleared up the patches (we only used it on his face/head before bed so he couldn't get it in his mouth). Prevention is key with eczema. The daily soak helps keep the itching at bay.

[trinitrotoluene]

DS1 had exactly what you have described. We bathed him every other day, about 15 minutes before bath time, we slathered his head with coconut oil, then used a tiny bit of head and shoulders to wash it out, followed by cerave baby wash to make sure the head and shoulders all came out. We started using dove sensitive skin body wash around 8 months. We use cerave cream on his whole body, including his face. We did end up going to a pediatric dermatologist at 7 months, and she prescribed a steroid cream with a plan to wean off it to prevent the bad week others mentioned.

[cmb]

Aveeno made our eczema worse. The only soap I’ve found that helps is Dove’s sensitive (they now make a baby version). J&J was a severe aggravator of it as was aveeno eczema soap. DS1 also has hypothyroidism, though, and it came back during the trial to see if he went into remission so that also had something to do with it

[rachydc]

These suggestions are all so helpful!! Thank you guys! I feel overwhelmed, but like a good kind of overwhelmed because I know there are a lot of options to try that will help him.

[grumpycat]

Apr 3, 2018 11:43:18 GMT -6 rachydc said:

These suggestions are all so helpful!! Thank you guys! I feel overwhelmed, but like a good kind of overwhelmed because I know there are a lot of options to try that will help him.

You kind of have to figure out what works best for each kid. Like everyone's skin is different. So like cerave dried ds2 out but works great for a lot of kids I know. You'll figure it out you can always try to get sample size products until you know what works.