My 7 month old has eczema and has had it for about 4-6 weeks now. It isn't bleeding or open sores more or less just red bumpy skin. It is mostly on his neck, trunk arm creases and leg creases. We bathe him in colloidal oatmeal and only use Cetaphil on his hair. Then we coat him in Aveeno Eczema thereapy, Aquaphor and we use a 1% cortisone cream once every few days only on the really bad areas. We try to use the cortisone as infrequently as possible. We only use 7th Generation Free and Clear detergent and we don't use dryer sheets. This began in August when the heat/humidity was really bad. Now we are into fall and the weather is cooling down but the environmental allergies are worse. He isn't really into solid foods yet and only eats a few bites of fruits or vegetables, however this all started before he started solid foods. He was breastfed for 6 mos and formula fed. At one week old we learned that I don't produce adequate amounts of breast milk. After I weaned him from the breast and he developed the eczema we tried him on a hypoallergenic formula (Alimentum) for 10 days. The ezcema did not improve whatsoever. He is currently on Gerber Good Start Gentle. At 3 months old we started adding rice cereal to his bottles per the pediatricians recommendation. He has terrible reflux and is on Prevacid and Ranitidine (Zantac) to control this. Does anyone have any advice on how to get rid of this? I feel so terrible for him between the eczema, reflux, and his teething he has to be miserable.
Thanks!!!
This sounds a lot like the eczema my son had. Baby powder made from cornstarch worked the best for him! :) Good luck!
Hi! My son had a small touch of reflux and still suffers with a little bit of eczema today (he is almost 1). Try eliminating any sort of dairy in his diet, that's what did it for my son. When he or I eat dairy, he breaks out and has a reflux spell. That also goes for milk based formula. My son is now half nursed and half soy formula. They do grow out of it or so I am told but the dairy thing is a great place to start, it changed my life. He started sleeping better, the reflux pretty much disappeared and his eczema cleared up...all within a week. I use Cetaphil lotion on him 2x a day still. I also don't put him in any sort of fleece clothing...only cotton so the skin can breathe better. As for the enviromental allergies, I use "Little Noses". It's a topical gel type product you put around their nostrils so they don't breathe in the allergens...that way you don't have to give him lots of medications. It worked wonders for my son earlier in the Spring when the pollen was really bad. Eczema/Reflux often go hand in hand. : ) I had to do so much research to find all this out. Even pediatricians don't have all the answers. I hope this helps!!!!!
Our little one had it worst on the backs of her legs, found out that she's allergic to all dairy protein. So pediatric homeopath had a few suggestions, try to keep all chemicals away from skin, bathe only in water. When done with bath, put in a few drops of apricot kernal oil or grape seed oil. That way when you lift baby out of water, the oil film covers the skin. For cream we used the vanicream line. For baby wipes, we made our own with just water and a few drops of lavendar oil. Many recipes on the net on how to do your own wipes. One of the main nutritional things to consider is that the body needs Omega 3s in it's system in order to repair the skin. Imagine trying to build a brick wall withought any mortar. Also have a look at Dr. Sear's website on what are some causes of eczema and some things to do to help. http://askdrsears.com/html/11/T081800.asp
I would try flax seed. It helps with my daughter's eczema. Sometimes I give her the flax seed oil (look for it at health food stores). I don't know what is best for a 7 month old but it really works for my daughter.
Try Renew body wash and lotion.
you should try to get him to an allergist to figure out what exactly he's allergic to. some babies are even allergic to teh aveeno (or sensitive to it). it could be polyester clothing, dust, pets...anything really.. i took my baby to see an allergist for other reasons and now we know what he's allergic to so that we can cater to it and lessen his outbreaks. good luck,
Renew is great for babies as well as adults with skin problems.
I've always used sesame/olive oil
Triple Paste, my favorite diaper rash cream, has a Triple Cream for eczma and it works great. My son had the red bumps only and thank goodness he didn't scratch them, but they were ugly. This stuff is really, really thick and it worked great for us. We used it twice a day for a few days and now can just put lotion on to keep it away. I even found it on clearance at Fry's for half price (7th Ave and Camelback in Central Phoenix) so I bought two. Here is a link to their website and good luck! http://www.triple-cream.com/
Have you tried giving him benedryl? This is an allergic reaction to something. They usually grow out of it. Mine did. She had super sensitive skin and really brokeout if I ate eggs. She is 11 months now and eczema free. But she had yucky skin. I wouldn't coat the skin too much, you have to let the rash dry out but put a little on when it starts to get crusty. Wash the creases of her skin. I bathed my daughter every few days. Some doctors stay, don't bathe too often, but I noticed it got worse if I didn't bathe her because her own body was sensitive to her own sweat and dead skin cells. Stay away from any soy formulas. But Benedryl should keep the itching down. I would give it at night time because that is when the hystamines are highest. Hopefully he will grow out of this in a few months. Best wishes to you.
This is exactly what my daughter went thru - the eczema and the reflux. We did the same thing with the Alimentum as well, it didn't help. We eventually took our daughter to a pediatric dermatologist. There really isn't anything you can do besides treat it. A couple of things that we have learned over time that at least have helped a bit - we use oil of olay body wash (per derm and dr recomendation) in the bath. The body wash leaves a fine film on the skin which helps keep the moisture in (eczema is the skin's inablity to retain mositure) We use cetaphil cream (never use lotion as it actually dries this skin for people with eczema). When you get your child out of the bath, pat them down, but leave skin moist, then put your cream on. We did try Aquaphor at first, but thought the cetaphil worked better. If you do go see a dermatoglist, please see a pedatric one. The first one we saw was a general dermatolgist and we had some major issues with them perscribing things and them not being approperate for a child! Good luck! I know it is a tough thing to deal with. They may be able to perscribe a oral medication to make it "less -itchy" (my daughter takes zertac for that) but the dr will have to give you the correct dosage.
I have tons of experience with this. Both my kids had really bad eczema starting at 2-3 months old. They both have food allergies. There is something (or many things) that are bothering your baby, and you need to rid them from his system because his body is crying out for help. That's great that you use free and clear detergent. Also make sure that everything you use on him is unscented (including bath wash, shampoo, etc.) as well as everything that you use.
If you used hypoallergenic formula only for 10 days, that might not have been long enough to rid it from his system, as it can take up to a month for it to leave the body.
I too hate cortisone cream, but our derm recommended Elidel, which is gentler and not a steroid. Still not great but works if he ever has a flareup, and I hardly have to use it anymore
The reflux is also most likely a food allergy. I would take him to an allergist stat.
Switch to Whole Foods/7th Generation diapers in case his current ones are bothering him.
Both my kids go to The Valley Clinic in Scottsdale, which is Homeopathy. They tell it like it is and it can be hard to listen to and implement (they will make you change many things), but they WILL help your son if you listen to them. My son had the worst eczema I had ever seen and scratched all day and night, and he is 3 now with perfect, beautiful skin and no cortisone cream ever. Even if you don't go, try and figure out what he is reacting to and that will be the best place to start.
Children's Benadryl can also help when things are really bad. Ask your doctor for proper dosing (we started using it about 7 months of age).
