GainesvilleMoms.com

Hi everyone!
I am new to the area and am interested in local eczema resources as my 10 week old suffers from this.
Thanks so much in advance for your help!
Claudia

I deal with Eczema with my daughter. It drives me nuts. It also requires a lot of work on my part and lots of crying from my daughter.

What I was told to do by my doctor was to use Eucerain lotion and then baby aqaphor on my daughter after every bath. It has worked and I was also told that if there is bad spot I can use hydrocortizon on her if the patches bother her too much but they only flare up if she plays outside.

My daughter has been dealing with eczema since she was about 2 months old also. She is three now. When she was itty bitty as yours we used Aquaphor...it is a vasoline type of skin conditioner. We would put it on her daily every night after her bath and sometimes lightly in the am when it was winter and she was super dry. It didn't comepletely heal the eczema, but did control the itching for her and then she wasn't so red and aggravated. When she reached two years old my pediatrician gave us a prescription for an after bath lotion called Derma-Smoothe/FS. It feels like baby oil and we smooth it on her after her bath but only about twice a month in the summer and maybe three or four times during the winter. When first prescribed we used it for a week straight and it really helped and since then she has had much better skin. Downfall is they have to be at least two years old to use the Derma-Smoothe. It comes in a 4oz bottle but lasts forever. We got this bottle when my daughter turned two and she is now 3,(as of January), and we are just now getting ready to purchase our 2nd bottle of the Derma-Smoothe.

If the eczema is really bad to where your childs skin is cracked and raw then I am sure your pediatrician will take a harsher method of treatment, but for a mild risk free treatment for your newborn the Aquaphor worked sufficiently for us for the first two years. She still had some bumps on her arms..legs and sometimes on her cheeks..but they were not red and only detectable if you looked really close or were touching her. Most importantly she was not uncomfortable as the Aquaphor controled her itching.

Hope this helps some. Good luck

We have dealt with ezcema to a certain degree as well and got much of the same advice that's already been given. Eucerin lotion -- the really thick stuff -- after baths. Walgreens makes a generic brand that will save you a few bucks. We also try to not give baths every night, since it dries out the skin. Every other night or every third night is usually good. The rest of the time we just wipe off with a washcloths. Hydrocortizone cream does work as well. But do give your doctor a call if it's a really extreme case. My ped says there was plenty of stuff she could prescribe, but neither of my boys cases was severe enough.

Thanks for all the great advice! It's nice to know you're not alone in the eczema battle! My son's condition is fairly mild at this point, but I worry that it will worsen without good treatment. Thanks again!
Claudia

I have had it my whole life, and my son has had it since he was about 2.

When it starts to bump, crack, get read, irritated, anything other than normal 'feeling' skin we treat it with a cream. Otherwise we leave it alone.

What I have learned over the years is that there is no preventative, only treatment...so I found it best not to waste my time unless it and I were irritated.

My son hasn't had a problem with his couple patches in MONTHS and then some.

When it is irritated, pat dry only, don't rub..use cream a couple times a day, until it goes away.

Once it's back to normal you can use reg. lotions etc if you want b/c it wont make any difference.

Good luck, it's a hit or miss string of events, feel free to ask if you have questions, I have years living with it

Oh, and the most annoying thing about dealing with doctors (not dermatologists) is that this is a blanket term for just about any ongoing skin irritation.

Seriously, it isn't a specific condition and very little is known about any of it.

Kind of like the blanket term headache, even when you know it's lack of sleep, or coffee, or stress, or something else...it's always classified as a simple headache.

I do not have first hand experience w/ it. However, my nieces both had it as toddlers and have "out grown" it. My neighbor said a doc told her that it can be caused by either too much dairy products, or an allergic reaction to dairy...just a theory I am sure!

Interesting you say that because he does happen to have (what we believe to be) an allergy to cow milk protein. While I'm nursing, I have to basically avoid any dairy product. I am definitely hoping that he will outgrow these problems; however, at the same time, I count my blessings that he is otherwise healthy. Thanks again for all the posts!
Claudia

I dealt with eczema with my son, it turns out he was allergic to my breast milk(what I was eating and drinking), and then to formula. I switched to soy formula and it was over. I believe that most cases of eczema are just a manifestation of a food allergy. I was informed of this, not by my pediatrician, but by a friend who had one of her twins that was allergic a lot of things, and had eczema. I hope this helps.