Any advice on dealing with baby eczema

foreversomeday

I haven't read the whole thread but have scanned each page and don't think this has been mentioned - oats are a good natural remedy for eczema. Either put them in a pair of old (washed!) tights and hold under the water when you are running it for the bath - or buy a natural soap or body cream with oats in. Lush do a lovely one which my friend swears by. The soap/lotion idea is probably easier for a baby as you wash them in such a small amount of water.

http://www.lush.co.uk/products/Dream_Cream_1922.aspx

Js_Other_Half

foreversomeday wrote: »

http://www.lush.co.uk/products/Dream_Cream_1922.aspx

Yep, I mentioned it a few weeks (months?) ago on this thread. I have gone back to using it twice a day on DS, but he loves it and tried to eat it by the handful if the tub is too close to him...:rotfl:

morganb

I've tried Dream Cream and used to swear by it ... but the greatest thing on this planet is Body Shop Shea Butter. My son went to school with sore fingers the other day and came home and shouted out 'Mummy, it's all gone, all the soreness has gone, that Shea Butter is magic'. You can't get a better advert than that.

morganb

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Also does she NEED shampoo on her hair? I didn't always use shampoo when mine were babies, just rinsed in water. May take time to settle, but after a few days should become self-cleaning, IYSWIM.

Lush do a fantastic shampoo bar; DS1 got bad cradle cap which we had to clear with Nizoral from the Doctor but the lush bar has kept it at bay and it smells divine!

Savvy_Sue

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apples1

Switch to cotton next to the skin (tights etc) and use ONLY organic bath stuff, shampoo and conditioner. Only use organic moisturiser and sun cream and non bio washing powder (no fabric softener).

To cure what is there - organic porridge oats (in old tights) and run bath water through it then sloosh around in the water. If you do the oats half a dozen times and switch to the rest of the tips you won't need to keep using them

My guaranteed cure - from stacks of trial and error, research and many tears of desperation to free my child from her eczema. Hope it helps.

If you want some specific brannds..... Dr Hauschka is good for organic moisturiser (we swear by their rose body moisturiser) and organic sun cream (SPF 30 one made for kids). Boots do "Little me" range which has organic shampoo, bubble bath and body wash. MOP do organic hair conditioner for girls with long hair who need conditioner.

wilk_2

Our son developed eczema when he was about two months old, it started on his folds then spread to the rest of his body, the only area that was spared was his nappy region.

I can only tell you what worked for our son, it’s not a cure but the treatment we have discovered has improved his skin 99.9% to the point where we don’t consider he has eczema anymore just very sensitive skin.
As with any treatment you should patch test first as every baby is different.

We tried all the creams and ointments the doctors could prescribe but his skin just seemed to be getting worse, we were just putting 50/50 on him in the end and he was screaming when it was applied. So I decided to investigate if there was any alternative treatment, using the internet I discovered all these ointments are mineral oil based and mineral oil can be very drying for the skin they also they contain some very worrying chemicals one being SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) which started life as an industrial degreaser. SLS is also hidden in emulsifying wax.
I just couldn’t believe that they were asking us to put this stuff on our baby!!


After a lot of research I now make my own cream using unrefined shea butter, karanja oil, jojoba oil and coconut oil. I fill a beaba 300ml jar with the shea butter melt this submerged up to the lid in hot water (you have to keep refilling the hot water till the shea butter is melted) then add 50ml of karanja oil and 50 ml of jojoba oil two tea spoons of coconut oil stir well let this set overnight then stir again put in the fridge to set totally if necessary. This can all be brought from Shea butter cottage. I have been using this since January 2008 and his skin has improved beyond belief. You need to try this for at least a month to see improvement.

For bathing I use porridge oats wrapped in a muslin cloth secured with elastic band, run this under the hot tap and squeeze in the bath water, this helps soothe itching skin.


If you are using hydrocortisone (only use the ointment formula) we have found you have to wean the skin off of it by appling it for two weeks then every other day for one week then every third day and so on, otherwise you get a rebound affect where the skin just flares up worse again.

Other useful tips:
Don’t use Johnsons top and tail on a new born babies skin.
Use Surcare washing powder and always do an extra rinse.
Make sure the baths not too hot no more than 36.4 degrees.
Use 100% cotton clothing. Keep them on the cool side of warm.
Use cotton wool and plain water when changing nappies.
Cut and file nails as short as possible.
Use a baby sleeping bag if age and temperature appropriate to stop them itching their body while asleep.
Use an anti-allergen mattress cover.




Good luck I hope this will/has helped someone else with this terrible curse.



Useful links.

Raw materials for cream http://www.akuawood.co.uk/
Body wash http://www.essential-care.co.uk
Sun cream http://www.greenpeople.co.uk/no-scent-childrens-sun-lotion-spf25-150ml.aspx
Coping with eczema http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068730/

Titch89

shirefairy wrote: »

don't use any chemicals including bubble bath, lotions and potions babies just don't need it.

Agreed. I've stopped bubble bath/shower gel and my skin has been much better.

Use 100% cotton clothing.

I second this. I have wool socks and have stopped wearing them and have noticed my feet aren't as red and sore now.

Ted_Hutchinson

Oral vitamin D may help prevent some skin infections use of oral Vitamin D supplements bolsters production of a protective chemical normally found in the skin, and may help prevent skin infections that are a common result of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema.

morganb

I have just found the most amazing product.

I have tried everything! Oatmeal baths, dream cream from Lush, shea butter from the Body shop, which was a winner for a long time, but DS1 STILL had very bad infected eczema on his hands. Not now that I've discovered the new Body Shop Hemp Hand protector. It's in the same line as the Hemp Body Butter but is a new product and is AMAZING. It has cleared his hands for the first time in months. In the last three months he's had three different kinds of steroid cream, three lots of antiobiotics and an antibiotic cream and nothing except from this Body Shop product has even touched it. Now it's almost completely gone. Bless him