lets talk ecsema

Holly_1007

at DS 2 year apt yesterday his dry skin was diagnosed as ecsema

the doctor told us to switch from j&j to aquaphor baby wash- where can I get this?? I've honestly never even looked for it, so I don't know if its available just at walmart, or what? I have been using cetaphil moisturizer on his entire body and dr said to continute with that.

Doctor also said to limit his bath to 2-3 times a week which we already do, but he said to keep them under 10 mins.  my son LOVES his bathtime!!! he is usually in about a half hour from start to finish! anyone have any suggestions on keeping his baths quick?

I know winter time is worse for dry skin, any fabrics to stay away from? (fleece?)

thank you for any advice in advance!

surprise3rd

I think you can get the aquaphor at any store in the shampoo/body wash section.  Also, we don't have the issue at our house, but I have a couple friends who had children with eczema and they were all told it was linked to a food allergy.  Had DS had any issues with food?

 Another friend literally slathered old fashioned vaseline all over her DS after a tub and then put her in footy pj's.  They obviously had to be washed frequesntly (the pj's) but this worked better for her then the cetaphil lotion. 

I am obviously not an MD, but wanted to share some of the things that have worked for my IRL friends.

 

Good luck.

femmegem

Here's my advice, based on talks with DS's pedi, stuff I learned from another nestie whose child saw a dermatologist for eczema, and my own experience.

I've never heard of Aquaphor wash, but we do use Aquaphor ointment when DS's eczema is really bad. I've never found frequent baths to be an issue. In fact, our one pedi advised us to bathe daily to help get rid of the dead skin cells. We've settled on baths every other day, and both boys do very well that way.

We don't limit time in the bathtub, but we don't use baby wash until the very end. We let them soak in the warm water (not too hot, because that will dry out the skin more) for at least ten minutes with no soap, no nothing in it. Just water. Then I put the baby wash directly on a wash cloth, wash them, and then drain the water and get them out. Again, though, it should be at least 10 minutes, and could be longer.

We use California Baby wash. The pedi we were seeing when we first figured out DS1 had eczema suggested Cetaphil wash. I think she had another suggestion, but I can't remember what it was. California Baby sensitive works best for us.

Once I take him out of the bath, I pat him dry and apply lotion immediately, while his skin still retains some moisture from the bath. We use Aveeno moisturizer, the one with oatmeal in it, and that works well for us. In extreme cases I also put 1% hydrocortisone on the bad spots and then put Aquaphor over the top. Be sparing with the hydrocortisone. It's a steroid cream and it thins the skin. I use it only when I have to and only a little.

Some of this is going to take some experimenting for you. You just have to figure out what products work best for your child.

Oh! And I forgot that I've heard that there's an extract that works well for eczema, taken orally. Crap, I forget what it is. I tried it with DS and it was too bitter, he refuses it. Let me try to remember what it was and I'll tell you.

GL! I hope that helps!

Holly_1007

surprise3rd:

I think you can get the aquaphor at any store in the shampoo/body wash section.  Also, we don't have the issue at our house, but I have a couple friends who had children with eczema and they were all told it was linked to a food allergy.  Had DS had any issues with food?

 Another friend literally slathered old fashioned vaseline all over her DS after a tub and then put her in footy pj's.  They obviously had to be washed frequesntly (the pj's) but this worked better for her then the cetaphil lotion. 

I am obviously not an MD, but wanted to share some of the things that have worked for my IRL friends.

Thank you!

DS has NO food allergy's or issues, so I'm not sure if thats the issue, the doctor didn't seem to think it was food related.

his ecsema is still mild (hardly even red) but spreading fast.  Thanks for the vaseline tip!

Good luck.

Holly_1007

femmegem:

Here's my advice, based on talks with DS's pedi, stuff I learned from another nestie whose child saw a dermatologist for eczema, and my own experience.

I've never heard of Aquaphor wash, but we do use Aquaphor ointment when DS's eczema is really bad. I've never found frequent baths to be an issue. In fact, our one pedi advised us to bathe daily to help get rid of the dead skin cells. We've settled on baths every other day, and both boys do very well that way.

We don't limit time in the bathtub, but we don't use baby wash until the very end. We let them soak in the warm water (not too hot, because that will dry out the skin more) for at least ten minutes with no soap, no nothing in it. Just water. Then I put the baby wash directly on a wash cloth, wash them, and then drain the water and get them out. Again, though, it should be at least 10 minutes, and could be longer.

We use California Baby wash. The pedi we were seeing when we first figured out DS1 had eczema suggested Cetaphil wash. I think she had another suggestion, but I can't remember what it was. California Baby sensitive works best for us.

Once I take him out of the bath, I pat him dry and apply lotion immediately, while his skin still retains some moisture from the bath. We use Aveeno moisturizer, the one with oatmeal in it, and that works well for us. In extreme cases I also put 1% hydrocortisone on the bad spots and then put Aquaphor over the top. Be sparing with the hydrocortisone. It's a steroid cream and it thins the skin. I use it only when I have to and only a little.

Some of this is going to take some experimenting for you. You just have to figure out what products work best for your child.

Oh! And I forgot that I've heard that there's an extract that works well for eczema, taken orally. Crap, I forget what it is. I tried it with DS and it was too bitter, he refuses it. Let me try to remember what it was and I'll tell you.

GL! I hope that helps!

thank you SO much! I'm going to give the aquaphor a shot and see if that works, probably try it for a few weeks, good to know there are other products out there too!

if you think of the oral extract please let me know!

Thanks again!

shouldbworkin

I've never seen Aquafor baby wash.  We were told by DS's allergist to use cetaphil cleanser and aquafor cream (similar to vaseline, but thicker) after a bath.  We were told to bathe every day and not use soap (you can if you need it, but not until the very end).  Baths should be short'ish and once you get your DC out, quickly blot dry with towel and lather on the aquafor. the idea is to get the skin wet and seal in the moisture. 

Momma2Michelle

I have never heard of aqua-for baby wash either. Most places sell aqua-for ointment in various forms (tubs/tubes/etc). DD doesn't really have eczema, but she does have dry skin. I have eczema.  We both use Aveeno Moisturizing Wash.  She bathes every other day, I shower every day.  Warm water, not hot, because that's extra drying. 

Aveeno also just came out with a new cream, specifically for eczema.  It's steroid free, and it works great for eczema, I've seen a major reduction in the redness and itchiness, since I began using it a couple weeks ago.

Jaylea

Both of my kids have eczema.

The old recommendation is to limit baths. The new recommendation is to bathe frequently, in warm (not hot) water. The idea behind it is that you bathe them, PAT dry, then immediately slather in a good cream. The bathing gives  their skin moisture, and the cream locks it in. Without the bath, there is no moisture to lock in.

So we do baths with either no soap or Cetaphil (actually, often I buy the store brand Cetaphil).  I put oatmeal bath in the water when they're itchy.

We use Vanicream for DS (his eczema is more severe) and Aveeno for Eczema for DD.  Prescription cream for bad flareups.

Dye/fragrance free laundry detergent.

peekaboo716

I almost ditto all that femme said.

We bathe the kids 3-4 x per week. I only use baby wash if necessary. We also use California Baby sensitive as it works best for my kids.

After the pat dry, we use a calendula cream (Earth's Best or Jason's, I can't remember now). We use aquaphor for breakouts, and I also use a non-presciption hydrocortisone cream when spots don't clear up quickly. We also have a rx for an ointment that works great, but I don't use it unless I can't get the spots to clear up with other methods.

I have found that the soap at daycare (not my son's elementary, thankfully) is also a culprit for spots on DD's wrists. We talked to daycare about that, and now she has her own soap at daycare.

We also only use dye/fragrance free laundry detergent.

femmegem

Oh, ditto the dye and fragrance free laundry detergent. I think the biggest cause of DS1's eczema when he was little (it's MUCH better now) was Dreft, which I just assumed was the best for babies. Not for us. Since using free and clear detergent, he barely ever has flare ups.

I also forgot to mention that when he was little and his eczema was bad, I bathed him daily but didn't use soap every time. I did a three-day cycle. Day one, only water, no soap at all. Day two, wash hair only at the very end of the bath. Day three, wash all over (again, at the very end of the bath). Followed by the patting dry, moisturizer, aquaphor, etc.

Ah, and I just remembered what I was trying to think of earlier- black currant oil. DS1's OT said her husband and daughter both had horrible eczema and black currant oil completely cleared it up. https://www.google.com/search?q=black+currant+oil+eczema&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

shopgirl78

DD used to have eczema bad but it has gotten better in the last year.  Something we do:

1.  use baby soap (still)

2.   Use free and clear laudry detergent

3.   We use(d) an Rx cream--Locoid.  The OTC did nothing for DD.  We'd put in on after bath.  We only need it now on occasion. 

4.  We shower nightly.

5. I read somewhere that most eczema was often caused by a milk allergy.  My pedi denied this and a referral to an allergist but switching to Orangic milk did help some--i think.

Mrs Manners

Ds's eczema entirely resolved when we removed the foods that were causing it. He is NOT allergic to strawberries, peaches and grapes/raisins, but they all cause him to have eczema. He is allergic to soy which also causes it in him. When we removed those foods, his eczema is gone. We did food allergy testing (that's how we confirmed soy) but had to keep a food journal to identify the others since they didn't show up on the allergy testing. 

Holly_1007

thank you thank you thank you all SO much for the input!

I will definitely switch his laundry detergent over, he currently still uses dreft but hubby and I use free and clear so that should be an easy fix, should be a few weeks before everything is done. 

I will try waiting on the soap until the end of the bath also, great suggestion!

thank you for the product suggestions, how long should I wait to see results before switching to a different one? going to give the aquaphor a try for a few weeks and look for some results!

again, thank you all again for your input!

rebs

You got good info from the others.  I just wanted to mention that for my two youngest their ecezma got way better when we took them off cows milk and limited other dairy. 

MrsAHicks

My son has Ecsema really bad on his ankles, wrists, elbows... that he itches alot.  (He use to have it on his face but he out grew that). The things I found that work really good is Colloidal Oatmeal Bath and Vaseline.  I use colloidal oat meal bath every other bath (I buy mine at the local dollar store, I get 6 packages for $1, when I use to get Aveeno at Wal-mart an only got 4 for $3) after he gets out I grease him up in J&J baby vaseline. He itches less an his skinn doesnt look so dry and scaly.

omurray

My son first got eczema when he was around 20 months.  It was summertime and he got it really bad on the backs of his knees.  I found that it helped tremendously when I wiped down the back of his knees with a sensitive skin baby wipe after playing outside.  Once I started doing that regularly, the exzema went away completely.  

DS is now 5 and has just recently started having flare ups on his left wrist.  He wears a medic-alert bracelet on that wrist for asthma and nut allergies.  He only wears the bracelet for preschool and it is a nylon sports band type.  My guess is that the soap they use at school is not good for his skin and he doesn't get his hands/wrist rinsed and dried well enough while he's there, so the remaining soap residue is lingering on his skin and in his bracelet causing the flare up.  His wrist is mostly healed after being off school for 2 weeks for holiday break.  We use Triple Cream on it and have had great results with that. 

I wish I had known when DS first had eczema as a toddler that eczema, asthma and food allergies often go together.  My pedi never mentioned this.  When DS was 3.5, we found out that he has asthma and is allergic to all nuts.  Certainly there are people who only struggle with the exzema and have no allergies or asthma, but just keep it in the back of your mind as your DS grows so that you can be on the lookout just in case.  Both allergies and asthma can develop at any age, so its important to just keep an eye out.

brendas026

I swear by CILORA pills (I got them in Mexico) my aunt is a doctor. I dont know if its available here (google it) What I recently found out is that instead of taking them orally (how you suppose to)  I started crushing them until the pill was complete powder then it mixed it with some CALADRYL liquid to form a paste like substance and apply it directly into the rash, It works wonders and its gone within a few hours. I started doing this instead because im pregnant and didnt want a lot  medicine in my system, I figured this way the medicine does not go directly to the baby somehow. You dont really need a prescribtion for them though.  ( Sorry pregnancy brain earlier i typed benadryl but its really CALADRYL.

Momma2Michelle

brendas026:

I swear by CILORA pills (I got them in Mexico) my aunt is a doctor. I dont know if its available here (google it) What I recently found out is that instead of taking them orally (how you suppose to)  I started crushing them until the pill was complete powder then it mixed it with some BENADRYL liquid to form a paste like substance and apply it directly into the rash, It works wonders and its gone within a few hours. I started doing this instead because im pregnant and didnt want a lot  medicine in my system, I figured this way the medicine does not go directly to the baby somehow. You dont really need a prescribtion for them though.

I would check with your OB if this is ok.  Medicine you put on your skin is still going into your body and to your baby.  My OB did not ok my steroid cream during pregnancy, and I would think this would not be ok either.

EDITED to say: I just saw your ticker and see your nearly due, so it's probably irrelevant at this point...