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October 2012 Moms
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If you've dealt with eczema with your LO, please come in...

ZiegefickerZiegeficker member
in October 2012 Moms
I know this was discussed before, but I can't find the thread...

Henry has recently experienced a pretty bad bout of eczema, and I'm having a hard time getting ahead of it.  I know some of you ladies have dealt with this, and I'm wondering if anyone could provide me with some tips that helped with itching and breakouts or if any of you figured out what was causing your LO's breakouts.

The problem for us is that we just moved into a new house and bought some new furniture, so a whole slew of environmental factors have changed all at once; but we started noticing his breakouts in places where daycare was applying sunscreen.  We asked them to stop using it, but it didn't seem to help, and now the rashes are spreading down his back and legs.  It started on his face and neck, almost distinctly stopping where the neckline on his shirt ended.  The rashes are very dry, scaly-feeling, and in some areas presents with tiny bumps.

We've been to the doctor, and he recommended oatmeal baths, a combination of Benadryl and Ibuprofen, topical steroids in moderation, and Eucerin lotion.  We've tried all these things, but they only provide very temporary relief.  The doctor also recommended considering that this was triggered by a food allergy, but Henry has no history of food allergies, and neither do I or DH.  I, however, do have a history of skin problems, so my first thought was that the cause was environmental or some sort of basic skin irritation that's now gotten out of hand.

So, any tips or ideas?  I feel so bad for the little guy....I at least want to help with his itching, it is clearly so uncomfortable for him.  Also, for those of you who attempted to figure out if it was food allergies, what foods did you start eliminating first and for how long?
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Re: If you've dealt with eczema with your LO, please come in...

  • StefanieM522StefanieM522 member
    Poor Henry! Wesley had this and still gets occasional breakouts every now and then.  We switched our laundry soap over to the All free and clear and everything gets washed in that.  All of our clothes, his clothes, bedding, blankets and towels.  Also His pediatrician prescribed a prescription ointment to use when he has a break out and she also said to try some of the triple antibiotic ointment as well, and I give him Benadryl when he is really itchy.  For the food allergy we think Wesley might be allergic to peanut butter as he developed a rash after having a tiny bit by accident, but we are not 100% sure if he is or not.  Our pedi said to try peanut butter again around 2 and see if the same thing happens. I have also found that we can only use the coppertone Water baby SPF50 sunscreen in the pink bottle and we haven't had any outbreaks from it.  When I tried a different brand Wesley broke out in a rash, so I spend the extra money on the coppertone one. They do make a sensitive skin one as well, but we haven't tried that one yet. Good luck! I hope you are able to get it under control soon.

                    
                   







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  • LaurenBullockLaurenBullock member
    Poor little guy! DD has horrible exema she gets that from me. I am only able to use aveeno products on her. Oatmeal baths did nothing for DD. I use hydrocortisone cream every night with a THICK lotion. I sure hope you can figure out what works for y'all and get him better soon! It is horrible to watch them be do itchy and nothing working.
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  • ZiegefickerZiegeficker member
    I keep getting told to use the hydrocortisone cream "sparingly" (two to three times a day), and the tube is so small that it doesn't seem like it's meant for an all-over application.  But maybe it is worth a shot one night before bed to see if it helps significantly.  It can't be any worse than the prescription oral steroids, which was to be our next step.  I ordered some Aveeno eczema treatment lotion online that will be here Wednesday, and I want to see if that helps since the reviews indicated it helped a ton of LOs. 

    We already use All free and clear detergent, but when we moved we started using the washer/dryer that was in the house (until ours can be serviced).  The set in the house is a non-HE set, so we bought some store-brand free and clear to use in the interim.  Even though it's a change in detergent technically, do you think the switch from one free and clear to the next free and clear could have triggered something?
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  • CnAnACnAnA member
    Alice's dermatologist she sees for a birthmark suggested CeraVe lotion when she was a little bitty squish. Every great once in a while a patch will come back. A day or two of CeraVe and it goes away.

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  • stephcarterstephcarter member
    We use dove white bar soap (as per our pedi) and that seems to help. I also mix some Vaseline with aveeno eczema lotion and rub that over her after her showers. She gets it on her eyelids sometimes. The doc prescribed a bausche and lomb eye cream that works wonders!!

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  • ZiegefickerZiegeficker member
    WanderingStars23 said:
    If you have a new washer and dryer, it could be buildup of detergent and/or fabric softener in them from the previous owners. I'd google how to clean your washer and dryer to remove buildup.
    That's a really good point.  We don't plan on keeping this set, but it is already hooked up so we have been using it temporarily.  We'll get our set hooked up and this other set out of the way hopefully by next week.
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  • ZiegefickerZiegeficker member
    I also just remembered that we're not using perfume-free dryer sheets anymore since we are going through a package my SIL gave us, so I'll have to switch back to those!
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  • StefanieM522StefanieM522 member
    You could try drying his clothes without the dryer sheet and see if that helps as well.  Maybe it is the dryer sheets causing the break out.

                    
                   







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  • ZiegefickerZiegeficker member
    StefanieM522 said:
    You could try drying his clothes without the dryer sheet and see if that helps as well.  Maybe it is the dryer sheets causing the break out.
    Could be!  The only thing that leads me to believe it's got nothing to do with the laundry, though, is because it started out on areas of his skin not covered by clothes at all.  In fact, the rash stopped at his neckline in the same shape as his shirt.  Then only after a few days did it spread down to his back and tummy.

    I am not a skin expert, so feel free to correct me if that assumption is wrong.  I assumed affected areas would indicate something about the origin, and that is what made us think it was related to his sunscreen or something not related to clothes.  Too bad that wasn't backed up by the eczema clearing up once we stopped using that stuff... :-?
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  • ZiegefickerZiegeficker member
    BeaF12 said:
    I think your right about it not starting w/ the laundry. It sounds like the sunscreen may have been the starting point. Maybe invest in a couple long sleeve rash guard shirts for him to wear regularly or to slip on for out door play at daycare until you get this figured out. I splurge and get all the kids long-sleeved rash guards from REI. I just hate putting on sunscreen all day, every day. REI has an annual sale that starts next week. Also, we don't use any fabric softener, just laundry balls in the dryer to prevent static.
    Hadn't even thought about rash guards!  I'll look into those!
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  • StefanieM522StefanieM522 member
    I only thought dryer sheet, bacause as a pre-teen I had the same thing start out on my arms and legs and progressively get worse. It turned out that it was the laundry soap and dryer sheets my mom had used, once we switched it was no longer a problem but it took a good 3 weeks to clear up.

                    
                   







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  • ZiegefickerZiegeficker member
    StefanieM522 said:
    I only thought dryer sheet, bacause as a pre-teen I had the same thing start out on my arms and legs and progressively get worse. It turned out that it was the laundry soap and dryer sheets my mom had used, once we switched it was no longer a problem but it took a good 3 weeks to clear up.
    I'm going to switch just in case.  It's a cheap and easy thing to test out.
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  • nealblnealbl member
    Dd2 only uses eucerin aquaphor. Dd1 just moved on to Dove body wash. I also can only use dove. My pedi suggested Ceravae lotion. Kids stuf is only washes in tide free and clear. So far banana boat baby sunscreen has been just fine on my kids so I stick with it.
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