My 5 month old has a very dry area of skin on his outer fore arm (sp?)- and no where else on his body. Any ideas what this could be?

It could be eczema. My daughter has dry, rough patches on her lower back and stomach. I found that changing detergents and using Aveeno bath oil in the tub helped. I also found that it improved after we got a water softener as our water is very hard.

I took her to the doctor for it and he prescribed Elocom cream for it. I used it sparingly and mostly on the spot behind her knee(it was really red). She still has it on her back but not as bad and as long as it doesn't bother her or itch I pretty much leave it alone.

sounds like esczema....my son had it too....don't take hot baths...makes it worse...don't use harsh soaps...i use arm and hammer detergent...that's the only thing i can use or he gets worse....use lots of lotions for the dryness...baby oil in bath...my son had it bad on the butt and behind knees...