ds is 6 months old, from about 10wks he has suffered from pretty bad eczema, just as it starts to look a little better he digs and scratches like crazy then it just goes bad again. we load him up in moisturiser and emmolient all day but he is so itchy, we have to put socks over his hands as he pulls mittens of but then he just rubs his face raw, we only have to be looking away for ten seconds and when we turn back it will be bleeding. we have these sleepsuits that you fold the top of the arm over which stops him from digging with his fingers but again he just rubs. he also rubs his arms against anythign that touches it and his arms are raw too. i just dont know what to do , it just goes around in circles and im so frustrated that we cant sort it out for him.
does anyone have any tips on how i can stop him from making it worse? all the dr's do is prescribe him cream to moisturise him then when it gets worse they give him steriod cream and his skin is already becoming immune to it and its not working so well. :confused:
please, any advice would be greatly received,

My DD is almost 16 months and has had eczema since she was tiny but it was never really that bad. She just gets it in patches on her legs and arms mostly. Are you bathing him everyday? You may want to cut back on bathing if you do it every day, at his age he doesn't need one every day anyway I wouldn't think, maybe a sponge bath some days. The doctor told us that soap will aggravate it and it's not always neccessary to use it. When you do bathe him, try Dove soap if you aren't already and try a really good lotion like Eucerin or Cetaphil. Another thing to think about is his laundry, do you use a dye and perfume free detergent? we do and we don't use fabric softner on dd's clothes. I think some foods will make it worse too. Sorry I can't be of more help, my daughter's case is minor compared to your little guy's. Just trying to give you a few ideas on how to prevent the outbreaks if that is possible. Good luck, I hope things get better.

I just hate reading your posts about your sons eczema! It just breaks my heart! Your sweet little boy doesn't deserve to suffer. I can't imagine how frustrated you are. I don't know anything about eczema but is there anything on the internet that you can buy?

My middle son had eczema bad when he was little. He has since pretty much grown out of it with little flares in the winter. Have you tried any prescription creams yet? When he was little we had the doctor put him on Elidel which really helped his eczema. If you haven't tried that give it a try and see if it helps.

I don't know anything about eczema but I feel so bad for your little guy! I am trying to think of the things we used on our skin to stop itching when we had chicken pox. Geez....ummm...I think my mom use to buy some powder stuff that made what she called an oatmeal bath. I have heard some people actually just put ground up oatmeal into the bath water. Also, maybe you could try Aveeno anti-itch cream. I would be really careful if you try these, because it may be hard on your little guys skin. I would try it on a small spot before using it all over, just to make sure his sensitive newborn skin could handle it.

Sorry I don't have any better solutions!

It's the worst! My son is the same way. He's now 2 and not much better. I am taking him to Children's Hospital of Pa to see a pediatric dermatologist. Your regular pediatrician go only do so much. We tried the Elidel, but it seems to "burn" his skin. I took my son to a regular dermatologist last year, but didn't get much relief, so now I'm taking him to the best. A suggestion for soap...If you don't use Dove, then Aquaphor has a body wash that you will find right along side the other baby washes. It does help give some relief. Also, NEVER use any bubbles in the tub. They are very drying. Like the previous poster said, use a detergent like Dreft or All free and clear. Do not use dryer sheets or fabric softener on anything. A change in diet might also help clear things up. Just a side note, try and dress your little one in 100% cotton. I also have terribly dry skin. Things that are not 100% cotton actually itch horribly and get "caught" on my skin. My son has the same problem. Make sure all the jammies and so on are soft and don't irritate him more. Good luck!

My son had very bad eczema when he was a baby till we finally went to see a dermatologist. A few things she recommended helped clear his eczema completely. Now at 3 yrs of age he is doing great. He might get a patch on his leg on and off but otherwise he is doing great.

Dove unscented soap for baths. Baths have to be quick..just 5-7mins and pat dry and apply lots of cream

The cream his doc suggested is the best. Its thick but once you apply it just rub it well and it keeps his skin well mosturised(sp). VANICREAM is the cream she suggested. You will have to get it at the pharmacy though it does not require any presciption. I would apply this cream on him 3-4times a day when he was little and now i apply it twice a day all over his body. I swear by this cream and has done wonders for his skin. This is just a regular cream and not a steroid. The doc did prescibe a steriod when his skin would flare up.

Dreft and no fabric softners for his clothes and try and use 100% cotton for his clothes.

Hope this helps.

hi everyone, thankyou all for your replies i really do appreciate the advice, we do all the recommended things like bathing every few days (we have tried the once a week and the every day and the couple of days seem the best) we use oilatum in the bath and we dont use any kind of soaps or shampoos, we have started to water down the epiderm and use that as a cleansing lotion to clean him off. i use fairy non bio and dont use any softner or dryer sheets, i wash his bedding daily and hoover an hour before we put him down at night (the dr recommended this but i cant remember why lol) we only ever put in cotton sleepsuits unless i go out but he will still be in cotton, and i feel really bad for havin him in sleepsuits all day but they have the built in scratch mits which he cant take off and have a sly dig, i do worry about hindering his development with his hands tho, he loves to grab things and hold things but the minuite you got your back turned he will scratch and scratch,.
i took ds to the dr's again yesterday and saw yet another doctor, she basically told me to get rid of the fucidin steriod cream as that was probably making it worse and you are only suppsed to use it for a max of 12 days yet the other doctor had him on it for over 5 WEEKS!!! so now im freaking out that it may have done him more harm than good. also on friday my health visitor prescribed him 2 different things,, epiderm and gammaderm. the gammaderm has evening primrose oil in it and we whack that on and then stick the epiderm on top,, that stuff is like candlewax lol and for the few days we have been using it we have been seeing some pretty good results, on his legs and chest anyway (the places he never scratches) but the doctor has given him oral antibiotics and im to give him them for 3 days then use hydrocortisone 0.5% on the sores to see if that will heal them, which they do somehwat but because those are the areas that he scratches as soon as they are healing he rubs them raw and we are back to square one, but she wants to see him next week and she said if it hasnt gone by then she will be referring us as he has was to much of it.

im sorry this is so long and youve had to read me waffle but im just so frustrated that i cant help him and this borad is really the only place i can unload it all