Baby Eczema, a real treatment...?

My daughter is now 9 months old. She's had severe eczema since she was born. For many months we struggled with remedies that had little to no effect. It became worse and worse. Our G.P. had her try a steroid ointment, Hydro cortisone .1%. It also had little to no effect. After months of her suffering through our attempts, we took her to the Sick Kids Hospital of Toronto, Ontario. The Doctors there were amazing and within HOURS her eczema was cleared up and is still controlled to this day. What my doctor had tried was on the right road but not quite there.... what they prescribed was three short baths a day and two separate steroid ointments. Hydro cortisone at .1% for her face and Betamethisone at .05% for her body, all sealed in with a layer of Vaseline. What made the difference was the ointment versus the cream... it has to do with the water content.Now I know that many people are concerned with using the steroid ointments. I was informed that as long as there is a need for them within the system that it does not cause any problems. I only trust these doctors after speaking to MANY. So, parents, please take my experience and help your babies. I've done the field work, please reap the rewards. Now at 9 months old, she's been on the regiment for 5 months her eczema is completely controlled and she is finally starting to grow out of it. She has only one bath a day and I only do her face when she needs it, every two days or so and her back and body once a week or whenever there's irritation. I really wanted to share this info with other parents out there who are struggling with this. There were no unanswered questions I could post on though! As a side note, some doctors recommend anti-histamines at night to help with irritation and inflammation occurring over night.... tricky stuff, you don't want the wee ones becoming used to the sedation as a means to fall asleep.





I hope this information finds its way to those who need it.Baby Eczema, a real treatment...?
well, thanks! My son also has this condition. It's not as severe as your daughter's though. He has it on the creases of his arms and the top of his feet, sometimes.. Also, under his neck where moisture and heat build up.. I was told to use the hydrocortisone, too.. It is kind of disappearing, already, which is good.. I also noticed that heat irritates his skin, but I guess I didn't think about my perfume!Baby Eczema, a real treatment...?
Little three year old girl has also responded much better to the ointment than the cream. Its still all steroids though and the search for the right food, bedding, detergents etc goes on. We are using the sensitive laundry detergent, sensitive first baby tooth paste, the bedding has been changed to all breathable mattress protectors doonas etc. - its tricky - but gosh its so awful to see how much pain they are in. My eldest girl covers herself in sorbelene (vitE cream) after a shower each day and does exercise that doesn't involve sweating - and limits her sugar intake. She has it in control.


However sorbelene hurts the three year old.


Glad to hear you have some success!!! (-:
Sick Kids is fantastic. My grandparents were doctors there and were involved in amazing things. I'm glad things worked out so well for you and your daughter.
apply honey it work for my niece
Zyrtec isn't that bad and helps retard the migration of eosinophils, thus lowering the risk of asthma and other allergies by reducing inflammation (first link - research article).





Have you tried baths with plain bath salts (like Dead Sea salts)? Those baths seem to help my son's eczema. Certainly there is plenty of evidence that both softened water or bleach baths are helpful, just the bleach baths need further studies and you need the right directions for doing them. We compromise by offering sea salt baths.





As for the steroid treatments, yes it's steroids and yes over use is associated with thinned out skin - especially the ones by prescription. But as a biochemist I will assure you that the large molecules can not travel very far beyond the local area applied and will not effect her endocrine system or liver at all, it's only local so do use them to help when it's bad. You don't want a child with a skin infection, babies and children have been known to scratch down to blood vessels and bone when sleeping because of the itch of infection.





OH yeah, does she also have a reaction when she's very emotional? My youngest does, I can see it move on his skin, totally weird.