Eczema vs Dry Skin

[blumooned]

How can I tell if DS (9mos) has eczema or just really dry skin?

He has had red, dry patches on his upper thighs, calves, & upper arms since he was about 3-4mos. More recently he has gotten tiny red bumps on his forearms. I put Weleda baby cream on him daily and it makes the dry patches go away (they returned when we ran out & am now treating it again). This makes me think it is just dry skin - would eczema go away with just a moisturizer?
He also had cradle cap that I cleared up with olive oil around 4mos & it never came back.
The only reason I am even thinking eczema is that his doc called it eczema when I asked her, but she did not seem concerned about it. I went home & looked up eczema online & learned that it is related to allergies, asthma, etc. The pictures online looked way more severe/widespread than what DS has ever had. We have no known food allergies in our families. I have dry skin, not severe. DS's dad has oily skin & is prone to break-outs.
DS was EBF until 6mos & now eats some solids. I haven't noticed any changes as we have introduced new foods. If it is a food allergy, it would have been something I've been eating & passing through the BM. If he has been eating allergen BM all this time, could that be causing damage to him!?! Am I over-worrying?
He also started getting red cheeks when the temperature outside dropped & we turned on our heat. This also leads me to think it's dry skin.
Any advice? Thanks!!

[Addy's Mom]

They are related in that moisturizer is what fixes them. Eczema is more serious because there can be that whole asthma/allergy link. My son's got all three, but happily he's pretty much outgrown the eczema and it looks like he's outgrowing the asthma (he's 3).

The "remedy" my doc gave me for my son's eczema (he had patches in the elbow and knees, and later on the calves. Always red, never scaly, and never seemingly itchy), was to wash him either with Cetaphil or nothing (we generally use nothing), warm short bath daily followed immediately with an emollient to seal in the moisture. We use Aquaphor but there are more natural alternatives out there. The daily bath/emollient worked very well and we never really needed cortisone. An emollient alone did not work, however, it had to follow the bath.

[Koalamom]

Those parches sound like eczema, and my kids get it all the time. It is food allergy related for us. Sure a dr is going to tell you that it isn't a big deal and moisturize.

We moisturize and it doesn't help much except take some itch away temporarily.

I guess if you choose to look into it deeper is your choice since your Dr isn't concerned.

[blumooned]

Originally Posted by Addy's Mom

The "remedy" my doc gave me for my son's eczema (he had patches in the elbow and knees, and later on the calves. Always red, never scaly, and never seemingly itchy), was to wash him either with Cetaphil or nothing (we generally use nothing), warm short bath daily followed immediately with an emollient to seal in the moisture. We use Aquaphor but there are more natural alternatives out there. The daily bath/emollient worked very well and we never really needed cortisone. An emollient alone did not work, however, it had to follow the bath.

Thanks - we will try that. DS never seems to be itchy either.

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1

I guess if you choose to look into it deeper is your choice since your Dr isn't concerned.

So, if we do nothing & don't find out "why", could that make things worse? Would he be more likely to get asthma then since it's been left untreated?

Thanks for the help!

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by blumooned

Thanks - we will try that. DS never seems to be itchy either.



So, if we do nothing & don't find out "why", could that make things worse? Would he be more likely to get asthma then since it's been left untreated?

Thanks for the help!

I am not sure about the asthma aspect, but I do believe for my children it does cause more problems. Their pediatrician doesn't think so; so it is your decision what to do as the mom.

Checking out the allergy thread has been helpful for me.