Eczema relief! Try it or let me know your thoughts!!

[allcat11]

My 3.5 month old son broke out with terrible eczema on his face, which then moved to his arms and legs. It "happened" to be within the week after his first vaccination. It got so bad I took him into DR bc I was worried it was a reaction to the shot and wasnt sure what to do. Of course she recommended Cortisone ointment for 3 days. I reluctantly did it for a day or so and it did reduce the redness and provide some relief, but when I stopped using it it quickly got red again.

Sooooo, getting to the point...a friend's German nanny suggested I bathe him in warm milk and oil. So I gave it a try and it is amazing the difference in his skin!!!! I cant believe I never came across this advice so I had to share with you here. So combine about one cup of milk and about 1/4 cup of olive oil ( i suppose you could use and oil on hand), warmed to about bath water temp. Then put water into the tub, add the milk and oil and let baby soak, making sure to "splash" water over arms and use a soft cloth to get head and face. After the bath I slathered him with the baby lotion made by Arbonne (which I had gotten as a gift w my daughter and must say i like) but you could use what ever lotion or body oil you like. His skin has dramatically changed and I am so happy to have soft kissable cheeks back!! You can keep doing this type of bath until it seems to clear then do it when ever you like.

If you try it I would love to hear if you have success as well or if it was a fluke for me, so please post any responses.

Thanks!

[Blueone]

My son doesn't have it, but I do. I love the California Baby Calendula cream! It works really well on my face too as a cream! Shikai is also a good lotion brand for sensitive skin, although I use Aveeno since it's cheaper.

[ashley9742]

Interesting, I'll have to try it. I had bad eczema as a child and still break out from time to time. My last foster baby had some patches of it and it didn't respond much to the lotion I used on her. Lots of potential for use of this home remedy at my house. Thanks for the tip.

[NEastMomma]

Wow, what great info! My DS 7mos gets some on the back of his knees and his elbows from time to time. I work very hard at keeping it at bay with heavy moisturizing after bath time and little to no soap used in bath. He was also prescribed a cream (hydrocorizone, I think) to use, but I hate to use it.

I will absolutely try this remedy next time it flares up and I'll report back here.

Thank you for the info!

[Harmony96]

Does it have to be olive oil, or I wonder if coconut oil would work?

I've tried "everything" for DS's eczema but this is something new, lol.

[Shy0717]

I will have to try that. I finally was able to get ds ezcema under control after months and months of battling. I take fish/flax oil combo along with bathing ds once no more than twice a week. I also slather him religiously in pure shea butter several times a day. This has been the only thing that has worked for us after trying tons of things (including calendula cream, olive oil, etc). Also making sure I play close attention to what I'm eating and what he's eating as to avoid any foods that cause reaction.

[katmann]

I've been battling this with DS. I think he might have a food allergy, so we're taking him in next week to get tested. In the meantime, I've tried olive oil, lanolin, coconut oil, even making my own beeswax salve with calendula-infused olive oil. NOTHING worked.

Then I tried straight honey. In the last three days, I've put a bit on (he gets it on his forehead) twice a day. It works so well. I think it creates a really good barrier so he can't do any damage scratching it when it's itchy. It's a little sticky, of course, but that's not as much of a nuisance as I thought it would be (and of course, you couldn't do this with a baby under 1 year, who might eat it).

I'm going to try the milk/oil thing too in the bath. I'm sure it will make the rest of his body super soft, if nothing else!

[guineverelady]

ttrying this right now with my 4 yr old. she has awful eczema tp the point of bleeding right now. i hate it & am desperate to try anything. i hope this works!!!

[kismetbaby]

Don't know about that bath, but when my LO was having issues with eczema, I bought some comfrey oil from mountainroseherbs.com and that has done wonders! Calendula cream/oil is also great. My LO is sensitive to dairy, so not sure I'd try the milk bath myself. Using oatmeal in a bath is very skin soothing however.

[ThankfulMama]

I just wanted to chime in about the allergy/intolerance side. The only way we got rid of eczema was by eliminating foods.

Best wishes to you on getting it cleared!

[Katie T]

I'm so glad that you posted that! All of my children have suffered from eczema and will keep that in mind.

I have noticed that it is bad when I drink a can of Mt Dew

[WC_hapamama]

If I had given my kids with eczema baths in warm milk and oil when they were babies, it would have made their eczema worse. They were both quite allergic to milk as babies.

What has worked best for my kids is frequent moisturization, wet wraps and judicious use of perscription creams.

[LyndsayMW]

I wonder if using breastmilk instead of cow's milk wouldn't work even better?

[allcat11]

Just to respond to some of the posts...I know there is a lot to be said for elimination diets in regards to eczema, I was in route to begin that when I tried this and had such good results that i didn't need to do it. But I totally understand that sometimes that is the only way. I went through that process with my daughter when she wa a baby and it can be very stressful to try to figure it all out. So I just wanted to throw this out there as something to try first bc its easy and you know right away if it worked or not (vs weeks of waiting for everything to clear from your milk and still not being totally sure which foods were the trigger). Maybe it was a fluke and won't work for anyone else, that's why I had hoped for some feedback on the bath. I'm sure any combo of any type of milk and any type of oil would have the same effect, so sure try breastmilk, use jojoba oil, try what ever you feel comfortable with. I'd still love to hear from anyone that has tried it and if it had any effect for you.
Thanks!!!

[momtoTnT]

Originally Posted by WC_hapamama

What has worked best for my kids is frequent moisturization, wet wraps and judicious use of perscription creams.

My DS (6 yo) has pretty bad eczema too - this is the route we've had to take as well, except the wet wraps part - we haven't had to go that route (yet) - we do daily baths for at least 15 minutes. Sometimes he gets 2 baths a day. If his eczema looks like it's turning into a staph infection, we add bleach to the water, and it helps both the staph and the eczema. In addition, he's on a daily dose of zyrtec. We tried everything else under the sun (including the Arbonne baby oil - which worked for awhile) with limited success.

We've been dealing with this since he was around 4 or 5 months old too.

Sorry - just realized this is life w/a babe -

[nicole_marie]

For those of you that have tried *everything* including elimination diets and the addition of probiotic and fish oil supplements...ask your DR to swab his skin. It's simple and cheap. You can read my story here...

My son's skin swab was positive for staph to the point where his face was swollen and he had trouble breathing...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...319&highlight=

Also, the homeopathy community has been discussing the difficulty of treating eczema (atopic dermatitis)...which is often an inherited autosomal trait.
http://www.homeopathyworldcommunity....3A11782&page=3