Eczema

[snowbell]

Hi Mamas,

My 8 month old daughter's eczema has flared up again. It is mainly on her scalp but I think it is now on her cheeks. Has anyone had success treating eczema?

Thanks for you help!

[wombatclay]

My dd1 had eczema, or we thought she did! We tried long warm (not hot) oatmeal baths, had good luck with the Aveeno extra goopy unscented lotions, used only cotton clothing. It all helped but her skin kept flaring. We eventually noticed a food connection and saw a big improvement around a year as a result of keeping an eye on her diet.

However, she was diagnosed with celiac disease with related skin disorders... turns out it wasn't eczema (despite the dr being certain it was eczema for years!). Now we know if she's gotten any gluten because she gets itchy and the "eczema" patches come back. Not that your little has celiac of course, but do check for any food connections... both in your diet and in theirs!

good luck!

[Plarka]

I don't know anything about eczema, but could the red on her cheeks be teething rash? My baby gets that and so did big sister when she was a baby.

[fruitfulmomma]

Removing her triggers is the first step. It could be food, skin care products, dogs, etc... DD1 is actually triggered by stress which is hard to "remove", but also dogs so we don't have her around those often. DD3 is triggered by gluten. DD4 has gluten, latex, and sals (salicylic acid which is present in *most* fruits and veggies) issues.

Start supping her with cod liver oil (or flax seed). Check out the allergy forums for more sup information if she is having issues with multiple foods.

Use only natural skin care and house cleaning products. We like California Baby Super Sensitive which is free of all major food allergens. For laundry I like Biokleen or Ecos. For the dry patches on the skin apricot or grape seed oil are both good.

[ThankfulMama]

I agree with the others. For us eczema is related to food intolerances. Once we find and eliminate the offender, DDs skin clears up. HTH!