Natural alternatives for infant eczema?

[oats'nhoney]

My 4 month old has just been diagnosed with atopic dermatitis- eczema

Last month her she got a secondary bacterial infection (impetigo) on her cute little cheeks & we tried a couple different prescriptions before we got her cleared up THEN bam(!) her cheeks flare up again all red & crusty.. today I decided to go no dairy to see if that will make the difference as I have read that could be the culprit..

ANYWAY, my ped. wants me to apply Eucerin (jar) mixed with Cortaid (1:1) on her skin, which I have been doing but I am feeling leary of the ingredients in them (especially the cortisone.) We use all natural everything here as far as what goes on our skin but I did go ahead I try the doctor's suggestions.

Anyone know of a more natural approach for treating eczema? We have tried California Baby aloe creams but they aren't really soaking in/treating well. TIA

[Spastica]

Cortaid is fine - inhaled cortisone is more of an issue, not through skin for allergies.

Baking soda and/or oatmeal baths are soothing for eczema, so is rubbing coconut oil. All of these ingredients are okay for babies.

[boheime]

Check out www.thenaturalnewborn.com It is a WAHM company that sells all natural products. Plus, she has some info. on there about baby eczema.

[~Megan~]

We've had great luck with pure coconut oil on ds' skin. We had been using a mixture with cocoa butter but for an infant it might be good to skip the cocoa butter. The coconut oil works really well all by itself.

[anniegirl]

Another vote for coconut oil! I got the Spectrum brand organic and unrefined. I got it at Whole Foods, I love it. Dairy was the culprit for us, hopefully you'll find it soon.

Giving him a tsp of fish oil every day helped a lot too. But beware! Take off her clothes before you give it to her. Several of ds2's cutest shirts stink like fish now where the oil dripped on them. I'm having a heck of a time getting the smell out. :

I would only use the Cortaid if she's trying to itch it or otherwise seems uncomfortable.

California Baby also makes a cream for eczema.

[KimProbable]

We've done oatmeal and chamomile baths to help DD when her eczema flare-ups have been really bad. I've also used an olive oil with St. John's Wort which I bought from our Naturopath. Oddly enough, Glysomed hand cream seems to be the best lotion for her so far. It's really not so natural, but it's the only lotion that doesn't make her scream when she's really sore.

I'm really not a fan of cortisone either. From what I've been told by Naturopaths, it only represses the symptoms instead of dealing with the cause. The reaction (the eczema) will show up in another way such as asthma since the cause has not been eliminated. That said, we did use cortisone for two days when DD's eczema was to the point of raw, oozing sores. Once it was back under control we were able to focus again on the trigger. For her it ended up being citrus, tomatoes, and wheat.

I second the suggestion of fish oils and the caution about it stinking up clothing. DD's hoodie that I love so much smells like a fish market. Flax oil is another option. I'm not sure how much you'd really want to introduce these into the diet of such a young babe, but you could always try them in your diet to see if they help.

If you're eliminating foods from your diet remember that it can take up to two or three weeks for all traces to leave your body. Even small amounts of dairy or wheat in mom's diet is enough to trigger a reaction in the baby.

[essnce629]

How do you all give fish oil to your kids? My son is 3 1/2 and I don't think he'd take it just straight (although I've never actually tried). I've bought the Carlson lemon flavor kind before, but I've only gave it to him in smoothies. Unfortunately he doesn't want a smoothie every day and so then he goes without the fish oil.

And how do you apply your coconut oil? I bought the Spectrum brand before and it turned to liquid and was very messy to apply. Also, I didn't feel comfortable dipping my hands in it all the time. By the time I was almost done with it it was all cloudy and looked like there was stuff floating in the bottom of it! I definately didn't want to put that on my son's eczema patches if it had become comtaminated. Do you put it in a squeeze bottle or something? Or keep it cool and spoon it out?

[KimProbable]

My kids love fish oil capsules. With DD, I bit the tip to make a tiny hole before I give it to her. Otherwise it splatters everywhere when she pops it. DS will sometimes chew all the oil out then spit out the gelatin part.

My experience has been that the flavored stuff is way nastier than the real thing.

[anniegirl]

I like that idea with the capsules! I think I'm going to switch to flax oil though.

We have the Nordic Naturals brand too "DHA junior" I think it's strawberry flavor. Ds slurps it right up. It isn't fishy at all initially, it's the aftermath that causes problems lol.

And how do you apply your coconut oil? I bought the Spectrum brand before and it turned to liquid and was very messy to apply.

I'm guessing you live in a warm climate? Mine is always solid, even in our bathroom. I think it liquifies at 70 degrees or somewhere around there. I just scoop some out with a clean finger and it liquifies as I rub into to ds's skin. It isn't messy at all that way, it's just like applying lotion. Maybe try keeping it in the fridge? Or some area in your house that stays cool. The squeeze bottle is a good idea too.

[mumkimum]

Wanted to second the California Baby eczema cream and baking soda baths. Bathing more often in general helped a lot (with fewer/no products).

Olive oil was also helpful for us, and along the same vein Badger makes a nice chamomile/olive baby balm that has been fantastic.

I've also heard that (if you bf) taking the fish/flax oil yourself can really help. Haven't been the best on that myself though.

[jlpumkin]

I wanted to second the DHA junior mentioned above. They are very careful about their source of fish oil which is super important with kids. Maybe all brands are, but I remember an encounter with a sales rep that impressed me.

Also have you tried calendula cream?

[nora--not a llama]

Dd2 has had horrible eczema her whole life. When she was only a few months old, she ended up with a staph infection all over her b/c of the eczema. We did allergy testing on her (the blood draw, not the poking all over) and it turns out she is allergic to not only dairy but also beef. Removing those things from her diet has helped considerably. The lotion that we use if the baby and kids lotion from Aubrey Organics, and we love it. It was working well for her even before we removed the dairy and beef from her diet.
Their website is www.aubrey-organics.com.

[oats'nhoney]

Thanx!! Nora - that sounds like my DD...

My DD got the staph infection too - had to go on Bactroban cream which did nothing then we got a second opinion with another (and wiser imo!) ped. in our group & she put her on Mupirocin 2% plus an oral antibiotic which did the job but as soon as she was off it - the eczema flaired up again & it looked like secondary infection again... I quit dairy now for 4 days & it seems to be improving so I am guessing that is the culprit.

[melikahiwa]

I used plain olive oil, BS/oatmeal baths
I also liked the california baby stuff but didn't think it was too effective either

But the best thing (by far) I found was tiny tush cream. Its a WAHM who makes it and I use it all over him and it makes a huge difference in DS's skin (no open skin since I've started using this stuff)
http://www.lareescandles.com/ps-59-4...ush-cream.aspx
Good Luck!

[essnce629]

I just wanted to say that I went out and bought another bottle of the Carlson CLO (lemon flavor) and I tried giving it to my son in a little syringe (which is how he drinks his homeopathic cough syrup). I thought for sure he wasn't going to like it and to my HUGE surprise he drank it right down and said it didn't taste like anything!!!! This is a huge breakthrough and I was able to get him to take a 1/2 teaspoon (a full syringe) at each meal this way! I'm so excited that he'll never have to go another day without CLO and I won't have to constantly force him to try and drink a huge smoothie.

Unfortunately, I tried to get him to take the liquid EPO I bought as well using the same method and it didn't work. He said it tasted gross and made a really disgusted face after he drank it. I tried it myself mixed in applesauce and I too thought it was gross and had a bad aftertaste.