Do not use the steroid creams! Get elidel if the doc pushes for an rx, I didn't know about what mountain mom posted, now I feel even worse for using them. They caused splotchyness on my dd's skin, lowered immune system and after reading up a bit it's a possibility the cream played a role in her vax reaction to mmr. My old ped prescribed 'Aclovate' a 5% hydrocortisone, she didn't explain anything to me about it except after 3 weeks of daily use stop using it until you see a flare up coming on again. Urgh I wish I looked into it more and didn't listen. Elidel was just starting to come out and at that time wasn't for kids under 2 and she was so I thought this was a good thing.<br><br>
Find out your ds's triggers if you can. My dd's are grass pollen, cow's milk, certain soaps, sss sunblock and anything with fake lavendar fragrance like those bedtime baby lotions. Just avoiding her triggers helps a lot! After realizing grass pollen bugs her we kept her inside in the mornings when the grass is damp and it's more likely to stick to her and we would always wash it iff her with soap after coming inside. It helps prevent grass outbreaks a lot.<br><br>
Try using a very mild soap or no soap at all except on his face, hands and bum. Even 'baby soap' bothered my dd, the J&J, baby majic etc liquid stuff has too much crud in it unless you are buying organic crunchy type brand soaps. J&j baby <i>bar soap</i> is not bad, really nothing too bad in it, very mild and inexpensive if you can't afford more natural stuff, it's in a pink box.<br><br>
Eucherin and aquaphor work great but I try and limit aquaphor because of the pertratum in it. But it's a good 'rescue' cream for a day or twos use if I see her getting a flare up.<br><br>
Probiotics helped heal my dd's stomach after we cut out dairy and that in turn did help her eczema. Some kids flaxseed oil or cod liver oil work also because they moisturize the skin from the inside out.<br><br>
After a bath lightly pat the skin with a towel and apply lotion while his skin is still a bit damp. That helps trap in moisture and not rubbing hard with the towel to dry him helps not aggrevate the skin and cause more breakouts and damage.<br><br>
And another thing is warm not hot baths and frequent ones. I was making my dd's eczema worse by not putting her in the tub often, I would just wipe her down and that was it. My ped told me eczema is the opposite of traditional dry skin, it needs more water. A quick 10-15 minute max warm bath nightly helps a lot. If your ds likes a longer bath 20 minutes or more then you can skip a night. After you get the flareups under control you can cut back a bit if you don't have the time for a nightly bath.<br><br>
If I remember anything else I will post back <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">. Good luck!
