Baby boy with eczema - help!

LaurelH

Hey! So I have two children and my youngest is 4 months old and has really bad eczema. I'm exclusively BF and I've cut out cow's milk as I know that gives him belly ache but it's made no improvement to his skin 4 weeks in. So I'm now working through a list of other foods to exclude from my diet but I wonder whether it's his vaccines that have caused this. The eczema developed after his 8 week jabs and got considerably worse after his 12 week jabs (which he had at 14 weeks as we were moving house). I've postponed his 16 week jabs as I'm concerned they'll make his skin worse. Has anyone else had this experience? And does anyone by any chance know how long you can postpone (I don't want to have to take the first two sets again!). He's 20 weeks now. Thanks! xx

cbyrd

I found coconut oil brilliant to ease my little one, who now 2. Epsom salt in the bath, the magnesium is good for it too. Her triggers are bananas, pears, red pepper, tomato, Orange, rice and wool. Dairy and wheat are off the menu too as my oh is coeliac and I can't eat dairy.
The vaccines would definitely affect the skin. Anything you put in your body has an effect. You can delay vaccines without having to repeat. My 5 year old took a reaction to his 2 months injections and we couldn't get any more. You could try supplementing with iodine and vitamin d. Its very good for both of you. Eczema responds well to vitamin D so make sure he's getting his drops.

jlm29

I can't answer your question, but have you tried making lotion with your own milk? Apparently it's the business! (I know it won't cure it, but it might be very soothing! )

happywithlife

I breastfed all 3 of mine - they all had eczema and youngest is a chronic asthmatic
personally for us silcocks Base works a treat at keeping it at bay and I up to la Roche if it gets worse

LaurelH

Thanks loads for the replies and thoughts! cybrd - coconut oil seems to feed the rash for him. I'm relieved you can delay the jabs, I actually would prefer not to vaccinate at all as so many nasties in jabs but I don't know enough to make that call! Yes, Vit D is a definite must. jlm29 - my milk was the only thing that cleared his cradle cap. Like a miracle cure! But similarly to coconut oil it feeds the eczema. He's also been teething for the last two months, about to cut his first tooth, so I think that's irritating it. It really is a mine field trying to work it out and get on top of it :O

LaurelH

Also, does anyone have a recommendation of a good sunscreen for babies with eczema? On this page (https://wetheparents.org/best-sunscreen-baby-kids) they recommend the Aveeno one which I think it's pretty natural. Anyone had any luck with it? Other recommendations?? The more natural the better. Thanks!:)

macccer

Hi there

My son developed eczema also around that age, also breastfed. I found Moo Goo Irritable Skin Balm great but since I've used it they have brought out a cream specifically for eczema too. The best sunscreen I found to work on him without irritating him was La Roche-Posay 50+ Anthelios XL. On the upside my son grew out of it by three years old.

Hani Kosti

Hey Laurel, I have eczema myself since 2 months old. Got rid of it during puberty but the bi..ch came back.
It's very difficult and lengthy process to figure out what makes it worse but the most obvious triggers are milk (majorly cow but for some also goat and sheep), tropical fruit (pineapples, kiwis, mango but also strawberries for some), fried foods and chocolate. Stress, cold and dust are my enemies so trying to avoid these where possible.
I have been using hemp Body Shop hand cream (please check if suitable for babies), Burt's Bees products are fantastic too (they have baby line)
Keep baths short/cold(er) if possible, 100% cotton clothes and no excessive sweating.
Wishing you best of luck, eczema can be fairly manageable!

LaurelH

Thanks loads for all the advise! La Roche has come up twice so will def check their sunscreen. Chocolate is one the list as one to cut out - really hope it doesn't come to that!!

LaurelH

Thanks loads for all the advise! La Roche has come up twice so will def check their sunscreen. Chocolate is one the list as one to cut out - really hope it doesn't come to that!!

LaurelH

Thanks loads for all the advise! La Roche has come up twice so will def check their sunscreen. Chocolate is one the list as one to cut out - really hope it doesn't come to that!!

LaurelH

Thanks loads for all the advise! La Roche has come up twice so will def check their sunscreen. Chocolate is one the list as one to cut out - really hope it doesn't come to that!!

Anne_cordelia

Suncream isn't recommended before 6months. I'd go to the health shop for the Jason brand or something very natural like that.

pwurple

Triggers may not be food at all. We removed carpets from our house when we figured out that wool was triggering our babies excema. Silcocks base, cutting baths down to once a week, and we washed clothes in just water for a while.

xzanti

My Son had eczema from the time we took him home from the hospital, after his first couple of baths it started. We (in our infinite wisdom) were using a well known commercial baby bath lotion on him.

Took him to the pharmacy at about 3 months, having tried E45 etc and she gave me some great advice.

The E45 went in the bin. I started bathing him in nothing only Aqueous or Silcox Base (melted into a milk with hot water and added to the bath water). No baby baths, or any of that crap.

I did this every night religiously for a couple of weeks and it went away completely. His skin was amazingly soft and he was finally comfortable in his skin.

A couple of years ago (he's 6 now) after trying a few different alternatives, we started using Sanex Zero for Kids to shower him in, as we now live in a house with no bathtub, just a shower, and this works fine for him. If we deviate at all from using this, he starts to get itchy. So we are sticking with this.

If we're on holidays and we have to put sun cream on him, we always bring a drum of the Aqueous for the bath and let him soak in it straight after the beach.

Different things will work for different people, but this is what worked for us.

Best of luck.

Wesser

Unlikely to be vaccines or food related as your first post details.
You need to use copious emolients in the skin silcicks base hydrmol roche posay all excellent.

Big Bag of Chips

My son was bad too and nothing I used worked for him. Aqueous, Silvocks base, E45, Oilatum, all would leave him raw. The only thing that eased it was the steroid cream, and I didn't like relying on that.

The doctor recommended Ecover washing powder. I washed all his clothes in it and have never looked back. He gets odd patches every now and then, if he's warm and sweaty, but in 6 years since changing washing powder he has never had a flare up. I don't even know if I have a tube of Hydrocortisyl in the house anymore! I couldn't believe it when I first put on the newly washed clothes, and by that evening he was already less raw.

LaurelH

Thanks everyone, great thoughts. It seems that for every child the triggers are different. It's a nightmare pinpointing what is causing it but I'm pleased to report that after getting him on vit D drops (oops - 2nd children syndrome, I completely forgot!) and cutting out tomatoes, his skin has calmed right down. I've continued to use pure potions skin salvation which is a natural balm made up of beeswax, hemp, calendula and other lovely things, which is the first thing I found that doesn't irritate his skin. And we switched to Bio D washing powder. I've noticed his skin flare after having cuddles against other people's clothes - so I think his skin must be really sensitive. Anyways, tough work but we're getting on top of it. Will have the next set of jabs on Weds so pray they won't make it bad again. I'll let you know if they do!