Scratching on the skin of most children is quite normal but a constant scratching doesn’t seem to be, and that’s what happens to 3 of my boys. They have eczema, and it has been passed on from their father, which means they are more likely to get it. I have learned how to treat and prevent eczema for infants due to years of experience, and I hope what I have learned will be useful to some of you reading this.
Causes and symptoms of eczema
I never knew until my oldest developed eczema on his legs and feet. My poor 6 month old son cried and screamed almost every night. As a first time mom, I had no clue on how to treat it. I have tried every OTC creams, soaps, etc but they didn’t help. My oldest always rubbed his feet together which caused them to be red and inflamed. He didn’t have any allergies or asthma, though, and those are associated with eczema. We went to the doctor to get presciption cream and they seemed to help a little. My poor child was able to sleep peacefully. We used this cream until he turned 5 and his eczema never returned.
My middle son had the same problem as his older brother but it’s more on his legs than his feet. As an experienced mom, I treated it with a no scent soap such as Dove
I believe what triggers my boys’ eczema are dry winters with little moisture, skin becoming too dry (often times I forget to apply moisturizing lotion every three or four hours – that’s my biggest problem) and excessive heat. Those are the three factors that triggers eczema in my boys.
How to treat eczema
I help prevent or treat eczema by doing the following, step by step: running a warm bath (not too hot which triggers the flare-ups), use a mild soap such as dove, aveeno, cetaphil, eucerin. don’t too much scrubbing on them and I gently pat them dry with a towel (not too rough!). Then apply moisturizing lotions right after toweling. I also recommend that you choose light-weight clothing, ideally made from cotton. If I can, I could put socks on them but my boys hate wearing socks to bed so I leave them alone. I always keep our rooms cool and keep the fan/AC running overnight to avoid the flare-ups.
Since my youngest son is here and he recently developed eczema, I now know some ways to prevent them and follow my past experiences to keep it under control.
What are some ways do you keep it under control? I’d love to hear them. Do you have a friend who has children with eczema? Please share this post with them so they can benefit!
Special thanks to Linda from My 2 Crazy Curls for sharing what she has learned about how eczema flare-ups occur, and how to treat them quickly and effectively. Check out Linda’s blog, where she blogs about life as a deaf stay-at-home mom to three adorable little boys. She shares her latest great deals and other musings daily!
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My daughter has suffered with eczema on the creases of her elbows and knees for 18 years. We have tried many different name brand creams over the years, which somewhat helped the symptoms but never made them go away. We have also tried prescription creams and home remedies. Nothing seem to help until we tried foderma AMAZING serum! Within two days the eczema was completely cleared. She notices that if she forgets to apply it for a day that the rash starts to come back so as long as the serum is applied twice daily the symptoms are gone.
Our son has had eczema since birth. We have discovered that the flare ups are decreased with warm baths with unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. It is just as effective as using bleach but much safer and without the drying aspect. Also, we were lead to the direct correlation to the reaction with milk allergies. Unfortunately, all his allergies/sensitivities show up through his skin on his legs. He is now 6 years old and we still battle with it but we have learned to keep him away from milk, MSG, pet dander, molds, etc. Thank you for sharing!
My daughter has had it from 3 months old and still has bad flareups at 3.5 years old. Hers is more severe with her skin clearing up maybe a week or two at a time. We have had pretty good success using aquaphor (we have tried them all!). It is the greasier ones you need (the emollients ) to help moisturize the skin as most lotions actually don’t help. She has had ro do steroid cream and oral steroids but we try to limit those. We have also had success giving her bleach baths once a week when she is having a bad breakout. We spent about 7 months where she couldn’t sleep through the night. We have done wet pjs and tried all sorts of medicibe. Hydroxine has helped the best to sleep through the night (prescribed to us) as well as a daytime non drowsy loratidine. Hoping as she gets older she grows out of it.
I have has eczema since I was a baby, which was a sequela to my childhood asthma. Most people outgrow the childhood asthma, but unfortunately the eczema doesn’t go away. Be careful with using some of the non-scented lotions. Even though they say “non-scented” they still may contain some sort of alcohol which stings and makes symptoms worse. Also the more greasy lotions cause symptoms as well. Using the cortisone creams so much cause the skin to become immune to them and then they don’t work anymore, and using prescription strength creams can thin the skin. The best way I have found to treat it is to stay moisturized, more so during the winter, get a lot of sunshine during the summer (the vit. D that only the sun provides helps the skin, but stay protected also), and when symptoms do occur, put a cold compress on it to relieve the inflammation. Eczema is a nasty sequela to asthma and allergies which I wish had a cure, but maybe one day it will.
Great tips indeed! Thanks for info!
Eczema is horrible and so uncomfortable. My husband and son have it and now I am getting it on my ears. I have tried some natural creams and lotions. My husband has to get prescription creams.
My nephew has severe eczema 🙁
We treat the chlorinated water he takes bath from. It helps a lot.
I don’t have eczema, but right now having some skin issues brought up from lipo surgery. Doctor prescribed some heavy duty alcohol smelling prescription to mix in with CeraVe body lotion (expensive!) and so far has helped. He said it also helps with those who have eczema, the cream alone for moisture in the winter.
Great tips for those of us who live in cold north country and struggle with really dry skin! Thanks!
Both my younger boys suffer too, and have tried many different things, and ive also learned the hard way with sunblocks too that they also cause a flare up, banana boat is a bad one to use on my son, but i have tried all the above that you have recommended and they seem to help alot, even we the doctors tell me to by this cream or that cream, a waste of money… thank you…
Both of my grandchildren suffer from eczema, and, like you, we have learned the best ways to deal with it. This has all been through trial and error. When my oldest grandson was an infant, we were told by his doctor to limit bathing. We have since learned that lukewarm baths help more than harm. We have also played around with eliminating certain foods from their diet, dairy seems to make their eczema worse. It is an ongoing battle, but keeping them moisturized seems to help more than anything.
My grandson has eczema so bad that it actually leaves scars. The only thing that helps him is the prescription cream the doctor gave him and he has to put it on every day until cleared up. If he misses a day or two it flares right back up again. His actually starts to bleed. All of my grandchildren have it but he has it the worst.
My youngest has eczema ~ Eucerin is the only thing that helps!
I have eczema and this gives me hints on how to treat it in myself. Thanks for the tips and recommendations. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.