Children and Eczema

[Jimbob]

I thought it would be a nice idea to share here ways in which you deal with your child's eczema. What kind of things help to distract your child when all they want to do is scratch. Things that help your child sleep at night etc. I will add some things later as not got much time at the moment.

[Jimbob]

Things that help with sleep.

1/ We use a ceiling fan in my son's bedroom on low when it is warm, this helps to keep his room cool.
2/ When my sons eczema was severe we used wet wraps at night as this helped to keep his skin moisturused and cool therefore helped him sleep better. At this time we also used vallergan forte, though happy to report we have not used that for over a year now. When James does flare we use piriton to help calm the itches whilst he gets to sleep. At one point we were also using a homemade liquorice root solution that we soaked his wet wraps in and this really helped with the itch.
3/ My son also co slept with usor a long time so we could stop him from scratching and biting himself during the night. This helped James a great deal though meant we did not get much sleep.
4/ At the moment if my son wakes up itchy I cuddle him and rub his skin gently and this helps to comfort him. I then put him back to bed.

[Citrine]

wow, licorice root? Could you post the potion recipe please?

[AnnaB]

I wet wrap my sons hands in mittens which have the thumbs out. A must for a thumb sucker!! To keep them on I put dressing tape round the wrists which limits how often I have to reapply them through the night. If his thumbs are bad then I use a full cotton glove on alternate hands alternate nights, he's learnt to suck both.

It is one routine we have that works for sure for us.

[Jimbob]

We bought the liquorice root from a health fod shop, it was already ground up. The lady put it into portions for us so not sure what quantity it was. We then boiled the liquorice root in boiling water for about an hour. Then allowed it to cool and sieved it. The liquid that was left we used to soak the wet wraps instead of plain water.

P.S sorry I have not replied before now but have been really busy so not been on the computer.

[Holliesnana]

Hi...my 2 year old granddaughter has excema. It flared up mildly last summer on her arms but this year is very bad, on her legs, arms, back and tummy. She's got diprobase cream and junior oilatum bath oil and hydrocortisone cream for if it is itchy. None of them seem to be doing much good and I've read so many different things that people use - some say don't use anything with lanolin in and some say don't use anything with liquid paraffin in. Is it just a case of trial and error to see what works best on the individual? At the moment it doesn't seem to be irritating her much but it looks such a mess - and she's such a pretty little thing.

Any comments or advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thanks and best wishes...Liz

[Wiggly]

Is your granddaughter's skin infected? That may be the cause of the flare up. Also does she have any food allergies that may be triggering it? Different washing powder maybe? There are so many different factors it could be which is quite frustrating, I know.

Re the emollients - you just have to keep trying different ones until you find one that she tolerates well. Ointments might be better for her skin though more messy. Lanolin is an allergen for some people - it used to be for me but I appear to be able to tolerate it now.

She should be taken back to the doctor if she is suffering - keep bugging them, it's the only way.

[steve1wilk]

Our son developed eczema when he was about two months old, it started on his folds then spread to the rest of his body, the only area that was spared was his nappy region.

I can only tell you what worked for our son, it’s not a cure but the treatment we have discovered has improved his skin 99.9% to the point where we don’t consider he has eczema anymore just very sensitive skin.
As with any treatment you should patch test first as every baby is different.

We tried all the creams and ointments the doctors could prescribe but his skin just seemed to be getting worse, we were just putting 50/50 on him in the end and he was screaming when it was applied. So I decided to investigate if there was any alternative treatment, using the internet I discovered all these ointments are mineral oil based and mineral oil can be very drying for the skin they also they contain some very worrying chemicals one being SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) which started life as an industrial degreaser. SLS is also hidden in emulsifying wax.
I just couldn’t believe that they were asking us to put this stuff on our baby!!


After a lot of research I now make my own cream using unrefined shea butter, karanja oil, jojoba oil and coconut oil. I fill a beaba 300ml jar with the shea butter melt this submerged up to the lid in hot water (you have to keep refilling the hot water till the shea butter is melted) then add 50ml of karanja oil and 50 ml of jojoba oil two tea spoons of coconut oil stir well let this set overnight then stir again put in the fridge to set totally if necessary. This can all be brought from Shea butter cottage. I have been using this since January 2008 and his skin has improved beyond belief. You need to try this for at least a month to see improvement.

For bathing I use porridge oats wrapped in a muslin cloth secured with elastic band, run this under the hot tap and squeeze in the bath water, this helps soothe itching skin.


If you are using hydrocortisone (only use the ointment formula) we have found you have to wean the skin off of it by appling it for two weeks then every other day for one week then every third day and so on, otherwise you get a rebound affect where the skin just flares up worse again.

Other useful tips:
Don’t use Johnsons top and tail on a new born babies skin.
Use Surcare washing powder and always do an extra rinse.
Make sure the baths not too hot no more than 36.4 degrees.
Use 100% cotton clothing. Keep them on the cool side of warm.
Use cotton wool and plain water when changing nappies.
Cut and file nails as short as possible.
Use a baby sleeping bag if age and temperature appropriate to stop them itching their body while asleep.
Use an anti-allergen mattress cover.




Good luck I hope this will/has helped someone else with this terrible curse.



Useful links.

Raw materials for cream http://www.akuawood.co.uk/
Body wash http://www.essential-care.co.uk
Sun cream http://www.greenpeople.co.uk/no-scent-c ... 150ml.aspx
Coping with eczema http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068730/

[JulieR]

My daughter started at 5 weeks old and suffered until April of 2003, 3 years later of painful suffering, mulitple infections, it was AWFUL!!! But she has been eczema free since August 2003 when I finally figured it out after 5 months of research. It's a combination of things and there is no miracle cure although there are some simple things you can change and they will be life changing for your grandaughter. My daughter now lives an itch free, fun filled, smiles every morning life.

Let me know and I can send you our information. I'd love to prevent the misery my daughter suffered.