talkhealth forums

Hi everybody

I haven't joined a forum in years, but the stress of dealing with my 2 year olds eczema and allergies has worn me down and I feel like I needed some extra support, especially as I am expecting my second child in 2 weeks and have been told there is about a 40% chance of my new baby having the same problems.

A bit of background, my daughter seemed fairly normal until she was a couple of months old when she developed cradle cap which didn't go away despite all the creams and lotions used. After exclusively breastfeeding for 5 months, I weaned her, giving her baby rice and formula which ended in admission to A and E when her whole face swelled. She was quickly seen by an allergist over the next month and was diagnosed as having a severe dairy and egg allergy.

Now she is a happy 2 year old, on a strict dairy and egg free diet, her eczema is mostly mild in the Summer and gets worse in the Winter and we have just recovered from a really awful 3 weeks of a terrible flare up with infection which spread to her face, the eczema hasn't been this bad since she was first diagnosed, now we are going into a better period I feel completely mentally and physically frazzled.

Advice I am interested in:

Pregnancy, breastfeeding, allergies and eczema
Whether to breastfeed new baby or not, whether to switch to a dairy free diet when breastfeeding as I did with my daughter

Eczema toddlers and sleep
Any advice, she only sleeps through the night about twice a month because of itching

Iceland
We went on holiday to Iceland for a week in October for a week and although my daughters skin was awful at the time with the warm apartment and the cold windy weather outside when we returned to England she had the clearest skin since she was a baby for a full month and a half, I have Googled for information on this because I am convinced it is the water (the tap water smells sulphurous but is full of minerals) in Iceland that improved the condition of her skin, but have found nothing aside from the Blue Lagoon Clinic in Iceland. Has anyone else heard of Icelandic water improving eczema?

Thanks for reading,

Jems

Hello and welcome. I have 2 young children with severe eczema, we had better control with my daughter as we knew what we were doing and were able to respond faster. My oldest had a egg allergy and the youngest a dairy allergy, both which were out grown by age 3/4. We were advised to wean very slowly only one food at a time and avoid high risk foods until a year old. Have you tried wet wraps or non steroid treatments like protopic? What steroids and moisturisers do you use? Have you tried many others?? I hope you find some support from those of us here who know exactly what your going through.
Anna

Hi Jems,

On Twitter @MarcieMom said "No conclusive solution, I'd reduce peanuts, increase fish, take LGG probiotics. Balanced diet most important"

More can be found from MarcieMom on our blog http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/bl ... meis-blog/ where she talks about her daughters eczema.

Hi Jems,

I'm MarcieMom, blog with talkhealth (http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/blog/author/mei_m/) as well as on my blog, eczemablues.com
I totally emphatize with you, though my baby doesn't have allergy, she had severe eczema from two weeks old.

Let's go straight to offering you some help & support:
Breastfeeding - breast feeding is still the recommendation, even for moms who think their next child will have eczema. There's no conclusive research on pregnancy diet, though you can increase fish, take LGG (probiotics prescribed by gynae) and reduce peanuts, citrus fruits. Personally, I'm not the type of mom who must breastfeed (though I try my best to pump milk for first 3 months) because I don't have much supply.. and how can a mom who's so stressed out coping alone possibly have? I decided that if I were to have a second child, I'd have partially hydrolysed milk formula on standby - switching to it when there's eczema is painful (more on my blog, but I don't want to link out of this forum, in case it infringes the community guidelines). Note - partially hydrolysed milk is still not ideal if proven milk allergy, do check with specialist

Sleeping - this is crazy for me too. Out of 365 times 2 years + few months, I think I only slept 4 nights straight. Same thing - scratching. If you need a laugh, you can see my eczema cartoons on eczemablues.com; basically, and practically, get your child tired before bed, keep aircon cool 22 degC, light clothing, moisturizing after bathing before bedtime. My baby can't wear long sleeves, but you can try some eczema clothing or wet wrapping if you like (again, too much to tell you over here, go to my blog, find the relevant tags)

Water - Proven not related to eczema

Ok, see you around and don't stress too much - ask for help

Hi Jems

How we all symnpathasise, a bad flare up throws us all into seeking the best course of action, and sleeping pattern is one of the worst offenders.

Have a look at our website www.snugglepaws.com as we do sleepsuits for the older child with closed mittens (so they can't escape to scratch) which might help.

We've been doing the "eczema" thing since our grandson was just a few months old; he is now 19 months. We have used tips from this forum along with endless research.

Today he is flare free for about ten days. His skin, normally feeling like tissue paper, is creamy and soft. My daughter, first-time mother, now knows how a baby's skin should feel.

I decided to post some of the information in regard to things we have used that I think have gotten us to this point.

I have come to suspect that not everything works the same for every child. But having the information out there as possibilities at least can give hope.

Maybe one suggestion will help one baby.

This is a combination of a few different posts; not in any specific order:


For our grandson, who we babysit, we do two soaks per day (no soap, lukewarm water), and vaseline him while in the water to lock in the moisture.

(Update: We are having a successful trial of soaking in epsom salt, sea salt, apple cider vinegar, and at the end of the soak a little olive oil, my version called the "salad dressing" soak.)

We use CeraVe moisturizer (his parents were using Aveeno, but oatmeal can dry the skin, so he's much better now that they're also using CeraVe).

We have several air purifiers going in the house.

I put sea salt and epsom salts in the soak water, and while filling the sink, the water is run through a dechlorinator ball (chlorine can dry the skin also).

We take him outside every day as Vitamin D from the sun also helps.

All cotton clothes; all cotton bedding.

Here is some info from a previous post in another thread:

Our grandson started eczema at about three months. He is 19 months now. We have worked diligently to find out as much as we could, not only about how to treat it, but how to stop the flares.

Here are a few suggestions:

* All cotton clothes (for baby and anyone else who holds him)
* All cotton blankets and bedsheets
* Wash in "all free" detergents, and use "all free" fabric softeners
* No fragrances on family members
* Daily soak (no soap, no shampoo; he has not had any soap or shampoo for over a year) in lukewarm water
* Vaseline soaks when needed
* Immediate moisturizer (CeraVe) after soaks
* Wet wraps when needed
* Apply allergy / dust mite covers to all mattresses and pillows
* Dogs stay outside; cat removed
* Remove carpets; hepa filter
* Address mold and mildew
* Humidifier (or de-humidifier as needed) keeping humidity at 40-50% (dust mites proliferate in humidity)
* For the eating toddler, no milk, no wheat, no citrus (burns the fragile face)
* we have air purifiers in every room
* got rid of the stuffed comfy sofas (replaced with faux leather)
* tossed out all extraneous pillows and stuffed animals (the few we kept are washed weekly)
* use an anti-bacterial type gym mat on tile floors of living and family rooms in place of rugs
* got a bath ball to filter chlorine from bath water
* have two negative ionizers
* pre-wash new clothes (we put him in a costume yesterday for pictures, didn't pre-wash and he broke out)
* outside suntime every day (vit D good for skin)
* a soak and change clothes after being in public places
* try not to be exposed to cat dander

We are being very pro-active and aggressive in working to reduce the eczema.

Some of these things may work and be of benefit some may be a shot in the dark but at least we're trying hard!

I read a study about kids with eczema having more emotional problems; poor sleep from eczema may be a cause.

Info on baths, moisturizers:

community.babycenter.com/post/a1467...


It may be hard to find the triggers but I think you have to be determined and keep trying.

Our 19 month-old grandson has suffered with eczema from three months old.

We found that his main trigger was cat dander. Although no cats live in his home or our home, the other grandmother has a cat and she (and the cat) used to live in the baby's bedroom before he was born. They moved out before the baby was born. (Cat dander hangs around for years; the dermatologist said that cat sensitivity is the #1 allergen.) The bed is still in there along with the crib.

He would get a flare every week after being visited by that grandmother on Sundays. The parents advised her on wearing clean clothes to the visit, keeping the cat confined to an unused room away from her clothes, cutting down on the transfer of dander from her place to their place.

We stopped using our yearly zoo passes which compounded the exposure to animal dander.

He became appreciably better, altho not perfect.

Next step was doing a super cleaning on the carpets and furniture, particularly in his room; also installing air purifiers throughout their house. All mattresses and pillows were wrapped with allergy / dust mite covers.

In my house (we babysit during the week), we got rid of extraneous pillows which may hold dust mites, replaced the comfy stuffed sofas with new inexpensive faux leather pieces; and run air filters throughout.

Again, he showed another step up to being better; light eczema on elbows and ankles.

We do daily soapless lukewarm water baths. Constant moisturizing, topped with vaseline.

He has allergic shiners and rhinitis at times, so we're currently working on that by using the gluten-free diet. Rhinitis has stopped so far, and shiners are less noticeable. (Update: shiners are gone, no wheat, no milk.)

But we still have some work to do.

Oh, and we also give him a diet high in Omega 3 - 6; along with probiotics. Breakfast is generally avocado, plain greek yogurt, with a dash of flaxseed oil and acidophilus (altho I have heard that a strain of lactobacillus may be better).

Any other foods that boost the immune system are included (i.e. broccoli, yams) in his meals; and preservatives and food dyes are excluded.

It's good to be pro-active and happy that your skincare routine is working

Do remember to chill, head for a laugh at eczema cartoons on my blog
http://eczemablues.com/category/101-thi ... fferently/

No recommendations/tips from me cos you're doing so many things rightly Enjoy time with the child!