3 yr old Son has Chronic Eczema...

scotslass

I am completely overwhelmed by the support from you all, thank you so much!! It can be so frustrating and upsetting as he wakes up covered in blood from tearing at his skin, I even cut his nails right down and file the sharpness away but he still manages to do it.

From the doctor I have been prescribed Hydrocortisone which he has been on since he was one and with his body being covered I don't like applying hydrocortsone all over twice a day as it thins the skin with it being a strong steriod, he has an antibiotic steriod cream for when his skin becomes infected, I have banages for wet wrapping which I do every night, I have emulsifying barrior cream which i found just slid of his skin.

I haven't tried Vaseline yet so will give this a go. I have been using Almond oil which seems quite good and bio oil, but the inflamation goes away for a day at the most then comes back with vengence. I will be getting him tested for allergies just so I can rule out anything that may be making his skin worse. I think the Diet is the route for me to take as I have been trying everything skin wise for 2 1/2 years with no avail. I have copied the suggestions from each of you all and the links and I will be throwing myself into fully investigating every avenue, as we do for our kids!! To be honest if the Dermatologist gives me another steroid cream I don't think I will be using it as I can see his skin thinning on his arms and he is only 3 and a half.

It really makes me feel like I can breath knowing that others out there undesrtand what I'm going through. I know its not going to be easy with a new Diet but I have been explaining to him that the reason I need to do it is because the pain from his skin is really hurting him and he says okay mummy.....we will see what happenes I just hope he doesn't reject the food and ends up starving this is my big worry, I won't be giving in and giving himthe foods that hurt him.

Thank you for all your best wishes it really does mean a lot xxxx

impyimpyaj

It really makes me feel like I can breath knowing that others out there undesrtand what I'm going through. I know its not going to be easy with a new Diet but I have been explaining to him that the reason I need to do it is because the pain from his skin is really hurting him and he says okay mummy.....we will see what happenes I just hope he doesn't reject the food and ends up starving this is my big worry, I won't be giving in and giving himthe foods that hurt him.

Please don't worry about this. It won't happen. I promise you. He will not starve himself. I'll be honest with you, there might be an issue in the beginning, and if he's extremely stubborn he might lose a little weight, but he will not starve himself to the point of being sick. You will find things that he enjoys that won't exacerbate his eczema, and everything will be ok. Keep in close contact with his doctors to make sure he's getting everything he needs. Check to see if it would be ok to give him a vitamin supplement -- you might have to buy a specific one to avoid dyes or certain ingredients, but if there's something available that he can take, that will help put your mind at ease and help him stay healthier through this process.

I don't know how you do things at your house, but one thing that has helped my kids with their pickiness is the "one bite" rule. They don't have to eat everything on their plate, but they have to take one good bite of everything on their plate before they can be all done (unless it's something that I know they hate, or if they're sick or something like that). We don't fight about it, and there's no punishment, it's just something we do, and it's helped. And they have to try it repeatedly, even if they said they didn't like it last time. Unless it's something that gave them the shivers (my son is that way with carrots), they need to take one good bite of every item of food we have at each meal. They've found some new favorites that way. My son used to say he hated salmon, but now it's one of his favorites, simply because we've had him try it repeatedly to get past the initial "eww, a new food" reaction. Pickiness can be a problem for kids with food allergies, so you just need to gently help him over the hurdle. It will be ok. If he does start refusing to eat and the one-bite thing doesn't work, talk to his doctor about strategies to help him get comfortable with these foods. And if your doctor says anything to the effect of, "Who's the parent here?", then you need a new doctor. A doctor who isn't willing to help you solve the problem with love is not one you want to stay with.

thrld

here's something to think about, and please *discuss with your doctor* before trying.

It's inexpensive, easy to do and has been studied clinically by researchers, who ended the study early because of the positive results.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/eczema/news/20090427/bleach-baths-may-help-kids-with-ezcema

scotslass

It really makes me feel like I can breath knowing that others out there undesrtand what I'm going through. I know its not going to be easy with a new Diet but I have been explaining to him that the reason I need to do it is because the pain from his skin is really hurting him and he says okay mummy.....we will see what happenes I just hope he doesn't reject the food and ends up starving this is my big worry, I won't be giving in and giving himthe foods that hurt him.

Please don't worry about this. It won't happen. I promise you. He will not starve himself. I'll be honest with you, there might be an issue in the beginning, and if he's extremely stubborn he might lose a little weight, but he will not starve himself to the point of being sick. You will find things that he enjoys that won't exacerbate his eczema, and everything will be ok. Keep in close contact with his doctors to make sure he's getting everything he needs. Check to see if it would be ok to give him a vitamin supplement -- you might have to buy a specific one to avoid dyes or certain ingredients, but if there's something available that he can take, that will help put your mind at ease and help him stay healthier through this process.

I don't know how you do things at your house, but one thing that has helped my kids with their pickiness is the "one bite" rule. They don't have to eat everything on their plate, but they have to take one good bite of everything on their plate before they can be all done (unless it's something that I know they hate, or if they're sick or something like that). We don't fight about it, and there's no punishment, it's just something we do, and it's helped. And they have to try it repeatedly, even if they said they didn't like it last time. Unless it's something that gave them the shivers (my son is that way with carrots), they need to take one good bite of every item of food we have at each meal. They've found some new favorites that way. My son used to say he hated salmon, but now it's one of his favorites, simply because we've had him try it repeatedly to get past the initial "eww, a new food" reaction. Pickiness can be a problem for kids with food allergies, so you just need to gently help him over the hurdle. It will be ok. If he does start refusing to eat and the one-bite thing doesn't work, talk to his doctor about strategies to help him get comfortable with these foods. And if your doctor says anything to the effect of, "Who's the parent here?", then you need a new doctor. A doctor who isn't willing to help you solve the problem with love is not one you want to stay with.

Oh I will be trying this one bite rule thank you for sharing that with me :-) I am usually a too soft in the way that if he didnt like something I would cook up 2 / 3 more things instead, I don't plan on doing that this time around, so I am going in with a positive mind and thinking :-) My mum always tells me do not think he will starve, at the end of the day if he is really hungry he will eat what is put down to him, so I'm hoping this will be the case, I will be keeping snacks to a minimum before meals hopefully that will help too :-)

scotslass

here's something to think about, and please *discuss with your doctor* before trying.

It's inexpensive, easy to do and has been studied clinically by researchers, who ended the study early because of the positive results.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/eczema/news/20090427/bleach-baths-may-help-kids-with-ezcema

I will discuss this with the Dermatologist and see what she thinks, I must say I have never heard of this before, thank you for sharing x

ladyace2078

My daughter has sensitive skin, but not eczema. A friend of mine has a daughter that does have eczema. We both recently cut out red dye 40 (more for helping with behavior) and a great side effect in not only helping with behavior but was also helping to clear up their skin. Red dye 40 is in EVERYTHING so read labels carefully. Most natural foods use beet juice to get red so there are a lot of alternatives.

mmsilvia

I have severe eczema as well. I have delt with it from a young age. I def suggest a 'clean' diet ~ it truely helps. Also, for the late night itches oatmeal baths do the trick. Soak in a luke warm oatmeal bath. It's amazing. I have been known to take 2 a night. Also, keep his skin hydrated with fragrance free lotions. Use sensitve soaps like dove, when bathing. Also, maybe consider trying a different laundry detregent...try a frangrance free one.

I am no dr just an average person who has been in a similar situration so I would def see what the specialist has to say. It has taken me many years (and many different dr's advice) to get my eczema under control but, every know & then I still have a breakout.

Good luck to your son. Feel free to friend me or message me with any questions.

mindidily

My 2.5 year old son has bad eczema too. What a lot of good information! Mine has been seeing an allergist and we've got a few things down that are causing it (his biggest problem is dust mites). I never new about the dairy thing. The doctor never brought it up, though we are just starting this "adventure" and my son has some other issues we are discussing. Maybe I will have to find something aside from milk. Poor dude, he loves it so much...

As far as help comforting it, his primary doctor recommended we switch to Aquafor for his lotion and it's expensive, but seems to be working better than Aveeno was. I also put baking soda in his bath water when it gets bad. I also have a baby oil made by Shaklee that really helps with moisturizing, though it doesn't relieve his itching.

stephr2014

*BUMP* my 2yr. old also has eczema.

emmelean

I know what you are going through. My son (now 13) has eczema - since he was 3 months old. Once at the pediatrician's office, a woman came up to me and said, "What's wrong with your son?" The nurse that was with me said, "There is absolutely nothing wrong with her son!!!". He had eczema on his scalp down to his feet. He also has asthma and at that age, we didn't know how to deal with it. He was helicoptered to Oakland Children's Hospital a couple of times. Anyway, while he was in one of those hospital stays, a pediatric dermatologist came to see him. She advised us to bathe him daily-not with soap but to at least put him in water so that the moisture can go into his skin. Then before toweling off, she suggested to put a little baby oil on him. The blot him dry afterward. Then immediately after drying, put on a good moisturizer like Eucerin Plus (intensive repair? blue bottle cap). Also, suggested to moisturize 2-3 times daily. So we used to put on the Eucerin Plus in the morning when he woke up and after his bath. Doing these things really helped. Summers were the best - his skin seemed to clear up most in summer months but every winter/spring his eczema still flared up. It wasn't until he was about 6 years old that his skin cleared. Now that he is 13, he still has little flare ups but uses his steroid cream to keep it from getting worse. My daughter (she's 9) still has a lot of eczema on her joints, face, neck and behind her ear lobes. It just won't go away because she scratches at night and opens her skin. I feel your pain. We were there with both children when they were babies. When my son was 3, he once told me, "Mommy, we need a new Joseph." I said, "Why would you say that, Sweetie?" He said "Because my eczema makes me look bad." Made my eyes tear up when he said that. The Ped Allergist also told us never to use humidifiers because it's hard to keep those things clean. Just keep a big cup of water in his room during the winters and change/clean the cup daily. We did take Joseph to the allergist and found out all the allergies (nuts, seafood and lots of environmental allergies-lots of trees and also mold). Hang in there - it does get better as he gets older.

emmelean

One more thing - we use an air filters in our home - one in the family room and one in their bedroom. We make sure to keep the windows closed, esp on windy days to keep pollen out since our children have a lot of allergies to trees/weeds. The children take Zyrtec daily during the winter and spring months to keep the asthma and eczema from flaring up too much.

MyOwnSunshine

I suffer from bouts fo eczema as well. What I have found to be helpful is taking a bath every night with epsom salts and baby oil. For some reason, this combination works really well to heal and prevent outbreaks for me, and it is non-harmful and inexpensive.

You may want to try adding epsom salts and baby oil to his bathwater before bedtime.

mindidily

One more thing - we use an air filters in our home - one in the family room and one in their bedroom. We make sure to keep the windows closed, esp on windy days to keep pollen out since our children have a lot of allergies to trees/weeds. The children take Zyrtec daily during the winter and spring months to keep the asthma and eczema from flaring up too much.

I have been thinking about starting to use air filters in my house, too. Do you have a good recommendation? My house is pretty open, especially on the first floor, so I would probably need a few, and would hate to drop cash on something that doesn't work very well.

emmelean

We bought our filters 8 years ago so they probably should get replaced now. The one in the family room is big since it has a bigger space to filter. The bedroom one is small. They are both Honeywell Hepa filters. I'm sure by now that one is out dated and smaller and more efficient ones. The children shower nightly to get the pollens off of their bodies. We don't bring our shoes into the house, too. Even our vacuum has a HEPA filter. We changed the 1st floor carpet to hardwood/tile floor. Their bedroom has laminate flooring. For those parents who have severe asthmatic children, know what I am talking about when I say we are careful not to bring our kids around sick children. We have hundreds of sleepless nights while our children are gasping for air when they are sick, begging for another nebulizer breathing treatment when a full hour hasn't even passed yet. So another thing we did was to ask our family (hubby has 8 siblings so the family that comes around is huge) please inform us about illnesses before heading to a family party (then one of us will remain home with the children) or don't bring sick children to house. We thought dealing with severe asthma once a month and having our son flown to the Children's Hospital was hard enough but every two weeks was too much for us!!! Do I sound like a crazy parent? LOL - we do what we can to minimize the kids' symptoms.

scotslass

thank you so much for taking tie to reply i a so grateful and also glad it has gae other in the sae poition lots of different aenues to try i felt when I was googling i was getting no where, so bless your hearts!! I will be copying the new replys to go through them thoroughly. I have smothered his arms in Vaseline tonight for the first time so looking forward to seeing the results of this. I'm amazed at just how many people are in the same boat as me, your replys are comforting to know it does and an get better as it does really upset me when he is so upset.

i have ordered in a full shopping list of wheat free gluten free dairy free foods and lots of egetables here goes the new hange ;-))
Love Lynsey xx

JanetLM73

My 5-1/2 year old has it, we got some cream from the dr that I use on it for any flare up's. I also put moisturizer (aveeno) on her every night.

medaglia_06

The poor little guy Have you tried coconut oil too? Not just to eat, but to actually put on the rash? Make sure there is no allergy first!

kmjenkins

My seven year old neice has severe food allergies and eczema is one of the primary side effects of most of them. This would be my first guess as to what could be the culprit--take your son to an allergist and have tests done, this will help you to determine what he can/can't eat and should hopefully help clear up the exzema. My sister found that Aquaphor is a pretty good over the counter treatment if you're looking for something to use daily versus a prescribed steroid to help clear it up.

NewChristina

My first thought was Vitamin D deficiency. Was he breastfed? Anyway, I did a quick search to see if it was possible and found this:

"Oral vitamin D may help prevent some skin infections

A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that use of oral Vitamin D supplements bolsters production of a protective chemical normally found in the skin, and may help prevent skin infections that are a common result of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema."

Please don't give him this, but definitely have his D levels checked!! This is more common in the northern states. (I've done a lot of research on Vit D for my melanoma.

Justacoffeenut

bump one of my children suffers from this really bad also

becoming_a_new_me

Hi everyone,

Sorry I know this is an adult site but I'm hoping someone out there may be able to help me. My little boy suffers from Chronic Eczema, covered head to toe and tears his skin open during the night through his bandages, it's that bad. I have finally been refered to a child specialist Dermantologist after begging for help, but I'm lost to what I can feed him as I am cutting out dairy and wheat.

Any Help / advice welcome

Thank you xx

Excema is an autoimmune disorder, and those types of conditions are made worse by allergenic foods. Gluten intolerance is also an autoimmune issue. Try not just eliminating dairy and gluten, but a full on elimination diet. You can get an example here: http://support.cleanprogram.com/entries/178431-preparing-for-your-cleanse-with-the-elimination-diet On the can have list is Nuts & Seeds, but as he is a child, I would avoid the Nuts & Seeds list altogether.

Basically eliminate dairy, wheat, artifical sweeteners and perservatives...anything that could cause a reaction. It may sound drastic, but I did this with my daughter and found that her excema was due to strawberries and nuts. Wouldn't let her have them for a few years, and now she doesn't have any problems at all.

Guines9

Contact a Christian Science Practitioner. It is the safest and most complete way to receive a permanent healing of that condition.

Flab2fitfi

My son has had severe eczema for the last 7 years. We took him off milk for a while and it cleared up. Thinking it might not be the diary but just him growing out of it we put him back on dairy. It came back with a vengeance and no amount of creams would help. We put him back on a dairy free diet and it made the world of difference. Our doctor tested him for milk intolerance and it came back positive.

We also use soap nuts instead of washing powder - which has help all of us with our skin.

normatus

My now 14 year old daughter has had chronic eczema and allergies since birth. We've done all the creams and allergy medicines. We've finally found a regimen that works. We use natural oils and fats on her skin. Crisco and olive oil work for her. Dove for sensitive skin is her soap and I mix her eczema cream in with her vaseline or shea butter and it works wonders. I try to go the natural route as much as possible. I also make sure she is super hydrated. God bless you. I know this struggle all too well and my prayers go out for you. As a mother it's hard to feel so helpless when your baby is struggling and in pain.

NavyKnightAh13

I am 23 and have eczema since I was about 6 months old. For me, stress makes it flare up badly, as well as being outside too much, (mostly because of the pollen) and sometimes being out in the sun for too long. For years they had me on different creams and i hated it. So, I use Cortisone 10 Eczema cream. It takes the itch right out. Sadly, my son has already had a breakout on top of newborn rash before, so sadly I know he will have it the rest of his life.

MommyofLily

I think a lot of others have already suggested everything I would, but I'll repeat it. I was suffering from crazy bad eczema a couple years ago, and still suffer if my diet gets out of control, but my hands were so full of blisters and open sores that I developed staphylococcus and could have died if I didn't figure it out and get treated in time. I had an allergy test done that revealed I had several food intolerances that were making me sick and giving me eczema because my body was so inflamed. I had to cut out all red meats, dairy, sunflower seeds/oil, wheat/gluten, brewer's yeast, and soy. It was a huge wake-up call and a really big change in my lifestyle, but when I cut all that crap out, my skin completely cleared up.

I highly believe in the food allergy/intolerance issues that others have mentioned. Get his food allergies tested by a naturopath preferably as regular doctors sometimes do not believe in food intolerances. I can't tell you how many doctors just gave me disgusting steroid creams, medicines for irritable bowel syndrome, or told me I was perfectly healthy, when in reality, I was slowly killing myself with my diet. I was so bloated, miserable, tired and sick.

The allergy tests to ask for are called: IgG Food Antibodies, IgE Food Antibodies and IgG Spices (if you think it could be a spice issue).

Good luck!! I feel so bad for your son. I have gone through times when I wanted to just cut my hands off so I wouldn't have to deal with the pain of eczema.

MommyofLily

here's something to think about, and please *discuss with your doctor* before trying.

It's inexpensive, easy to do and has been studied clinically by researchers, who ended the study early because of the positive results.

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/eczema/news/20090427/bleach-baths-may-help-kids-with-ezcema

I will discuss this with the Dermatologist and see what she thinks, I must say I have never heard of this before, thank you for sharing x

Speaking from experience, this is a worthless treatment and will probably do more harm than good. I seriously tried it all. You have to treat the issue from the inside-out. The problem is most likely what he is ingesting with his current diet.

amylynn96

Hi everyone,

Sorry I know this is an adult site but I'm hoping someone out there may be able to help me. My little boy suffers from Chronic Eczema, covered head to toe and tears his skin open during the night through his bandages, it's that bad. I have finally been refered to a child specialist Dermantologist after begging for help, but I'm lost to what I can feed him as I am cutting out dairy and wheat.

Any Help / advice welcome

Thank you xx

sounds like ur talking about my son. hes now six but ever since he was a baby had severe eczema. The whole tearing himself open through bandages been there done that. Hes doing better now possibly growing out of it or just better controlled. Hes allergic to dairy,eggs,nuts and beef along with cats and dogs and all that and has severe asthma (i call him my bubble boy). I never tired any serious diet changes just completly avoided what we knew he was allergic too. Weve seen pediactric Dermatologist and honestly they didnt tell me anything i dont know when its bad its bad, they told me let him soak in a luke warm tub no soaps just enough to absorb the water for 10 minutes and it actually did help along with the perscribed steriods creams and ointments. Some of my worst moments in motherhood is myself crying and being hysterical because i was trying to clip his finger nails to keep them short so he couldnt rip himself open and him screaming bloody murder bc just me touching his hands and them being all tore up he was in pain. It will get better i promise i hope the dermatolgist can help you more than they helped me. I cant offer much advice on the food my son is an extremly picky eater along with being allergic to everything so we live on chicken nuggets and cereal and soy peanut butter.

rmsrws

My grand daughter has it very bad as well. In her sleep she digs and scratches, wakes up a raw bloody mess.

We have found she is allergic to pet dander, peanuts and eggs. She does much better is she is not exposed to these irritants. She still breaks out and itches like there is no tomorrow but it has helped.

We have tried so many lotions and creams prescription and non. Avon sells a product called Skin so Soft. It is a lotion. We have found that lotion seems to work best for her. All the others burn.

I hope you find some relief for your son!

AllyBooMommyof2

My two year old has really bad exzema on her tummy and back and I hate using the steroid cream but I just ordered a bunch of virgin coconut oil and soaps and lotions funny how that banner is on here now to try on her.