How To Help With Baby Eczema

How To Help Your Eczema Baby Sleep

Children with eczema can have sleep issues, which can cause behavior issues and affect quality of life7. Babies can be more irritable due to interrupted sleep. Not to mention sleep-deprived parents. Unfortunately, I remember those days all too well. There are several ways to help your child get quality sleep.

Giving Your Baby Antiseptic Baths

Giving your baby an antiseptic bath twice a week can help improve eczema, decrease bacteria, and prevent skin infections. The best antiseptic to use is bleach. However, you need to dilute the bleach with water first. Bleaches come in different strengths and how much water you use depends on the strength of the bleach you are using.

Bleach is sold at the supermarket and will be in the cleaning aisle. You need bleach that has no added detergent or fragrance.

Always store the bleach where your baby or young children cant reach it.

Triggers Of Eczema Flare

• Soaps. Never use bubble bath. It can cause a major flare-up.
• Pollens. Keep your child from lying on the grass during grass pollen season.
• Animals. Avoid any animals that make the rash worse.
• Foods. If certain foods cause severe itching , avoid them.
• Wool. Avoid wool fibers and clothes made of other scratchy, rough materials.
• Dry Air. Use a humidifier if the air in your home is dry.
• Herpes Virus Infection . Keep your child away from anyone with fever blisters . The herpes virus can cause a serious skin infection in children with eczema.
• Eczema is not caused by laundry soap you use to wash clothing.

Recommended Reading: How To Help Eczema On Feet

When To Call A Doctor

Make the call if your babys eczema doesnt begin to get better within a week of starting over-the-counter hydrocortisone creams. It may be time for a prescription medicine.

Also check with your doctor if yellow or light brown crust or pus-filled blisters appear on top of the eczema. This could be the sign of a bacterial infection that needs antibiotics.

You should call your doctor if your baby is around anyone who has cold sores or genital herpes. Eczema can make your little one more likely to pick up those germs.

What Does Eczema Look Like

In babies with paler skin, when eczema is flaring the skin is red and itchy. In babies with darker skin, the irritated, itchy areas may be red but are more likely to show as darker patches. They may also appear paler around the front or back of knees or elbows.

When an area of darker skin is treated for eczema, it may become lighter and may take several months to return to the babys normal skin tone.

Don’t Miss: Best Medicine For Eczema And Psoriasis

Identifying Baby Eczema On His Face And Body

So what does baby eczema look like? With eczema, your babyâs skin will look dry and scaly or bumpy with red patches. The condition usually starts on the face, especially on the cheeks, forehead, or scalp.

In many cases, the rash goes away on the face before spreading to other areas, such as the bends of the elbows and the area behind the knees.

The patches caused by eczema can be mild and small, but they can also be extremely itchy, which can make your baby irritable. If this is the case with your little one, speak to your healthcare provider.

Keep in mind that eczema on your babyâs head might look a little like cradle cap, which is another skin condition that can affect some babies. Your healthcare provider will be able to diagnose the condition.

What Causes Eczema In Infants And Children

Eczema is brought about by the complex interplay of a genetic predisposition and the childs environment. Many things from the climate to possible allergens can cause eczema to flare. We know that eczema tends to run in the families with a predisposition to other atopic diseases, such as food allergies, asthma and hay fever. Individuals with atopic dermatitis may lack certain proteins in the skin, which leads to greater sensitivity. Parents with eczema are more likely to have children with eczema. However, the exact way it passes from parents to children is still not known. Most children who have eczema will show signs of the condition in the first year of life. It tends to wax and wane in severity.

Also Check: Does Eczema Have Tiny Blisters

What Causes Eczema In Children

Researchers dont know exactly what causes baby eczema, but they believe its most likely due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Eczema is not contagious.

Infants are more likely to develop eczema if family members have a history of eczema, hay fever, or asthma.

While these conditions dont cause one another, infants are more likely to develop hay fever or asthma if they already have baby eczema.

Scientists believe eczema results from an immune-system dysfunction that affects the skin barrier and its ability to hold in moisture.

Eczema is a general term to describe a number of inflammatory skin conditions. Aside from atopic dermatitis, other types of eczema that commonly affect children include contact dermatitis, dyshidrotic eczema , and seborrheic dermatitis, or scalp eczema .

Dont Miss: How To Calm Down An Eczema Flare Up

When Should I Take My Child To The Doctor For Their Eczema

If you think your child might have eczema, make an appointment with your pediatrician. A trained eye can tell the difference between eczema and other skin conditions.

Speak to your childs doctor right away if skin appears infected , if the eczema seems painful and blistered, or if itâs preventing your child from sleeping or is just generally making them miserable.

Don’t Miss: Is Eczema An Autoimmune Disease

Will My Baby Have Eczema All Her Life

In some babies with atopic dermatitis, the condition stays put. But, fortunately, eczema clears up in many babies by the time they turn 4 years old.

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

How Does Baby Eczema Differ From Dry Skin

Dry skin is a symptom of eczema. Your pediatrician can diagnose eczema by examining your baby’s skin. He or she may send you to a pediatric dermatologist for confirmation and treatment if the condition is severe.

In general, dry skin can be handled at home with some moisturizer and isnt as bothersome as eczema. However, babies with darker skin tend to have drier skin than those with lighter skin making moisturization even more crucial.

Recommended Reading: Can Eczema Go Away In Adults

Is A Cure Or Better Treatment For Eczema On The Horizon

Without a cure on the near horizon, we here at Johns Hopkins are creating an Eczema Day Treatment Unit to help our patients with moderate to severe eczema keep their symptoms under control and prevent flare-ups. We anticipate that this novel, multidisciplinary program will include experts from Child Life, behavioral psychology, allergy, dermatology and infectious diseases to provide the comprehensive care these children need care that cannot be provided in an average clinic visit.

A primary goal of the day treatment unit will be education children and their families will learn techniques such as wet-wrap therapy, to help deeply moisturize the skin. This therapy involves coating the skin with a topical ointment, followed by a greasy ointment like petroleum jelly, then dressing in wet pajamas, followed by dry pajamas, allowing the skin to soak in the moisture.

Also Check:

Where On The Body Can Eczema Appear

Eczema can appear in any area where your child has come into contact with one of their triggers.

For example, if they have a grass allergy and rolled around in the backyard, they might have rashes anywhere there was exposed skin.

A child could get eczema around the outside of their mouth after eating acidic foods, like pineapple, or in the folds of their skin if they were sweating.

If your child had eczema as a baby, you might think youre a pro at identifying it. However, the symptoms of eczema in toddlers are actually different from the symptoms in babies. As kids get older, the location of their rashes can change.

Babies are prone to rashes on their faces and heads remember cradle cap? Thats a kind of eczema! Toddlers and older kids are more likely to get eczema in the following areas:

• creases of their elbows

Recommended Reading: Baby Eczema What Causes It

What To Do About Itching

Try to keep your baby from scratching their itchy skin. Scratching can make the rash worse, lead to an infection, and cause the irritated skin to get thicker and more leathery.

Trim their nails often, and then take the edge off of them with a file if you can. Some parents also slip “scratch mittens” onto their little one’s hands. Others try long socks, tucked in under a long-sleeved shirt, so they’re harder for a baby to remove. View a slideshow to get more eczema skin care tips.

We Have Reached The Real Juicy Parttoday I Am Going To Share Some Proven Natural And Medicated Remedies To Sapeczema In Its Tracks Lets Do This Mamas

Some ways to help keep it under control: maintaining good skin hydration and moisturization, avoiding known triggers such as contact allergens, and initiating medical therapy at the earliest sign of a flare. Dr. MacCormack

If your eczema is really bad your doctor might prescribe treatment for all of your body. This type of treatment is rare as only a few

people will ever need these treatments.

Recommended Reading: Does Coconut Oil Work For Eczema

You May Like: Can A Bleach Bath Help Eczema

Expert Tips To Help Care For Baby Eczema

Scratches, rashes, and rough patches â it can feel like every time you put your little one to bed, you find something new on them by morning. If youâve got a case of baby eczema on your hands and youâre feeling lost on how to soothe the itching and irritation due to baby eczema, read on for expert advice from dermatologists Mona Gohara MD and Kavita Mariwalla MD.

First, a bit of background on the skin condition. So, what does baby eczema look like? Skin affected by baby eczema can be red, inflamed, dry, and usually shows within the first six months for a newborn. Eczema is a chronic condition that may disappear as a child grows older, although some children will have flare ups into adulthood.

Baby eczema causes skin to become uncomfortably itchy. In fact, itchiness can cause 83% of children with baby eczema to have trouble sleeping. This is bad news for their skin barrier, which becomes weaker when your baby scratches, causing more moisture loss and exposure to irritants. Needless to say, this cycle is often stressful on parents and can affect the whole familyâs quality of life.

Now, over to Dr. Mona and Dr. Kavita with their top eczema care tips.

Try To Get Your Baby To Take A Nap To Sleep Away The Itch

Telling you to get an itchy baby to take a nap might seem fruitless. But tiredness is often a trigger for itchiness.

If I suspect our baby is tired, I will get him to nap. This is often against my better judgement, because that means I end up letting him nap at odd times. And if he naps too late in the day, it definitely affects his bedtime.

But for me, Id rather my baby nap at 4 PM, instead of scratch from 4 PM 7 PM and be miserable as I keep him up until his bedtime.

Also Check: How To Treat Baby Eczema On Face Naturally

Which Foods Should You Give Your Baby First

Many parents start their babies with iron-fortified rice or oatmeal cereals, and then graduate them to fruits and vegetables. Still, it’s perfectly fine to start your kid on stage 1 fruits and vegetables or puree a veggie or fruit yourself.

“The biggest issue for parents of children with eczema is they need to introduce one food at a time so they can know what is causing a problem,” says Chris Adigun, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the New York University School of Medicine. “Stick with that food for at least 4 or 5 days before you move on to the next food.”

After each new one, watch out for signs of an allergy, like:

• Diarrhea, sometimes with blood
• Swelling of the lips or tongue
• Vomiting

Eczema Treatment During Pregnancy

Some people find their eczema improves during pregnancy, while others experience flare-ups. Its important to know that if your eczema does get worse, this wont affect your growing baby and there are lots of treatment options that are safe to use during pregnancy.

A lot of women feel under pressure to go natural with every aspect of their pregnancy. But when it comes to eczema, theres no need to replace your usual emollient with another product. In fact, products marketed as natural often contain ingredients, such as fragrance, that could irritate your skin.

Continue to treat flare-ups, based on the advice of your healthcare professional. Mild, moderate and potent topical steroids are all safe to use in short treatment bursts of up to two weeks during pregnancy. If your eczema becomes very severe, other treatment options are also available, prescribed under the specialist care of a dermatologist.

Also Check: Severe Eczema Flare Up Treatment

Baby Eczema Risk Factors And The Environment

While baby eczema is the result of immune-system dysfunction, likely from a genetic predisposition, studies have found a number of risk factors.

For example, a study published in February 2018 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health suggested that children have a higher risk of developing eczema if their mothers experienced high-stress situations during pregnancy.

In a study published in May 2018 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, researchers in the United Kingdom analyzed the sociodemographic characteristics of about 675,000 children in a primary-care database. They found that the children were more likely to be diagnosed with eczema if they fit one of the following descriptions:

• Male
• Black Caribbean
• Of high socioeconomic status

Another study, published in May 2018 in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, looked at how the outdoor environment specifically air pollutants and meteorological conditions affected eczema risk in children of both sexes. The researchers concluded that high levels of carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, lead, particulate matter, and ozone levels may all influence the development of infantile eczema.

What Does Baby Eczema Look Like

Eczema doesn’t look the same on every baby. In babies with light skin, it usually shows up as patches of red skin. In darker-skinned babies, the rash might look purplish, brownish, or grayish. Eczema can be harder to see on babies with dark skin.

These patches are almost always dry, itchy, and rough.

Babies can get the condition just about anywhere on their body. Most often, it affects their cheeks and the joints of their arms and legs.

Its easy to confuse baby eczema with cradle cap. But there are some key differences.

Cradle cap is much less itchy and irritated. It generally clears up by age 8 months and usually appears on the scalp, sides of the nose, eyelids and eyebrows, and behind the ears. See a photo of what cradle cap looks like.

Recommended Reading: What Can Make Eczema Flare Up

Where Does Eczema Most Often Appear

Eczema tends to appear in different places on the body in younger babies, older babies, and toddlers. It also tends to look different depending on a childs age. Here are the eczema symptoms to look for in babies and toddlers of each age group, as outlined by the National Eczema Association.

Remember, though, that eczema could appear in any area of the body, regardless of your little ones age. The table below just outlines where eczema appears most often.

Young infants

In young infants, baby eczema usually appears on the face at this stage, including the chin, cheeks, scalp, and forehead. But it could appear on any area of the body, including the arms, legs, or torso. It usually wont appear in the diaper area, because that area usually remains protected by moisture.

At this stage, skin affected by eczema often looks red and weepy .

Older babies

In older babies, eczema usually appears on creases of the skin, especially on the elbows, knees, and elbow and knee joints. It may also appear on the face, like with younger infants. Again, though, it could appear on any area of the body, but not usually the diaper area.

Sometimes, baby eczema rash may become infected and form a yellow crust on the skin.

Younger toddlers

In toddlers, eczema often appears on the face in patches. It may show up around the eyelids or around the mouth. It also often appears in the skin creases .

Older toddlers

What Causes Eczema In Babies

It’s unclear why some people get eczema and others don’t, though genetics plays a role. Allergies are also related to the condition.

There are also environmental irritants that affect some people more than others. When the skin comes into contact with an irritating substance it becomes red and inflamed.

Here are some irritants that could cause eczema in some babies:

• Contact with certain soaps, detergents, and perfumes

• Having hot, sweaty skin

• Exposure to dry winter air

• Contact with rough fabrics, like wool

• Contact with dust mites.

Recommended Reading: I Have Eczema On My Face