What To Put On Baby Eczema Face

Is Aquaphor Any Better Than Vaseline

Aquaphor tends to be a better moisturizer because it contains humectant ingredients and is occlusive, while Vaseline is only occlusive. When used for wound healing after surgery, Vaseline has shown to cause less redness at the wound site than Aquaphor. If you have a lanolin allergy, opt for Vaseline over Aquaphor.

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.

Medical Treatment For Eczema

Eczema cant be cured. But it can be managed by preventing and treating flare-ups as soon as they appear.

If your childs skin is inflamed and itchy, theyll probably need some corticosteroid ointment or cream. For mild eczema, you can buy mild corticosteroids over the counter at your pharmacy. The most common is hydrocortisone 1% cream. For more serious eczema or if the over-the-counter products arent working, youll need to see your GP to get a prescription for a stronger corticosteroid.

Other eczema treatments include pimecrolimus, a non-steroidal cream. Doctors might prescribe this cream for children with mild to moderate eczema on the face and in body folds.

If your child is scratching at a rash, you could ask your pharmacist or GP about using an antihistamine medication for a few days. Together with a corticosteroid cream, this might give your child some rest and help the flare-up to settle.

If your childs eczema rash gets infected, your doctor will prescribe a course of oral antibiotics.

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Sweet Cheeks Face And Body Lotion

Help keep babys skin silky soft and smooth with this gentle baby moisturiser to help protect babas delicate skin from dryness, leaving it feeling incredibly soft and calm. Packed full of plant-based actives including antioxidant rich Vitamin E, Cotton Seed Oil and a 100% natural calming fragrance, this is the best baby cream for dry skin to leave little ones skin feeling nourished, hydrated, comfy and softly scented.

How to use: Smooth a thin layer over your babys face and body after bathing or before you go out and about.

98% agreed product left babys skin was left looking and feeling soft and protected from dryness.*

*Tested in a 2-week independent consumer trial

Mini Mio is recommended for use on babies from 3 months onwards.

How Reducing Indoor Allergens Can Ease Your Eczema Symptoms

Eczema usually isnt a persistent condition, but rather one marked by long symptom-free periods followed by flare-ups.

Various environmental factors may cause the immune system to respond as if the body has encountered a harmful substance, resulting in inflammation and worsening eczema symptoms.

These triggers may include a variety of allergens and irritants, such as:

• Pet dander, pollen, mold, and dust mites
• Allergenic foods
• Clothing made of wool or synthetic fibers
• Cigarette smoke

Theres no cure for baby eczema, but the condition usually becomes less severe over time.

Treatment focuses on managing skin dryness to prevent flare-ups and on reducing skin inflammation.

Doctors recommend the following strategies to parents whose babies have eczema:

Your doctor may also recommend other eczema treatments for your child, including:

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How Can I Help My Child Live With Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis has no cure. But it will usually get better or go away as your child gets older. There may be times when your child has few or no symptoms. And he or she may have times when symptoms get worse. This is called a flare-up. To help prevent flare-ups, make sure your child:

• Stays away from triggers. Common triggers include irritants such as wool, soap, or chemicals. Other triggers include allergens such as eggs, dust mites, or pet dander. Stress is also a trigger.

• Doesnt scratch the skin. Try to keep your child from scratching. It can cause symptoms to get worse. It can also cause infection.

• Always has short fingernails. Trim or file your childs nails to keep them short and prevent scratching.

• Takes baths or showers with warm, not hot, water. Air dry or gently dry the skin afterward.

• Uses moisturizers. Put creams or ointments on after bathing.

• Wears soft clothing. Dont dress your child in wool or other rough fabric.

• Keeps cool. Try to keep your child as cool as possible. Getting hot and sweating can make him or her more uncomfortable.

• Doesnt get the smallpox vaccine. Its not a common vaccine, but people with atopic dermatitis should not get the smallpox vaccine.

Talk with your child’s healthcare provider about other ways to help your childs skin condition.

Preventing Eczema In Babies With Dry Skin

• Treating Eczema in Children

Does your baby have flaky, irritated, cracked skin? About 1 in 5 kids gets eczema. For some, its the first symptom of a lifetime of allergies. Infants who have eczema are more likely to develop hay fever and asthma later. Doctors refer to this type of allergic disease progression as atopic march. How you treat your babys eczema could make all the difference.

We believe that cracked skin is the entry point for food allergens, such as peanuts and eggs. Food can get into the skin off the table or off people who eat these foods and then kiss or touch the baby. When the food comes through the skin, it causes an allergic reaction, says Donald Leung, MD, PhD, head of pediatric allergy and clinical immunology at National Jewish Health in Denver.

Doctors dont fully understand what causes eczema. They believe genetics and the childs environment each play a role. But parents can help repair their babys broken skin barrier and prevent allergens from getting in. This could stop development of future allergies.

In babies, eczema usually shows up as an itchy, red patch on the cheeks, chin, or scalp and the front of arms and legs. If you see these signs, Leung recommends the soak and seal method.

Gently bathe your baby in lukewarm water with a gentle cleanser free of soap. Dont scrub irritated skin. Allow your baby to soak for at least 5 minutes.

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How Often Should You Bathe A Baby With Eczema

This is especially important for babies who have already shown signs of eczema or have siblings or parents with eczema. To recap, bathing your baby no more than three times a week is perfectly healthy, given that you wipe the diaper area thoroughly at each changing and apply moisturizer daily.

Baby And Toddler Eczema Treatments

A good way to manage your baby’s eczema is to know your childs unique symptoms and triggersand help keep skin hydrated with a regular regimen of gentle cleansing and moisturizing. Short, lukewarm baths are ideal, and its better to pat the skin dry and avoid rubbing. Immediately after bathing, apply a fragrance- and sulfate-free moisturizer. You can also ask your pediatrician or dermatologist to recommend an eczema lotion or eczema cream to treat symptoms. In addition to this bath-time routine, apply moisturizer throughout the day to keep your baby’s skin hydrated, especially when dryness or itching is apparent.5 However, avoid applying products on your baby’s hands since they are likely to put them in their mouth.

If at-home care doesnt improve your baby’s symptoms, its best to seek the advice of a pediatrician or dermatologist who may recommend additional treatment options, like prescription-based topicals, light therapy or other medications.6

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Other Types Of Eczema

Eczema is the name for a group of skin conditions that cause dry, irritated skin.

Other types of eczema include:

• discoid eczema a type of eczema that occurs in circular or oval patches on the skin
• contact dermatitis a type of eczema that occurs when the body comes into contact with a particular substance
• varicose eczema a type of eczema that most often affects the lower legs and is caused by problems with the flow of blood through the leg veins
• seborrhoeic eczema a type of eczema where red, scaly patches develop on the sides of the nose, eyebrows, ears and scalp
• dyshidrotic eczema a type of eczema that causes tiny blisters to erupt across the palms of the hands

Page last reviewed: 05 December 2019 Next review due: 05 December 2022

Comfort & Calm Bum Balm

The ultimate cream for happy nappies, this comforting bum balm is the best baby cream for dry skin if youre looking for something a little thicker and richer.

Infused with nourishing Omegas including Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Shea Oil and Sunflower Wax to help soothe and calm the appearance of uncomfortable skin. Fragrance free and Paediatrician approved, this is the perfect bum balm to nourish and hydrate delicate skin on babys body.

98% of parents agreed babys skin was left with a protective feeling barrier.*

*Tested in a 2 week independent trial.

How to use: Rub in gentle circular motions all on babys skin. Apply where required.

Mini Mio is recommended for use on babies from 3 months onwards.

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What Caused My Babys Eczema

There is no single cause of atopic eczema. Eczema is a complex condition it is genetic but also involves an overactive immune response to environmental factors, which cause eczema flares. Because the atopic gene is hereditary, it runs in families, and is responsible for three conditions: eczema, asthma and hay fever.

Fifty per cent of people with eczema have an additional genetic element a difference in a skin protein called filaggrin which leads to further problems in the skin barrier. All atopic conditions can be linked to allergies in some people, but there are also many universal irritants, such as soap and heat.

How Is Eczema Treated

There is no cure for eczema. But treatments can help with symptoms. The doctor will recommend different treatments based on how severe the symptoms are, the child’s age, and where the rash is. Some are “topical” and applied to the skin. Others are taken by mouth.

Topical moisturizers. Skin should be moisturized often . The best time to apply moisturizer is after a bath or shower, with the skin patted dry gently. Ointments and creams are best because they contain a lot of oil. Lotions have too much water to be helpful.

Topical corticosteroids, also called cortisone or steroid creams or ointments. These ease skin inflammation. It’s important not to use a topical steroid prescribed for someone else. These creams and ointments vary in strength, and using the wrong strength in sensitive areas can damage the skin, especially in infants.

Other topical anti-inflammatory medicines. These include medicines that change the way the skin’s immune system reacts.

Medicine taken by mouth. These can include antihistamines to help itchy kids sleep better at night, antibiotics if a rash gets infected by bacteria, and corticosteroid pills or other medicines that suppress the immune system.

Other types of treatment can include:

• wet wraps: damp cloths placed on irritated areas of skin
• bleach baths: bathing in very diluted bleach solution

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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.

Remove The Bacteria Crusts

Many people tend to mix up normal crusts with bacteria crusts. So let me tell you the biggest difference.

A normal crust is called an eschar, and it is hardened, flat and doesnt have much weeping. Much like the ones you got when you were young and accidentally scraped your knee.

A bacteria crust, however, is weeping to the touch, is full of yellow or milky substance, puffy, and sometimes red. These are the signs of bacteria colonization!

Bacterial crusts are like the bacterias houses, and should always be removed with a gentle soap or cleanser like saline solution.

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Matching Treatments To Eczema Severity

The NHS aims to match the treatment to the severity of a babys eczema. Weve tried to capture the spectrum of diagnosis and treatment in our Baby Eczema NHS Treatment Summary below. Atopic Dermatitis, or Eczema, is a very changeable condition so it is common for a childs eczema to move up the severity spectrum and therefore condition should be monitored and their treatments changed accordingly.

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

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Does Breastfeeding Prevent Baby Eczema

There is some evidence that breastfed babies may be less likely to develop eczema. Although unproven, the antimicrobial properties in breast milk have also been studied as a type of treatment when directly applied to an eczema rash. To try this, rub a few drops of your liquid gold onto the rash regularly for a few days and watch for any reduction in symptoms.

Ways To Soothe Your Babys Eczema

When your baby is itchy and in pain, youll do anything to help her feel better. Four experts weigh in on what actually works.

Watching your baby wail in discomfort from red, irritated, eczema-flared skin can make you feel like youre at your wits end, so we asked experts for tips on how to get the itchy condition under control.

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Ways To Relieve Itchy Eczema At Home

Telling your child to stop scratching itchy skin rarely works.

Eczema is just too itchy, and telling your child to stop scratching can feel stressful. Stress often makes eczema worse.

Safety tips

• Dont let your child eat the finely ground oatmeal.

• Colloidal oatmeal makes the bath very slippery, so take care to prevent a slip or fall.

Gentle Soaps And Detergents

Laundry detergent can contain harsh chemicals that aggravate eczema.

Many body washes and cleansers contain detergents, which help provide a soapy lather. Detergents and other lathering agents can dry out the skin, especially in people with eczema.

Bar soaps can also be harsh on the skin because of their alkalinity.

Try using a gentle, no-lather, fragrance-free cleanser. Avoid products with rough particles for scrubbing or exfoliating, as these can further irritate the skin.

Many people with eczema also find that switching to a more gentle, fragrance- or color-free laundry detergent can help improve symptoms.

Additionally, try skipping fabric softener, which lingers on clothes and often contains fragrances and chemicals that can irritate the skin.

Sitting next to a fireplace or near a furnace may feel good, but it can worsen eczema symptoms. The hot, dry air can dehydrate the skin and aggravate the itchiness of eczema.

Use a humidifier during the dry winter months and avoid getting too close to heaters and fireplaces.

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Will My Baby Grow Out Of Eczema

Sadly, it is impossible to predict whether your baby will have eczema for life or for just a short time. So far, there is no cure for eczema. Eczema is a chronic condition with periods of flare and periods of remission, and most people with a history of eczema still have problems with dry and itchy skin. If your child has a difference in their filaggrin gene, they will not grow out of it. Even if your baby appears to grow out of their eczema, it may return during the teenage years or in adulthood.