Re: Desperate Mom of 8 month old baby w/ Eczema

I feel for you. My life changed when my daughter was discovered to have eczema which unfortunately involved her entire skin surface including her scalp. Because of her constant itching she could not sleep, eat properly, wear regular clothing or leave the house. Knowing that there are worse diseases out there did not help as this altered our lives completely. Watching my daughter suffer 24/7 caused me Depression because I felt I had no control. Now we do. We tried many things, medications, homeopathic, etc but this is what finally helped
#1) Medications- Nobody ever instructed us on the proper use of these meds. Steroids are definately helpful immediatly but only to the affected areas on an as neede basis. The protopic or elidel needs to be applied to the affected areas daily, not only as needed, because they take time to work ( up to three months). So DO NOT stop this medication because it does not appear to be helping. The maximum benefit may not be seen for up to 3 months.
#2) Foods- Despite what most pediatricians, dermatologists, and even allergy/immunologists told us, we have found definate corrolation in exacerbations with certain foods. Some foods were identified with rast testing (scratch test) when my daughter was 18 months and some we already had some idea about. Common culprits include dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, and lastly corn products. This last one ,corn products, turned out to be a gold mine but very difficult to avoid as corn syrup and corn starch are in so many different products. I now cook everything that enters my daughters mouth.
#3)Practical issues, ie clothing. We found what saved our daughter most was altering her clothing. For sleep we sewed on mittens and footsies to her sleepers so that she could not damage herself while itching uncontrollably during sleep. During the day we sewed removable sleeves which we velcrowed to her shrt sleeve shirts.
Though the eczema is not cleared completely my daughter is finally sleeping through the night, eating properly and wearing normal clothes at the age of three. I wish you all the best.

Mrs. Liu Tweet