Re: Eczema in 3 month old, unable to determine allergens. Please help!

Being a nurse and mother of 3, I thought I knew it all. Well when my third child was just 1 week old, I noticed that she started developing very dry patchy and inflamed areas on her arms and legs. After multiple trips to the doctor and trying to find the cause by switching detergents, foods, and soaps one by one I still was unable to find out the cause. After many hours of research on the computer I saw pictures and related the diagnosis of eczema. I continued by researching and purchasing numerous moisturizers and topical creams. After 3 months of playing with different things to help my daughters skin and about 300 dollars worth of products I have found some that may be beneficial to you. First of all let me also tell you the things that I have had to find out myself. Eczema is a treatable and not curable disease. It is hereditary and can possibly lead to asthma. It is a slightly disabling disease meaning since that the person who has it has limitations on what they can do so they are careful not to have an annoying flare-up. Areas that are initially affected in babies seems to be the face,arms, and legs. As they age it spreads to more areas of the body. First of all eliminate all the lovely baby lotions and stuff with perfumes or dyes that people love to make their newborn smell good, because this only aggravates it. Next only use a mild soap and shampoo(I use Huggies Baby liquid soap for sensitive skin/Huggies shampoo for sensitive skin). Next get a room humidifier for each room that the baby will be in for long periods of time and keep it between 40 and 50 room moisture level (this is because eczema lacks moisture that is normally trapped in the skin and humidifiers help keep flareups at bay). Next use sensitive skin perfume free baby wipes and change diapers often (it is harder to treat eczema in the diaper zone and can develop into an extremely bad and painful situation for the baby)The next best thing that I have found is the moisturizer AQUAPHOR intensive care made by Eucerin. You can use this as a moisture barrier between diapers changes and also as a lotion for baby's skin. It is WONDERFUL!!! You can purchase this in Walmart for about 6 to 10 dollars a jar and it lasts a long time. I have jars of it everywhere (at daycare, home, grandmas, etc) Sometimes you do have to go the medication route on top of just a bland moisturizer. Bathing should only last no more than 5 minutes and pat dry with a towel(do not rub with a towel as this would aggravate it) My daughter is currently enrolled in an eczema study that she will be in for 6 years and get all her medication for free. The purpose of this study is to see the correlation between eczema and asthma, because there is definitely a link to it. Luckily 75% of childhood eczema clears mostly up when a child is between 5 and 6, but they will always be a carrier and have occasional flare-ups. My daughter is currently using Elidel cream as needed and Cutivate steriod cream for extreme flare-ups. My daughter has also been put in the hospital for on of her flare-ups, so she does have the disease really bad. I wish you and your child the best and if you have any questions that I may be some help with then feel free to email. Best of luck.........