You always want to pass your best genes on to your children, and when they inherit your not so glamorous genes you just apologize.
I have two children in which I offer an apology: I’m sorry you received my sensitive skin (in regards to the body, not in being easily offended). Not to divulge too much detail but I’ve lived a life of rashes and dryness and bumps and itching and it is no fun. I am all too familiar with the sound of scratching your skin until it bleeds while sleeping. I can hear my kids doing it and in the morning a neck will be raw, the back of legs will be bloody, it is so painful. Not to diminish the value of doctors but they’ve been less that helpful in this department. “Use this lotion” “Bathe them less” “Put this cream on them before bed” yet none of its working.
This poor guy has it the worst.
His skin feels like sandpaper and he constantly scratches. No amount of lotion/cream seems to be helping. In fact his skin is so dry he still has cradle cap from his newborn days. His hair does a great job of covering it up but it’s still there.
So I ask, What am I missing? Is there a “magic” lotion/cream that we haven’t tried. (hydrocortisone was the most highly recommended/suggested that we’ve used) Even when we took our oldest to the dermatologist they told us to use over the counter stuff. It’s bad enough and gone on long enough that I start to question whether a change of diet might help some. Anyone else have any experience with this??
Hi Kara. I totally know where you're coming from 🙁
My oldest daughter (age 4) has bad eczema and it has brought her (and me) to tears on many occasions. Everyone has advice and I've tried it all. The amount of money I've spent on doctors, specialists, allergist, homeopaths would be huge, not to mention all the creams and lotions. The best my daughter's skin has ever been was when she bathed every night with a little 'oilatum plus' in the water and then had cetomacrogal cream (sp?) all over as a moisturiser once she got out. The combination of the two was amazing. After going to an allergist, we're now waiting until she turns 5 so she can have desensitization therapy (testing shows that her eczema is aggravated by dustimites). From what I understand they inject her with a tiny amount every week, then month and over about 18 months the effects of exposure to dustmites will totally reduce. Fingers crossed on that one. The other thing I swear by is hot washing her clothes and bedsheets. Hydrocortisone is so harsh that when we use that it takes the colour out of her skin (she's olive skinned) so she's left with white patches. That can't be a good thing! As for a change in diet, we've tried that and didn't have any luck in finding out what makes her skin react badly.
All the best. I hope you get some responses that help your little ones. Skin conditions may not be life threatening, but I really feel they are significant when they are painful and neverending 🙁
Oh, and a prayer about it everynight is always a part of our household too!
I'm a innocent stranger and reader of your blog. I usually don't comment but am always willing to help another mom out. My kids have all suffered from this. Dr. Neal Jain is a life saver. He is an allergist (San Tan Allergy I believe.) His office is off of Higley and Baseline. He is amazing. I referred my friend to him whose baby had exzema extremely bad. The first thing she had to do was bathe her baby in a bath with a small amount of bleach in it. Kind of crazy but it cleared out the infection that he had in his sores and she noticed a huge difference after a couple of days. After that it was management and yes he did have some food allergies. It has completely cleared up now. Dr. Jane is very proactive and you won't leave without getting some answers. Sorry if this sounds like an infomercial but it is always hard to find GOOD Dr.'s.
Where did you get your daughter's necklace? (The "H" one?) I would love to get one for my daughter for Christmas.
Hi Kara, I feel for you. Our daughter suffers with eczema too, and is allergic to most creams. We found that emu oil from the health food store worked wonders. It's not super cheap, but it really worked well for her, and continues to work well. Good Luck!!
For cradle cap we have used olive oil and it works very well. For the skin we use a 50/50 mix of cetaphil and cortisone cream. That is the best solution we have found after a life of trying everything. Hope this helps.
I'm also a silent reader and stranger to your blog (found it through a friend of a friend of a friend…). My children both had mild eczema as babies, and now I've developed a fairly bad case of it on my hands! What our pediatrician and my dermatologist recommended that seems to help is to "soak and seal" — after bathing (or keeping the affected areas under water for 10-20 min.), apply aquafor to the wet skin. You can pat the area dry with a towel afterwards. This seals in the moisture and helps prevent dryness. For my 1-year-old and myself, we needed a stronger steroid cream to clear up the eczema (after trying over-the-counter hydrocortisone), but after 1-2 weeks of using that, the soak-and-seal method has kept the eczema at bay. Good luck! Painfully dry skin runs on my mom's side of the family, and it can be so uncomfortable and frustrating to not be able to find help.
Hi, I am so sorry this is a struggle for you and your family. It's not fun. My son had very severe skin problems that started when he was 4 months old. The eczema, itching, bleeding is all to familiar for us. We went to so many doctors, dermatologists and allergists but no one seemed to be able to help him. After 18 months of this I finally found a doctor that helped us. For us it was a combination of a diet change and a lotion from Melaleuca called Renew. It is wonderful stuff. I didn't really think that just a lotion would work, especailly since we had tried all the heavy duty creams, lotions, steroid ointments etc and none of them worked. But it really did work. Because it is just a lotion we all use it now and we love it. I hope that you find something soon and I hope this helps. Good luck
Oh how I relate to this. I have suffered from Eczema my whole life. Apparently this is a childhood condition that you should grow out of. I am in the lucky 2% of the population that never do. My kids inherited this fantastic gene as well. The good news is that I think it builds character.
I have tried all of the above responses and about a billion more. Bottom line is that there are so many things that trigger it and so a lot of differnt things will work. For me, something will work for awhile and then flair up again and I will have to try something else. The only thing that has made a big difference in the long terms is getting rid of anything with fragrance. Washing clothes in fragrance free detergent, using fragrance free soap, lotion, shampoo, etc. and then moisturizing big time. Good luck!
Also a stranger and I don't usually comment, but my oldest daughter suffered with the same thing from the time she was a baby. She would scratch until there was blood running down her legs and was so itchy she couldn't sleep. We tried all the creams, doctors etc. After some traditional allergy testing as well as testing for food intolerances, it turns out she has allergies and intolerances to several grains, fats, dyes, and preservatives. The massive change in diet has been really difficult, but after two years her skin looks absolutely beautiful and we've seen a huge improvement in her behavior and sleep. We avoid all fragranced products as well. The journey can be so frustrating, watching your child suffer and feeling like you can't find help. I know every situation is different and wish you the best with your littles! Our alternative testing was by signet diagnostics for the LEAP diet, if you can find a doctor who will order it. It is expensive, but it's been so worth it for us.
I have a girlfriend who sells the best lotions which I have actually seen it clear up those problems. skinnami.com. She has dealt with the same skin problems and has invented these wonderful products. (And she is having a great sale). I hope you will look her up.
I have problems sometimes and most recently started using CeraVe cream. It has worked well for me. Aquaphor for Whitney. And I've even tried coconut oil. Good luck!
My 2 year old has excema…cortisone did nothing. Doctor just gave us an rx for "desonide" cream and the rashes all disappeared within a day…like a miracle!