Treating Baby Eczema

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Moisturizers: the key to a healthy skin.

Treating baby eczema may seem an impossible job to some parents with the regular flare-ups and periods of remission that come with this condition.

There is no known cure for this condition but there are several treatment options available that will help to control your child’s eczema.

treating baby eczema skin

Diagramatic cross section of skin showing the effects of eczema

Image by: Legger | Dreamstime.com

First step in treating baby eczema: avoid triggers and allergens.

Eczema can be made worse by many triggers in the environment like dust, pollen, mold or animal dander. Common triggers in baby's food are cow's milk, eggs, wheat, fish and dairy products.

By keeping a diary you can try to avoid triggers and allergens.

Treating baby eczema with emollients.

Emollients protect the baby’s skin from becoming too dry and help prevent eczema flare-ups. You can never use too much of emollients so you can apply them liberally to the affected skin. Emollients or moisturizers range from thin lotions, creams to thick ointments.

As a rule the thicker and higher in lipids emollients are the better and longer they work. Unfortunately they are a lot messier as well.

baby eczema cream Treating baby eczema with emollients.

What kind of emollient or moisturizer is best for you baby depends on the severity of the eczema.

Usually for mild baby eczema a lotion or cream will do the job. But for wet or weeping eczema you will get better results using a thicker ointment.

Worth recommending for babies suffering from very dry, sensitive skin are the following products for baby eczema that are free of Fragrance and Preservatives.

Eucerin Dry Skin Therapy Calming Creme

Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream

Eucerin Aquaphor Healing Ointment, 14 Oz

What is a good daily routine using emollients?

Bath the child with emollients added to the bath water.
Use moisturizing soap without perfume.
Pat the skin dry with a towel.
Apply emollient cream to the child’s skin.
Also apply moisturizing lotions or creams between bath or showers and before bed time.

Treating baby eczema with topical steroid creams.

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Baby skin eczema. What causes atopic dermatitis in children?

Baby Eczema Pictures. Photos of baby eczema skin rash.

Herbal Cures For Baby Eczema

Topical steroids are commonly used to treat rashes, eczema and psoriases.

With eczema steroid creams are mostly used to treat eczema flare-ups. They are to be used in a low dose for 3 to 7 days and if there is no improvement your doctor may prescribe a stronger steroid cream.

Topical steroids also come in lotions, ointments and creams and help reduce the inflammation of the skin.

Beware of long term use as it can lead to infections with fungus and bacteria but also to thinning of the skin.

How to apply steroid cream?

Rub no more than a finger tip unit to the inflamed area.
Softly massage the cream until completely absorbed.
Wash your hands afterwards.
Usually it is applied once a day sometimes twice.

If you use a topical steroid cream in combination with emollients apply the emollient first and wait about 15 minutes to absorb before applying the topical steroid.

Treating eczema with Topical Immunomodulators. (or topical calcineurin inhibitors)

This steroid free eczema cream works by suppressing certain cells (not the whole immune system) that are involved in causing inflammation.

Tacrolimus 1% or 0,03% ointment (Protopic)
Pimecrolimus 1% cream (Elidel)

Protopic and Elidel are usually prescribed if other eczema treatments have failed or if the child doesn’t responses adequately to treatment with topical steroids.
Protopic is often used for treating baby eczema areas like the face, eyelids, groin and upper chest.

Topical Immunomodulators are recommended for a short time use because long term safety effects are still being evaluated. They are also not to be used on children below 2 years of age or those with an immune deficiency.

Treating baby eczema with Phototherapy.

When other treatments have failed another option is ultra violet light or photo therapy.

How can photo therapy help?

UV radiation is known to suppress the immune system and to prevent an overactive response that causes skin inflammation.

As with too much sun exposure prolonged use of phototherapy increases the risk of skin cancer and premature aging. Of course you will have to discuss with your dermatologist if treating baby eczema with phototherapy is suitable for your child.

Take control in the battle against your child's eczema now!

Treating Baby Eczema with Wet wraps

Wet wrap therapy is a way to rehydrate and calm the dry and sensitive skin of children with atopic dermatitis. Various studies show that the majority of children benefit from treating baby eczema with wet wraps. About 74% of the children have reduced itching and sleep better.

Wet wrap therapy in a few simple steps.

Prepare a lukewarm bath with emollients.
After soaking in the bath, pat the skin partially dry. Never rub the skin the irritated the skin.
Moisturize and wrap the affected areas with wet bandages.
Lock in the moisture by covering the wet bandages with dry ones.
After removing the bandages re-apply moisturizer.

Do not use wet wraps on infected eczema!

Leave the bandages for a few hours or for as long as your child accepts them. Your child may want to remove the bandages so this therapy requires a lot of patience.

Treating Baby eczema with Anti itch creams.

Topical but also oral antihistamines may help if the itching is severe. They often help to break the cycle of scratching the eczema which makes the eczema worse.

Some older types of antihistamines like phenergan and atarax make the brain drowsy and are primarily used at bedtime because they can help a baby get to sleep.

Treating eczema with antibiotics.

Secundairy infections with bacteria like Staphylococcus Aureus can make the baby’s eczema much worse. Infected eczema can be treated with topical antibiotic ointments like Bactroban or Fucidin.

Dermol 500 Lotion is an antimicrobial emollient and moisturiser for the management of dry and pruritic (itchy) skin conditions, especially eczema and dermatitis, and for use as a soap substitute.

However if the infection is more severe and your child feels unwell or has a fever a course of oral antibiotics may be necessary to clear the infection.
All creams and ointments used during the infection may possibly be contaminated with bacteria. To prevent new infections they should be replaced with new supplies.