so my baby has developed this rough, scaly sort of patch on his left cheek. its reddish but not bright red. i think it might be a bit itchy for him because i did notice a small scratch mark on it yesterday although i haven’t seen him scratching it. the patch has grown in size since it appeared, and now there is a small one on his chest, one near his temple and its starting to appear near his chin too! i’m completely alarmed. has anyone else’s baby experienced this? what helped? i am taking him to his paed today but any advice would be greatly appreciated from you mums and dads too!
oh, and i’m guessing its eczema from what i’m reading up online but i’m not sure…
Yes, my daughter had it around the same age or maybe even a bit younger. She was given 1% hydrocortisone cream to use sparingly and Cetaphil Cream (the one in a jar not the lotion) to use. She's symptom free now. Just watch for triggers as baby grows older (ceratin laundry detergents for eg.). She's out of the special allergen free detergents now but I just don't put too much detergent in laundry now. Don't worry, it should go away with treatment IA. There are also over the counter baby excema creams available but they didn't do much for her.
I noticed the same thing in my son but it wasn't eczema...turns out his baths were too long so it was drying out his skin. He loved the water so I let him play for longer then I should. My doc recommended shorter baths....warm not hot water, use soap only every other day......I noticed a change right away.
Also if you're using baby oil for massages try switching to olive oil....for some babies baby oil hinders the development of their natural body oils making their skin dry.
My daughter had some slight eczema around the time she was 8-10 months old (that was last winters).I used 1% hydrocortisone mixed with Aquaphor sometimes on it and at other times just some aquaphor or her baby lotion.We were not able to exactly figure out any triggers or causative agents.Hers was a lil spot on her face and nape of her neck.She outgrew of it around the time she was 14 months,I think.
I know you are seeing the doctor today.It can be eczema or even just a dry patch because of changing weathers and if you have the heat already running at the house.
It might be eczema. My son had it on and off (he does not have it now).
I switched 100% to Aveeno products. They have specific products for baby eczema. He still goes into the water several times a day, but we make sure to keep him moisturized and only wash him with Aveeno baby soap.
^ hm, pets is something i hadn't considered, but why would it suddenly flare up? does that happen with allergies developing all of a sudden or are kids born with allergies and thats it?
thank you everyone else for your advice! i'm pretty sure it is eczema at this point... i notice when i moisturise his cheeks and those bits extra, the eczema seems to fade and the skin softens again.
ramsha, he loves his baths too and i do keep the water more on the hot side than warm... maybe that has to change too.
what is aquaphor?
mehnaz, i'm using johnson & johnson baby stuff right now. i'll try switching to aveeno and see if that makes a difference.
what sensitive skin laundry detergent are you guys using? would something like woollite be ok?
Aquaphor is like Vaseline.You can even use plain Vaseline.
As I mentioned my daughter all of a sudden developed it.We don't have pets and were not able to find anything new that might have triggered it.So I guess it can start suddenly.I Am assuming you have pets,so that might be a reason.
I have been using Johnson's baby stuff for her,and it has been fine.Hope your baby feels better,iA.
SGC, Johnson and Johnson is quite bad for babies' skin. My doctor even told me that. Switch him to Aveeno and get their baby lotions as well and you will see a difference.
my youngest one had the same rash/scratch on her cheek around 2-3 months of age. I tried so many different products, including aveeno and mild cortisone by my doctor’s suggestion, but nothing worked, It was so frustrating for us to watch her scratch her all the time, eventually she grew out of it, apparently most babies do, but what made it much better was kiehl’s moisturizer, I had been using kiehl’s for my oldest one from before i.e foam/creams, so now we use nothing but kiehl’s and thankfully her eczema has not come back!
p.s: J&J products should be taken off the shelves for all those crazy ingredients
SGC - as someone who has had excema since infancy for three decades, I can say will certainty that household pets are not helping. I'm not sure whether it's the allergies or the hairs they shed or what, but even to this day, whenever I'm having a flare up I stay away from my friends homes as they have cats. Definitely keep baths on the cooler side, as well as the bedroom. Might be worth investing in an air purifier but only if the excema is ongoing which it hopefully won't be.
Just thinking back to whatever else my mum did for me.....washing all my soft toys and bedroom soft furnishings on a very hot cycle once a month. Oh and scratch mitts at night. When my excema was particularly bad I used to wear loose dresses made from muslin or lightweight cotton.
Dreft laundry detergent is good. We were actually told to stay away from vaseline. Don’t denounce the cats right away. Check with the doc. first. Allergies can develop anytime. When we had a dog, my son wasn’t allergic to anything but later on around 2 and half years of age , turns out he is allergic to pets too. Then later I have seen some excema pathces on his hgand on and off, generally around winter time. My daughter (the one who got excema around 2 -3 months of age) never was around any pets. Keep the skin moist with lotions. We never stopped usuing Johson’s baby wash but if that is a trigger then Dove is supposed to be best oreven Aveeno as othres have suggested.
Thanks ladies! I bought Kiehl's baby lotion and bath stuff for him so I'll try that and see how it works. I'll also keep his baths more warm and less hot, and hopefully it'll clear up.
Are you nursing? My sister found that certain foods in her diet caused her son's eczema to flare up as well. Namely citrus and tomatoes - she's now eliminated those foods.
She also noted despite her washing her son's clothes in, I think Dreft detergent, she had to wash the entire family's clothes in the same detergent because when he rubs up against them, his eczema flares up.
my son had it took him to the docs and the doctor prescribed him medication for fungus which made it extremely worse took him back the next day to my sons actual physician she told me i was given the wrong meds she gave me a prescription i put it on his cheeks like twice and the exzema NEVER came back..!
oyyyy veyyyy… its spreading! i’m seeing patches forming on his arm and more areas on his chest. his doctor recommended vitamin e oil which is completely ridiculous because its so thick and gloopy and he’s touching his face, he’d be leaving it on everything, and then he’s also sucking on his fingers so i don’t even know how he wouldn’t be sucking down the vitamin e. the lady at the pharmacy recommended Avene’s skin care line and this product in particular- http://www.aveneusa.com/cold-cream-body-lotion/. so far, the lotion has worked well in that while the patches haven’t disappeared, there was dead, grey skin on his ear and his chest patch after one use. so thats good, right? the old skin is going away?
it also minimised the redness of the patches on his face.
i guess i’m just panicking because i don’t know how to stop the patches from forming and i hate to see him itchy and uncomfortable
