Toddler w/ moderate eczema

[CJinWA]

Both my boys seem to have developed very sensitive skin, DS1 being the worst of the two.

Currently I am using Dr. Bronner's baby bar soap every other day on them in the bath (although w/ summer and constant dirtiness as well as sunblock we will probably be doing nightly baths). I switched from using any kind of lotion (everything made him scream) to using only coconut oil on his skin (seemed to help for a while, now we are back to issues). They both are only sleeping in cottong at night since I noticed their fleece jammies were making them irritated more. I don't let them overheat. We use a liquid form of homemade laundry soap (dr bronners, washing soda, borax & vinegar as a softener). I'm at a loss as to what is causing the issues now.

The one thing I haven't tried yet is cutting out foods from his diet. I've had a number of people say to try cutting out wheat or dairy at this point (we are carb junkies and he loves cheese so this is going to be difficult if we try this). But his pedi also told me that allergy info just got tossed out the window since most kids don't accurately respond to allergy tests until age 3-4.

Ideas?

[CJinWA]

oh, and as far as diet is concerned, we eat virtually no processed foods. Any crackers, snacks, etc that we buy are natural & organic for the most part. I cook as much as possible from scratch.

[MomOfAnOnly]

Fragrance of any kind is a common irritant for eczema, so I would check for that in all your products. Burt's Bees makes a good tear free fragrance free shampoo & body wash I use on my DD every so often (only to wash off sunscreen if needed).

My DD is also allergic to coconut oil, when I tried that on her it make everything worse (that was my first clue she was allergic to it).

I know you said you make your own laundry detergent, but if you do ever buy detergent-- clothes brighteners will irritate eczema prone skin. My DD didn't react horribly to them, but the constant small spots she had completely cleared up with no treatment once I switched from a regular free & clear (All) to a natural free and clear without clothes brighteners in it (found it at Fresh &Easy).

I also do not shampoo her hair, unless like stated above I need to get sunscreen off (I put it on her part if she won't leave her hat on). Instead I CO wash- conditioner only wash. That way I'm not stripping the oils out of her scalp or her skin with the shampoo on a regular basis.

Lastly- can I ask what kind of eczema your boys have? Do they have patches here and there (and if so where?), or do they kind of have a light rash that covers a big area?

[CJinWA]

DS1 has a mixture of both. He has red patches behind his knees, and then a kind of roughness that when irritated turns a firery red all over his back and stomach...it looks like it hurts.

DS2 currently only has one patch by one knee and one on his back at the base of his neck that I think is from the "tagless" tags on his shirts whatever that stuff is...

I also wonder if it is somewhat of an environment thing...I say that because his nose has been constantly stuffy since the beginning of fall even though he isn't sick otherwise.

I don't know. I'm very careful w/ fragrances and everything like that.

[girlwonder]

I think that I would try to go gluten free, just to see if there is some link. I have heard that a lot of the autoimmune stuff can be related. There are lots of gluten free websites where you can find recipes that would help, and a lot of them are about kids food. It would be hard, but perhaps worth it for at least a couple of weeks, even if only to rule it out. Good luck.

[Windy]

R's rashes have always been dairy. Have you tried safflower oil instead? We had great results with that when R was super rashy as a baby.

[April78]

What kind of water do you have? For my boys our water played a huge part in making their skin worse. Now that they are older they have all grown out of it

[anonsouthernbell]

Didn't get to read all of the responses, but an elimination diet is the best way to test for food allergies/intolerance. We cut out dairy for DS as it caused him stomach pain, etc., but it wasn't until we cut out gluten that his eczema went away. It takes about 6 weeks for the gluten to completely get out of their system. DS's eczema went away about 2 weeks after we cut it out. Elisabeth Hasselback has a great book called The G-Free Diet that helped me a lot in the beginning when I was still learning the ropes.

[tmbg1022]

Hi, I just wanted to relate my experience. I haven't read all the posts so I don't know if someone else mentioned it, but my husband has sensitive skin and I figured out that when I use borax in the laundry he gets eczema patches in certain places (where fabric tends to have more constant contact). It seems to coincide with his seasonal allergies, I noticed. I was actually going to suggest trying a gluten free diet for him (that would have been a fun conversation) but eliminated Borax first. Even with bad seasonal allergies this spring he has not had his usual break out.

[CJinWA]

Hi, I just wanted to relate my experience. I haven't read all the posts so I don't know if someone else mentioned it, but my husband has sensitive skin and I figured out that when I use borax in the laundry he gets eczema patches in certain places (where fabric tends to have more constant contact). It seems to coincide with his seasonal allergies, I noticed. I was actually going to suggest trying a gluten free diet for him (that would have been a fun conversation) but eliminated Borax first. Even with bad seasonal allergies this spring he has not had his usual break out.

Thanks for responding! Sorry it took me so long to respond back. I kind of forgot about my query. I had thought of that before, but hadnt' tried it yet. I'd had sooooo many people tell me that the Homemade detergent was fantastic for sensitive skin that I thought it couldn't possibly be it.

do you make your own detergent? What is your formula if you don't mind my asking? I just wonder if removing the borax altogether would weaken my detergent (currently 1 cup Dr. Bronners, 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda in a gallon container). I also use vinegar as a softener/rinse agent.

[tmbg1022]

Thanks for responding! Sorry it took me so long to respond back. I kind of forgot about my query. I had thought of that before, but hadnt' tried it yet. I'd had sooooo many people tell me that the Homemade detergent was fantastic for sensitive skin that I thought it couldn't possibly be it.

do you make your own detergent? What is your formula if you don't mind my asking? I just wonder if removing the borax altogether would weaken my detergent (currently 1 cup Dr. Bronners, 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda in a gallon container). I also use vinegar as a softener/rinse agent.

Hi, now I haven't been paying attention. I ran across this again because now my daughter is experiencing some bits of eczema.

I use Planet brand detergent. I was adding Borax as a booster but now I just add baking soda instead. Not sure if that's the same as washing soda. I also use vinegar for a rinse. I use store bought because I'm not sure if a soap vs. detergent would matter for my husband's skin.

Right now with two people experiencing patchy skin (and I'm tired of putting Aquaphor on my DD almost every day to keep eczema away, there must be something better) I might just try treating it internally with fish oil or something similar. I have to do some research about dosing a 3 year old with it and also need to find a vegetarian equivalent for DH. I know sometimes with skin irritations treating it from the inside out can work. Maybe it will. I'll post it back here if I figure anything out.

[MissPrego]

When my DD was 2 she developed eczema and had really dry itchy patches. I tried every Aveeno product available and it didn't really help. I went to a natural food store and to ask about things I could use. They suggested 100% African Shea butter which cleared it up in weeks and she's 12 now and hasn't had it since then.http://www.amazon.com/African-Shea-B...0+pure+%26+raw

[abednegobobo]

Hello! I'm new to this blog and I stumbled on this topic. I just want to give my two cents because my daughter has been suffering from moderate ezcema since she was a baby (she is now 6). At first, it was extremely frustrating, that poor thing would be itching and scratching everywhere. My dermatologist recommended me to use Sebamed, and it solved all of our headaches! I was a little hesitant in the beginning because their baby whole line has a fragrance (which smells amazing, by the way); however, I did my research. Turns out Sebamed was originally developed for people with eczema. Our skin actually has a natural protective layer that is a little acidic (pH 5.5), the majority of products have a much higher pH, which strips away that layer, making your baby's skin vulnerable, allergens and germs get in and make the skin very irritated. Sebamed baby line is all pH 5.5, extremely mild, so that helped with Jasmin's skin a lot. I use the baby cream on her dry patches, body wash, and baby lotion on the rest of her body. don't know what we would do without this line! You should definitely try it out! Good luck!

P.S. here's a video that explains pH 5.5