How to cope!

[claireandlilly]

hi i have a 2 year old girl who has eczema and today and for the last couples of days she has itiched herself red row and everything i seem to do just does woark had no sleep , tryed aoll creams and dont know where to go next getting me down and she is really unhappy with it to .

[Jimbob]

Does your daughter see a Dermatologist? If not ask for a referral. My son actually sees an immunologist instead as he has multiple food allergies and asthma to and I have to say he is absolutely fantastic, better than any dermatologist we have seen. It could be worth asking which would be better in your daughters case.

Kelly

[AnnaB]

Hi
We see a specialist for the allergies who has great understanding of eczema but we also see a dermatologist. They work closely together and offer great support as a team who care.
If at anypoint whatever your doing just isn't working and esp if it seems to be making things worse then go straight back to your GP.

Anna

[Pencoll]

i tried plain old vaseline, on the red raw patches manuka honey applied direct and cotton bandage over the top, next morning red patch gone

[MooMoo]

My son's eczema is quite bad at the moment and has been for months now. Sleep is not happening for any of us and nothing we try seems to be working. To add to the problem I am due my second baby in eight weeks and I'm so worried about how I'm going to cope with him and a newborn baby. Although my husband is very hands on, its me that my son reaches to at night, and only me that can calm him down when he gets upset with the itching, soreness, and tiredness. Just wondering if anyone else has been through this and would have any tips for how to cope. We are so desperate, we are living in a nightmare and are barely coping as it is, cannot even imagine how it will be with a newborn in the mix!!

[yorkie2703]

Hi MooMoo
My household is exactly the same. Regardless of my daughters eczema my son also always cling to me when poorly. I think that’s just one of the joys of being a mother. Like your husband mine too is very hands on. I think sometimes he feel a little left out as it’s me who calms them down etc

Down side is I also do the nighttimes problems too, as my husband doesn’t seem to hear them at night typical. This is very difficult with my daughter’s eczema as she is at her worst at night and then to get to work and function the next day is a nightmare.

Since my daughter’s tests have come back with allergies -Grass/Tree Pollen, Peanuts, Wheat and Soya things have improved. I can’t do very much about the pollen apart from give her antihistamine but the food side I don’t give her anything that contains Soya, wheat or peanut. Can’t believe how many products have wheat and soya in them. There is a few other foods that I have noticed that also cause a reaction like ketchup. So it's still a learning curb.

I try not to worry about the house as much. Before I found out she had allergies I was hovering every day and cleaning like mad thinking it was something in the house.

Sometimes I get so exhausted that I will put the kids to bed at 7.30pm then off to bed I go. So at least I get some rest time it might only last till she wakes with her eczema but it’s better than nothing.

Have you had much help from your GP? Have you been referred to a specialist? If not push to see a specialist.
When I finally got referred I was asked why I hadn’t seen them sooner arrhh I did try but GP was reluctant to refer her.

Chin up -
Fionax

[Coldbolt]

Hello to the both of you,

Because it seems that you both don't get alot of sleep and sometimes the night is the worst part, maybe I could help with address this and helping out a tad so I'll throw what I would do.

The best way to make sure a child goes to sleep is really to get them in a bath. Make sure it's nice and warm as this will make your child nice and sleepy. Don't be using any Commerical Soaps or Fragrances and even bubble baths. It can aggravate Eczema and start flare ups. Currently I am using Aalgo Bath Mixture but it's Seaweed so your child might not like the smell so you could go for Olive Oil also.

Right afterwards, make sure you dry the baby lightly, patting the skin and afterwards, get the Emollients on your baby. If they have any open skin or cracked, you might want to go for E45 Cream which is very soft. It can hurt to add Eczema on live open skin so be careful. If they don't have any live open skin, you can go for Ointments which is a little more greasy but takes alot longer to absorb during the night. Some babies don't like the feeling of greasy skin but if their so tired, you might be able to get away with it.

Now this is actually from my Child hood about 10 years ago where my mum actually gave me COD Liver Oil. I would take it 2x2 times (500mg capsules) and also actually pierce the COD Liver oil Capsule with a pin and genitally put it on the dry areas. This does not sting what so ever and does Moisturize slightly also and it seems to do wonders. I still have Eczema but never on my hands again and it's only 2 weeks ago i've started this again where Eczema is on other areas and i'm now taking control.

Hope this helps, if you need more help, give me a PM or update this post

[Jimbob]

For my son nice warm baths make him worse, his baths have to be on the cool side. We also don't find that a bath helps with sleep either. I think this just shows that what works for one does not work for another.

Sleep deprivation makes it so much harder to deal with this horrible condition. It is so hard when your child can't sleep due to the extreme itch and pain that it causes. My son is nearly 7 and we still take things day by day.

Kelly

[Coldbolt]

Hello,

Eczema is a trial and run basis. It will never be the same for one baby, it's most of the time different but alot of the times, warm baths are a great solution. You could try and do cool baths and add in oils which are still very relaxing for them but if it's not, then other ways are literally a drive a night, some babies seem to get sleepy in cars like I did in the past or just a lovely massge and such. In all of these basis, before the babies go to sleep, you need to have on them alot of Emollients on them. I can't stress that enough.

Hope this helps.

http://www.stopeczema.info

[AnnaB]

Hi
Warms baths are a no go for both of my kids. Oils also add fire to their skin. We use moisturiser as their soap and bath additive so one cream does all. Sometimes we use cream in the day and ointments at night that way skin gets the best moisturising but the kids feel comfortable in the day.