Really bad eczema, what to use?

Steroid cream to heal, you need a prescription. And aquaphor 3 times per day to maintain. Wash as little as possible with aquaphor unscented wash and apply aquaphor within 3 minutes of taking baby out of water to keep moisture in.

^^ yes aquaphor is amazing but u need to heal it first so use a steroid and try to use unscented shampoo and same with body wash (no soap is best) i also used coconut oil for my baby or all natural shea butter

My little one is the same - we're currently testing different moisturisers to see what they're not sensitive too as some have so far made it worse. I would recommend the La Roche-Posay baby products. They won't fix the eczema but they're very gentle and the shampoo is quite moisturising. Was recommended to me by a friend who's a Pharmacist x

Steroids for bad eczema. With my first baby we were first given mild steroids (hydrocortisone), then moderate steroids (Eumovate), then potent steroids (Elocon). Only the Elocon was strong enough to tackle it! Please be conscious that bad eczema with open / seeping skin is a risk factor for allergies in a baby that young, so be careful not to get any food on the baby’s skin, so washing your hands before applying moisturiser / steroids and don’t use any products on the skin that have food stuff in them (eg Aveeno is oat-based). And moisturise with every nappy change, eg 6-8 times a day! I use la roche posay lipikar baume which seems to work well on some babies - though not all! Beware some creams (eg the LRP lipikar baume) will sting when the eczema is raw and open, so you might want to use something else right now. Eg LRP cicoplast.

@Philippa did elocon eliminate it? I use hydrocortisone that mostly clears it but not 100%. But every time I stop (I have been told to do one week’s break after 2 weeks) it comes back…

My eldest had it quite bad and no doctor prescribed cream helped. Diprobase was the best for him but now my other lo has it and his skiin reacts better to child’s farm moisturiser. It’s a pain but loads of trial and error, hope something helps soon it’s really not nice xx

@Elsa I used hydrocortisone at the beginning and did not clear it. It helped but did not clear. The prescribed steroid ointment does clear it within a day or two. So you are not using it long term and then we just maintain with aquaphor.

@Andrea thank you. So you only used the prescribed one once?

Whenever he starts scratching or having a flare up I usually have to apply the prescribed one 4 times which is two days. It clears it really quickly.

@Andrea thanks so much xx

@Elsa yes Elocon is pretty strong and worked wonders! In your case, I’d try weaning off a bit slower. You want to use the steroid daily for a good few days after the eczema appears to have gone - to ensure it’s reached the lower layers of skin. Then I would next go to a week of every other day, then the following week use it on weekend days only. See if that works, if not, then maybe you want to step up to Eumovate. I’d still do the slower weaning off protocol though, whatever steroid you’re using. Over the longer term, you’ll get a feel of what gets the eczema under control!

Has anyone used sudocrem? My son has mild eczema but it’s getting worse

@Philippa thank you so much! One GP had said to reduce slowly but others said you don’t need to as it’s not strong enough to require it… Some also said we need to stop after 2 weeks to give it a week’s break. Do you think I should keep going if it hasn’t healed by then? What were you told? So confusing, especially when medical professionals state different things… Is your little one ok now then or do you need to keep applying elocon from time to time?

@Elsa hydrocortisone isn’t that strong so I wouldn’t worry about using it beyond two weeks and not giving a week’s break straight away. But - if after two weeks the eczema isn’t fully cleared, it might be you need a stronger steroid anyways. It might feel a bad thing to go up to a stronger steroid, but if you can zap the eczema and nip a flare in the bud, you’ll probably need less over time as the skin will heal quicker! Do you use the correct quantity when applying? You can Google how much steroid to use. My daughter (now 2.5 years) needed Elocon quite frequently from about 6 months of age until 15 months. We probably used it 4 or 5 out of 7 days a week on average over that time. Then, it just started getting better! Now we rarely use steroids and I find a few days of Eumovate, then every other day for a few more days is enough to control it. Last thing - if it’s facial eczema, I don’t use Elocon, as Eumovate is normally the max strength they recommend.

@Philippa thank you. So helpful. 🥰🙏🏻🙏🏻

@Elsa you’re welcome, I know how horrid it can be to see such dry and sore skin on a baby. I wasn’t keen on using so much steroid but always thought the only thing worse than using them is not using them! One dr told us eczema is like a fire and you need to go heavy on it to get it under control. Once under control you can withdraw the steroid use. Good luck 😊