keyhole kate Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Hi Everyone My baby grandaughter has terrible eczema so far my Dil has tried all the creams prescribed by the GP and even the Consultant Dermotologist with no success, she scratches her poor little skin until it is red raw and weeping even though she has mitts and socks covering her hands and understandably she sleeps poorly as does my poor Dil as she has to get up out of bed to her throughout the night can anyone offer some suggestions of herbal or homeapathic creams or lotions worth trying, having had baby with me for two weekends just to give Dil a break I can understand just how tough it is for her especially as Ds is currently deployed in Afghan and so she is coping alone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy chick Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Poor thing I can totally sympathise. My little boy had it pretty bad at one stage and sleeping was a nightmare for all of us. It makes everything so hard. I tried lots of different things and eventually insisted on being sent to a specialist which sorted things quickly. Turns out a lot of the things the gp suggested where making it worst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkshire Pudding Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I've been through similar and I do sympathise, poor little mite (and her poor tired Mum). In our case it turned out DS was allergic to a common ingredient in most creams and lotions, alpha-cetyl alcohol. It is in most moisturisers including eczema creams and in the hydrocortisone types too. Everything else he had been given was making things worse - once my clever GP realised that, and prescribed a moisturiser without this ingredient, it became manageable. We were given Diprobase Ointment which is basically purified paraffin grease. It made DS very slippery but it really helped. I was told that quite a few babies react to this ingredient. Another very gentle soothing ingredient was oatmeal, in his bath (in an old popsock so he didnt come out covered in porridge) before the grease went on at bedtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 You could try stuffing a pop sock with porridge oats and soaking it in her bath water. The oats will produce a 'milk' which is very soothing to the skin. Squeeze the oat bag to release the 'milk' into the bath water. The oat bag can also be gently rubbed onto the skin (taking care not to irritate any sore patches) to apply the 'milk' directly to the skin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 My god daughter suffered terribly - she was on formula milk at the time and switched to a goats milk based formula; sorted the problem within a week. Maybe not relevant for your poor little poppet tho? Good luck...its a miserable enough condition for an adult let alone a wee one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 watch what her clothes are washed in as well, maybe your DIL could try just using bicarb in her machine for little ones clothes, and ditto the porridge oats in a cloth - I do that for me! It's lovely I don't know how old she is, she sounds quite young still so it's difficult really, sunshine (without sunburn) can be beneficial, as can bathing in mineral salts, but those will only treat the external symptoms which is fine if it's topical and down to an intolerance of something external. If it's something resulting from an inner imbalance there are different deocotions and teas that can help, but I wouldn't like to suggest those if she's really tiny. Chamomile oil can be really soothing, but don't put anything herbal etc on her skin if she's really tiny without checking with the dr.... Hope she grows out of it, my eldest had some behind her knees when she was little but luckily it disappeared by itself, I actually don't think anything the dr gave her helped really, just made us think we were doing something about it BeckyBoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaireG Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 My YS now 12, had terrible eczema as a baby. Most of his was caused by food intolerance's. Things that really helped were dressing him in cotton clothing as much as possible. I had some great, although pricey, sleepsuits with all the seams on the outside and built in mitts. Clothes washing wise i used to double rinse everything. The oats tip is a great one and he still uses oats now when he has an occasional flare up. We also found most of the creams we got from the Drs and hospital wern't effective but had good results with an aloe and bee propolis cream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 You could try stuffing a pop sock with porridge oats and soaking it in her bath water. The oats will produce a 'milk' which is very soothing to the skin. Squeeze the oat bag to release the 'milk' into the bath water. The oat bag can also be gently rubbed onto the skin (taking care not to irritate any sore patches) to apply the 'milk' directly to the skin. this is great I do it myself. Avoid aqueous cream like the plague, may creams used for dry skin have detergent in them!!!, a few drops of lavender oil in the bath helps, keep the skin well moistruised , 50/50 double base cetraban or aveeno are all OK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKMARCH Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Hi I use chickweed cream on my daughter but she doesn't have it severely. I use Simply Herbs and have found it works well even on broken skin I can only use mineral based sunscreens on her too as others make her skin flare up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonFamily Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Both my children suffered really badly from eczema and still have sore bits..I found Earth Friendly Baby daily care cream worked wonders....porridge baths good....I cut out all chemicals from bath\shampoo washing etc. I still take both my children to a homeopath as the treatment works for the whole child and not a specific problem....but the homeopath is great , and my daughter especially has a whole range of allergies controlled by the taking of a tablet every 6 months Soap nuts were a good alternative to washing powder ...they do not smell so nice but work OK and no chemicals they also get the washing machine really clean !!!! To stop her scratching as a baby I used to buy big baby grows and sew the hands up....so she used to scratch with her toes !!! Its heart breaking to watch...but keeping her cool helped a lot .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Not really homeopathic, but excellent stuff for any skin conditions. Are you ready for this?....................... Udder cream. As in what you apply to cows udders. It's wonderful stuff. I even used it on my face as a teenager. Other than that Aloe vera gel, freshly squeezed from the leaf of a plant. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 watch what her clothes are washed in as well, maybe your DIL could try just using bicarb in her machine for little ones clothes, and ditto the porridge oats in a cloth - I do that for me! It's lovely I don't know how old she is, she sounds quite young still so it's difficult really, sunshine (without sunburn) can be beneficial, as can bathing in mineral salts, but those will only treat the external symptoms which is fine if it's topical and down to an intolerance of something external. If it's something resulting from an inner imbalance there are different deocotions and teas that can help, but I wouldn't like to suggest those if she's really tiny. Chamomile oil can be really soothing, but don't put anything herbal etc on her skin if she's really tiny without checking with the dr....Hope she grows out of it, my eldest had some behind her knees when she was little but luckily it disappeared by itself, I actually don't think anything the dr gave her helped really, just made us think we were doing something about it BeckyBoo Thanks everyone baby is 8 months old please keep any suggestions coming I will pass all info on to Dil and buy some of the suggested creams etc for her to try. She does not use bio soap powder and is careful with chemicals, little one wears babygros with mitts the little monkey still gets fingers or thumb out to scratch so Dil has to put socks over the mitts. I have suggested once she is able to to try soya or goats milk although I am convinced it is due to external influences Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 cool, but it's not just non bio washing powder ALL washing powder has irritants in. If she buys up a bulk load of bicarb and uses JUST that in her wash, really makes a difference. Hope she gets better soon B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyhole kate Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Thanks BeckyBoo I will pass the bicarbonate tip on I must admit I didn't know it could clean clothes I use it to freshen DD shoes which pong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilda-and-evadne Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Another vote for goat's milk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
