Eczema: It's an Itchy Situation for Your Twins

Eczema: It’s an Itchy Situation for Your Twins

Last updated on July 12th, 2024 at 01:25 pm

As a teenager, I was diagnosed with eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea but never thought I would have a baby develop eczema so early in life. Eczema is an itchy rash that flares up from time to time, but mostly in the fall and winter months for our family. Most doctors give you a standard explanation, then will either send you home to try home remedies or a topical cream to treat the rash. But is there more you can do or should do? While I am not a doctor, this is a condition that generations of my family (grandmother, mother, me, and now my son) have dealt with through the years.

First we need to explore what eczema is. It is a dermatitis which has no known cause but most of the time can be triggered by the body’s immune system being overly reactive. Your child has a high chance of having it if there is a family history of dermatitis, hay fever, and asthma. My poor kids were destined to have it. You should take the child to the doctor to confirm you are in fact dealing with eczema so they can rule out other reasons your child has a rash such as roseola, bug bites, yeast infection, etc.

Once we had a firm diagnosis we decided to try home remedies before steroid creams or prescription cortisone creams. First we trimmed our son’s fingernails to prevent him from scratching too much. This is very important, especially with small children who are crawling; they can scratch dirt collected under their nails across the rash and cause sores which may scar. Try to keep their nails cut and hands as clean as possible, which is hard because they want and need to explore everything. Second, I coated the rash in Aveeno Baby Eczema lotion. Lastly, and most importantly, we started watching everything that he came into contact with to see if we could find his triggers.

Common triggers are foods, cleaning supplies (especially laundry soap), daily hygiene products, and pollen. My son reacted to baby powder, apples, his baby soap (which I also reacted to), and black clothing. So we limited his fruit intake, switched from baby powder to corn starch, and we did not put him in black clothes. These were just the first few things that effected his eczema and we tried reintroducing these “allergens” later on to see if his immune system had gotten stronger. While he can wear black now and loves eating apples, we still have to limit them.

While doing laundry, try a mild soap like Dreft or Purex and if your washer has the function, use the “extra rinse” cycle. Remember your little one could be reacting to your perfume, makeup, or body wash as well; it sounds crazy but my husband’s facial hair can cause a rash sometimes on the kids.

Lastly, the triggers are sometimes more environmental, like stress, heat, or humidity. You may try adding a cool mist humidifier in the room, adjusting the temperature so your child is not waking up soaked in sweat (like my two little babies who were little heaters while they slept), and maintaining your own stress in the situation. Children are great at reacting to our stress.

So try to make a list of what your child is eating or coming in contact with to see if you can locate triggers. Sometimes this means limiting variety for a week to try one food at a time, and trying a humidifier for a week.

For us, we never went back to the baby powder or soap, but we tried a few products to alleviate the rash. Our pediatrician recommended Dial soap for the rash on his bottom which helped and I used Head and Shoulders shampoo on his arms and legs. I have used Head and Shoulders as my own body wash for years with a lot of success in reducing flair ups. Just beware of the one with Eucalyptus — it will give you quite a chill.

Aveeno makes a line of Baby Eczema products that work well too, especially the oatmeal products. You will need to try the products for about a week before you will see a huge change in the rash and there are many over the counter creams and lotions to try. The ones that work on me may not work for you, so you have to do it by trial and error until you find the right one. Even then you may find yourself having to mix over the counter cortisone into another lotion or cream to get a faster relief.

So you have tried the Neosporin treatment, Eucerin lotions and creams, all the Aveeno products, straight oatmeal baths — and your little one is still miserable. Time to head back to the doctor once you have exhausted all the home remedies. The doctor can prescribe a steroid, cortisone creams, or oral antihistamine, depending on the case. Talk to your doctor about your best treatment option and how they recommend applying the cream. Usually the cream can only be used for a certain amount of time before needing to stop.

The best treatment is identifying triggers and being outside. The sunlight helps clear up the rashes, but don’t forget to put sunblock on first. The best news is most children outgrow their eczema by the time they are ten years old. Check out the National Eczema Association website along with WebMd for more information on eczema in kids, food triggers and other treatment options.

Eczema Resources

Carolyn Christensen is a working mom of toddler twins and dedicated wife of 12 years. After serving eight years in the Army Reserve she became the office manager to a small construction firm where she is blessed to work with her husband and bring her twins each day. She loves writing, cooking, organizing, building things, supporting other MoMs through social media and most of all being frugal. She hopes to continue to write and one day publish a book. Find more recipes at: Blessings Multiplied Day to Day.