Anything to help her ripping at her skin please :(

[punkbaby]

DD3 has had another really bad outbreak so much so now shes rubbing her knees, tops of her feet and her elbows on the carpet to get relief, its horrible shes got these huge dry patches from this hot weather and now naturally the skin just pulls away and shes got these horrible sores now

I bathed her in pintarsol to ease things and it worked for about an hour but everytime i turn my back shes rubbing against the carpet again. I used bepanthenem to stop any nasties but its not stopping the itch :( If her skin wasnt open wounds, like it is now, i am sure that i could use heaps but now its bleeding etc i have to be careful. At the moment i am tempted to just use some antispectic to ease the itch for her and deal with the flair up later, i know that i shouldnt but shes covered in sores now that are bleeding etc.

Anyone have any idea what i can use to stop the itch, i will deal with the consequences later, i tried doing the cold wraps but shes ripping them off during the day and she even pulled them off in her sleep last night so i am so lost to what to do now

[c38]

I don't have a child with eczema. But I work on a Paeds ward where we see heaps.
Cool wraps should be helping... maybe if it;s hot they are warming up and drying out too quick.. You dont have to actually wrap if its distressing...one of our dermotologists says clean cotton PJs one dry layer over a wet. If its hot and shes getting hot and itchy, maybe you could try this, using an all in one suit if possible that she can'tget her hands into..as the top layer. This way you could amost just take off the all in one, dip her clothes and all in the bath with bath oil in it (theres a great bath product with oil and an antiseptic in it if shes got lots of broken areas)...towel off the excess then put the dryer layer back on.
Heaps of emolsifying cream such as Dermease at least 3-4x day.

Otherwise you could also try Phenergan, espescially at night time, for few days until over the worst of it. we do that at work when they come in really sore and itchy.

:hugs:To you and her

Like I say. I have never had to I've with this 24/7 like you mums. But I hope this may help.
Others may have better ideas, based on experience.

[onemummmy]

is she old enough 4 antihistamines?they stop itching dont they? sorry she is going through this :(

[Ana Gram]

I'm going with Phenergan as well. It will give her some relief. If you give her that before bed and put the bandages on, she should be able to sleep and give the skin a chance to heal.

[onemummmy]

if she is under 2 it shouldnt be given as it can cause respiratory depression according 2what I just googled. can u ring ur doc or chemist & check?

[youngones]

Zyrtec is non sedating and my DD has had it twice a day, every single day since 4mths and she's still kicking along, perfectly fine. She started out on 1.5ml BD (bi daily), then went to 2ml BD at 8kg and then 2.5ml BD now at 10kg.

The so-called 'sedating' antihistamines should be used with caution and only under the guidance of a specialist off-label (meaning outside the age/weight/dosage restrictions). This includes phenergen. (We have used Dimetapp twice daily in addition to Zyrtec if she's had a cold or badly running nose and sneezing and at the label dose for her weight, regardless of her dose of Zyrtec - specialist said we could give her up to 10ml a day of Zyrtec at her age without causing harm and I'm inclined to believe him - he's not a quack).

Sorry, but I'd also be hopping into the topical hydrocortisone. There is nothing more distressing than a baby tearing at their skin. My beautiful and delicate DD currently has a few horrible scabs on her face after her last run-in with her fingernails.

IMHO, some steroids to get things under control (and we have used them daily ( as in, EVERY SINGLE DAY sometimes twice daily) for 11mths now, without hardly a day or two break, which is far better than letting a baby who doesn't understand what is going on scratch themselves silly - you don't need the stress and nor do they. Nor do they need to be scarred for life for something they don't understand and we are too afraid to treat.

Whatever you do, :hugs: to you. It is a hard road.

[Mahjong]

PB :hugs:

I asked my Mum what she used to do with my brother, who was exactly like your DD3. Poor lil one :(

She tried everything, then the Pead suggested wrapping her hands to stop her attacking the itch. Might look bad and she might get cranky, but it might just work until the flare up settles slightly.

[punkbaby]

Thanks everyone, we have been using the ecolin cream for about 2 years but shes ran out and the gp here wont give her any, she was prescribed it in melbourne so we are waiting for her pead to send a script down, seems to be taking its time unfortunately so when we get this i know we will be ok again.

I gave her phernagen last night but it didnt seem to help she woke up at midnite screaming her head off pulling wraps off etc so she had a pretty wrestless nights sleep with me. i ended up getting a big sheet of plastic to put on the carpet in the lounge so can cant use it to itch with, mind you she goes into the bedrooms but have been locking her out of them.

The nice chemist down here though gave me some dermaid creme he said it was pretty much ecolin but a very weak dose and to use it more often it does seem to stop any new spots getting worse but it wont knock these horrible big patches. she looks like shes fallen off a bike or ran into a truck a the moment, the only good thing is shes eased the scratching as she hates the site of blood but at night in her dreamy state she starts again and we are back where we started. Mind you last night i get up to her and shes on all fours in the bedroom rubbing them against the carpet again :(

Be rubbing in lots of creme though trying to ease it and soften it a little but at the moment she wont let me near her as he still wants to itch!!

thanks for your ideas though hope this heat holds about so i can try stop her scratching

[Pixie]

Neem Oil...is magic I use it on my DD when she had a rash it's main use is for eczema you can get it at health food shops, they told me it was smelly but it's not bad and it heals very fast.

[punkbaby]

TY pixie does it stop the itch or ease it do you know?

[threeofthem]

The poor thing I have really bad eczema aswell and I use polarimine to stop the itch (you dont have to use as much as others and it works) have you tried oatmeal baths mum used to put a handful in a stocking and tied it up and put it in a cool bath. I also slather myself in dermaveen moisturising cream.
The dermatoligist also told be the wet wraps they are a pain though.
I hope your dd gets some relief soon

[canberramomma]

The ol' oats in the bath trick is good. In combo with chickweed ointment and Zyrtec, it usually works for DS who has has shocking eczema since day dot!

[punkbaby]

The oats doesnt work for us unfortunately :) it worked for ds but it just made things worse for dd. i have managed to get her to actually saok in the bath with some qv oil anti flare oil, she stayed in there for about half an hour so her bad patches are nice and soft which is good, not allowed to wrap her yet though so she tells me but its better than nothing

[Pixie]

It stops the itching PB and heals any broken skin it's amazing look it up!

[canberramomma]

Poor baby!!! Hope she gets some real relief soon.:(

[Allegra]

When my partner has really extreme eczema his doctor has prescribed a tablet (some sort of steriod-cant remember the name ) which usually has instantaneous relief.
But the tablet can have some serious side effects and I dont know what age it can be prescribed at.

I hope you find some relief for your daughter soon.


name of medication - Prednisone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prednisone)

[Queen]

:hugs:No advice just some hugs for DD3:hugs::hugs:

[Phezza]

I have always suffered fairly badly from Eczema and Dermatitis. I am really hoping my little boy doesn't develop it, and I hope you are able to get a hold on your little one's Eczema soon!!

The things that have worked brilliantly for me over the years are:

- Eluphrat cream or ointment - Available from your GP, it is quite strong though!! Although I have had it mixed with sorbaline cream (when I had an outbreak on my face), and my friend has used the same mix with her son a few times. My GP had a 40/60 mix made up by the chemist.
- antihisomine tablets - as already said, I have used everything from perscribed antihistomines, to zyrtec etc. all work the same way, some will just depend on the severity of it. Perscribed antihistomines also helped me sleep when it was at its worst.
- Ice packs!! (as mantioned before) its Certainly the best thing i have used on hot nights when nothing else has been available. pop the ice pack on the bad parts for around 5 minutes and it usually stops it fairly quickly.
- Sunlight - I have found that a bit of vitamin D has done wonders. I often go sit under a shady tree and give my legs or arms a bit of an air out.

If you are able to cover the hands that is a bonus, I don't realise that I scratch through the night. It can get fairly bad at times (I woke up one morning with a broken nail, and gouges out of my leg!!). If you can minimise the ability to scratch or rub the affected areas, then the better it will be for your baby.

[youngones]

PB Kumfy Kids also make a range of lovely soft sleepsuits that go up to I think about a size 6 from basically newborn. You can get them with mittens that fold over the hands for moderate scratchers, or you can get them with enclosed mittens, so they can't pull them off and scratch. They aren't cheap (around $40 I think), but it might be worth trying one and see how it goes.

We use the Dermaid 1% soft cream every day and during really dry weather in winter, it was more like two or three times a day.

Its so hard. :hugs:

[punkbaby]

Thanks for the ideas and tips, we finally have our elocon back thankfully. Just wiating for it to actually work but her skins horrible still.

Those sleepsuits sound great youngones but shes three so she would rip them off, kinda kicking myself that i taught her how to dress herself now though! i put baby legs on her at night over the cold wraps and she still pulls them off and itches

[NannaM]

DD3 has had another really bad outbreak so much so now shes rubbing her knees, tops of her feet and her elbows on the carpet to get relief, its horrible shes got these huge dry patches from this hot weather and now naturally the skin just pulls away and shes got these horrible sores now

I bathed her in pintarsol to ease things and it worked for about an hour but everytime i turn my back shes rubbing against the carpet again. I used bepanthenem to stop any nasties but its not stopping the itch :( If her skin wasnt open wounds, like it is now, i am sure that i could use heaps but now its bleeding etc i have to be careful. At the moment i am tempted to just use some antispectic to ease the itch for her and deal with the flair up later, i know that i shouldnt but shes covered in sores now that are bleeding etc.

Anyone have any idea what i can use to stop the itch, i will deal with the consequences later, i tried doing the cold wraps but shes ripping them off during the day and she even pulled them off in her sleep last night so i am so lost to what to do now


Have you considered ""pure"" chemical free Emu Oil to gently rub on baby's skin. I have seen a remarkable healing with an adult with psoriasis and I have had excellent results with my own 70yr old skin with regards to dry and itchy patches getting instant relief. I am using Blue Gum products but there are excellent web sites selling a variety of products made from Emu Oil. I am also using Emu Oil soap. Maybe worth a look to see what they recommend. Some oil in the bathwater perhaps and just pat her dry.
Hope this is of use. It is distressing beyond words to see your child in such terrible distress and feel so helpless.
Regards

[secretsquirrel]

my son has bad eczema but not as bad as your dd, we use cortazone (sp?) cream when it's really bad and we cover him 3-4 times a day in hemp cream from the body shop. we have also been told not to bath him every day only every second day and DON"T let them soak in the bath we have been told that fresh water is bad for eczema salt water is the best so if you can get some bath salts try them we have also found that ex foliating once a week with dead sea scrub then putting the mineral cream on him clears up all the really rough patches and gives us a clean start to slather him in hemp cream again.(we have only just started with the ex foliating and mineral cream)

[~CupCakes~]

hi there my ds has it as well but he's 3 1/2 now and growing out of it!:thumbsup: it was so bad when he was around 10 months we got some gloves just cheap ones from coles just to help stop from scratching. although he found other things like the carpet and i felt like :hair: i also found swims at the beach hlped as it cooled him off the salt water was great for any open scratches and i just lathered him up in sorbolene afterwoulds! sorry its not much more help:hugs:

[punkbaby]

Thanks for everyones tips, we are in the process of seeing if its diet related now and starting with dairy. Seems to have eased but its getting cooler so it could be a combination of both.
Sorbelene flairs it up jjjmummy :(

I have been wrapping her like a mummy when i can even died the bandages pink lol so she would leave them on!!

[~CupCakes~]

try vegesorb its made entirley (sp) from vegetables and isnt like sorbolene. its vairly cheap you can get it at health food shops. worth a try !!!!!!!!! cause i know you feel like :hair: and bubs feels like :(

[trudie]

hi,
my 21 mth old suffers from severe eczema also. he crawls on his back to scratch it on the carpet. we use advantan(only avail through a gp or dermatologist) and aveeno which is avail at most chemists. There are different sorts available but we use the oatmeal ones. We also use oatmeal baths for him and they do seem to help. He is allergic to eggs and nuts and has just outgrown allergies to dairy, citrus and beef so good luck with it all. If you need anymore info just yell out.:)

[Frazzled]

PB - my DS has had a bad flare up this week too - I think it is because the weather has heated up again, but it had been cold in the morning so he was overdressed for day care. We have a prescrption cream - colestone (i think?) and it is excellent. I put it on at night and it is nearly gone by the next morning.

For DS, strawberries and stone fruits are a terrible allergen for him as well...

Good luck x

[Ana Gram]

Ruby has started flaring up this week too because the heater is on.

Great idea of dying the bandages pink!!

[bindiloo]

Just curious if any of you have tried homeopathy as it works at expelling the problem from the body whereas most creams are simply covering up the problem and pushing it back into the body so flare up keep occuring.

Just a thought:)

[Ana Gram]

Nah, not interested in homeopathy. DD's eczema is genetic and her triggers are things was can limit her exposure to easily enough.