Everything you need to know about managing your child’s eczema
May 13th – 19th is Eczema Awareness Week, and to coincide with this amazing initiative, we wanted to provide some useful information about managing your child’s eczema, including which products are the best to use when treating children with eczema. Eczema is actually very common amongst Australians, with the Eczema Association of Australia revealing that one in three are affected by this skin condition during some period in their lives.
We asked Cheryl Talent, President of the Eczema Association of Australasia (who personally suffers from eczema), to answer our questions and give us more insight on the best way to manage your child’s eczema.
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What causes eczema?
According to Cheryl, “most people with eczema have a genetic predisposition which means a family history of eczema, asthma or hay fever.” She explained that with children, if one parent has eczema they have a 50% chance of developing it. If both parents have it, children can have an 80% chance of developing eczema. “However, you can also come into contact with something you react to and develop eczema as an allergic reaction.,” she says. “It is hopeful that ongoing research will eventually give an exact cause as to why people develop this debilitating skin condition.” If you suffer from eczema, you may notice that you’re more sensitive to other allergens such as food and the environment.
What is the difference between child and adult eczema?
“Often babies develop eczema when the inbuilt maternal protection they are born with wears off and, coincidentally, they start teething which often makes saliva and urine quite acidic and can burn their sensitive skin." explains Cheryl. Combine this with the onset of crawling and walking, and they will encounter all sorts of allergens that can cause reactions. With adult eczema, Cheryl says that it’s more triggered by lifestyle and environment factors. Stress can be a trigger for eczema and can exacerbate a flare up.
What is the best way to manage your child’s eczema?
Cheryl explains that there is not one overall treatment for all sufferers of eczema, however, good management is key. “This includes using topical treatments such as steroid creams to reduce inflammation and keeping the skin barrier hydrated with a good quality moisturiser. Knowing your triggers and working to avoid them can also be helpful.” she says.
What skincare products do you recommend for child eczema?
“Changing to daily use of soap-free products including those for washing hair, body and clothes, as well as frequent application of moisturiser to rehydrate skin will hopefully get a handle on the itching.” advises Cheryl. Stick to hypoallergenic products that are specifically designed for sensitive skin.
She emphasises that the upcoming winter season is a particularly difficult time for sufferers of eczema due to the drier air which causes our skin to dry out. “We often advise people at this time of the year to significantly up their use of moisturiser and maybe switch from a lotion to a cream or from a cream to an ointment for longer-lasting moisturisation.”
How do we tend to child’s inflamed skin?
“Winter is a great time of year to make an appointment with your health professional or specialist and review your eczema management plan or look at treatment options – you may need to use a stronger steroid cream for a short period of time to get a flare under control.” she says.
What effective ingredients should parents look for in moisturiser and skincare to manage child eczema?
Cheryl suggests trying colloidal oatmeal which is a natural anti-inflammatory and assists with itchy, inflamed skin. When applied topically, it can help to attract moisture to the skin to form a protective barrier.” She advises that although there are a plenty of products with colloidal oatmeal available, you should always do a patch test first and leave for 24 hours to make sure it’s suitable for your child’s skin.
bh loves: DermaVeen Baby Eczema Cream, Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash, Dermal Therapy™ Eczema Moisturising Lotion, BIODERMA Atoderm Intensive Baume , Childs Farm baby moisturiser ($10 childsfarm.com.au)
Is there any way to lessen or prevent eczema?
With the number of children who suffer from eczema rising, it’s important to look at ways we can lessen or prevent flare-ups from occurring in the first place. Cheryl says that the rapid increase of sufferers can be linked to lifestyle, nutritional, hygiene and genetic factors. So, what can we do? “New studies have found that pregnant women who take probiotics can reduce their child’s risk of developing eczema.”
bh loves: QV Baby Barrier Cream, Billie Goat Nature’s Remedy Intensive moisturiser, GAIA Natural Baby - Bath & Body Wash
For more info about eczema click here.
Do you have any products or tips that you swear by for treating eczema?
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45 Member Comments
Very informative information and tips friend. Thank you so much for sharing. My sweet daughter is only 3 months old and her skin was getting dry. On consulting the dermatologist, he told that it is an early stage of eczema. As per his suggestion, we started using Cetaphil skin care products specifically designed for a baby's skin texture. It is working very well with her skin. The dry skin texture is regaining its normal appearance. We checked their site to ensure about these skin care products and found out that Cetaphil is a clinically proven skin care brand and so is safer to be used. I really appreciate your work on this article. Got several new pieces of information from here. Expecting similar works in the future too :)
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My baby seems to have a little bit of dryness behind his ears but it seems to have gone from the flare up he had when a few weeks old...me and my partner don't have eczema so hopefully baby grows out of his little ear rash.
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This must be an incredibly difficult problem to tackle and I'd go with my doctor's advice if I had the need for it.
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My third bubba has eczema at the moment and it is awful to see him so frustrated and itchy. :( We have wasted so much money on so many creams promising the world with none of them doing a thing! We ended up getting a steroid cream which took the edge off and he also takes an antihistamine liquid at night to help calm the itch. What I found worked best and made a huge difference quickly as he his breast fed, I cut out all dairy from my diet, milk, cheese, ice-cream, chocolate etc and the huge chunks of dry flaky skin went away within a few days. Now it's just a bit red and still dry all over but nowhere near as severe as it was before. My diet is a lot cleaner too which is great for my own health. Cutting back sugar seems to help too but takes a lot of discipline on my part!
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My partner has adult eczema, so I'll have to be prepared!
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My son had suffer from this most of his life we found putting oatmeal in a stocking and hanging it from the bath spout and the oatmeal would relieve the itch
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My son had atopic skin as a baby , I used to buy Avene body wash and moisturizer , fortunately he grew out of it , so happy his skin is good now.
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I still have eczema as an adult- I wish I'd grown out of it.
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Though I don't suffer eczema my eldest daughter gets it easily and has sensitive atopic skin - my hubby doesn't really have it either but my dad did used to get hayfever when younger. So maybe it came down from her grandfather? My other two daughters don't have it either.
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I scored the triple with eczema, asthma and hay fever and then I very kindly passed them on to my youngest daughter. Thankfully she didnt suffer with these until she was in her early teens. I cant imagine having a baby with eczema.
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I have this.
I now use a nasal steroid along with my asthma meds.
I find CeraVe works a treat for my eczema when applied to damp skin.
On bad days, I use a steroid on my skin.
One of my kidlets has asthma and the other has eczema.
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Thankfully I dont have too many problems with the eczema any more but it was awful when i was in my teens.
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No children to worry about but I do have a dog with chronic dermatitis and his skin needs constant care- poor boy he gets so itchy
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I've had eczema on & off since childhood & it can be the pits. Mine was worse during childhood - all up & down my legs (I've also had it in places such as the backs of my hands & on my left eye lid) - but nowadays I get some patches here & there on my legs & arms & I only get it once the weather begins to cool down. Keeping the skin well moisturised is crucial, although I forget to apply moisture to my skin every single day tbh. Mine's not itchy thankfully, but it's horrible when it is itchy.
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Must be awful for anyone who suffers from it especially babies and young children who just want to scratch.
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My daughter had exczema when she was a baby she had it behind her knees and in the forearms where they bend. I use to use barrier creams on her.She use to get it mainly in the heat. She also had asthma and still does.
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Eczema can be totally random. And even more frustrating, relief is trial and error. Out of five kids, one of mine has eczema and we had to go through about half a dozen products to find what worked. That’s because we were completely blindsided. But having learned from the experience, the best offence is defence. Regardless of familial history of eczema, protect baby’s skin with by hydrating every single day after bath. You can actually avoid flare ups by protecting the skin barrier - a fact I wish I’d known before we started down the road to managing this skin condition.
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Thanks for the informative article, I find using a soap free wash frequently really helps.
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