How often should you bathe baby with eczema ?

[Blyton]

Am getting conflicting advice on this. GP said twice a day which i thought was excessive. Have started to bathe him every day in Oilatum Jnr (sometimes oats wrapped in muslim) recently and then slathering him in cream afterwards (currently Allergenics) and at every nappy change. But am thinking even every day might be a bit much. Doesn't water dry the skin ? We live in quite a hard water area as well.

[Hattie05]

You are right water does dry the skin and i've never heard advice to bath twice a day with eczema!
Of course its important to keep clean to prevent infection.

When my own eczema is really sore i find it really soothing to wash using a thick gunky cream called epaderm, i got prescribed from dermatologist as a soap. It can either be used as soap or cream, its substance is like extra greasy vaseline so not great as a cream but i slather it on before i step in the shower and then let it slowly wash off and a)it prevents the water from drying me and b) my skin feels really well moisturised after, i do still use a moisturiser afterwards also. And when it really sore it is a relief to wash and start the process again iykwim and maybe thats why the doc suggested twice a day?

I see from threads on here that Oilatum isn't highly rated.

[3andnomore]

agree, a baby isn't actually dirty, is it, and their skin is si sensible, so, I would say bath once or twice a week!
Also, I know oilatum is meant to be brill...doesn't mean its agreeing with yout lil ones skin....I know it isn't with my own or that of my Kids....

[Dior]

Message withdrawn

[3andnomore]

oh. grapeseed oil in the bath, with maybe a few drops of lavendre is fab, for us anyway!

[Heartmum2Jamie]

We saw a dermatologist when ds was 5 months old & diagnosed with severe excema. We were recommended weekly baths and this did wonders for ds's skin with just top/tailing in between.

I also agree that oilatum is not really recommended and you will hear many a horror story of how it made the problem worse. My ds had dry cheeks and genralised dry skin, we were told to use oilatum by the HV and within a week ds's eczema had spread head to toe and he looked so bad that his paed thought he had scabies

The other tip I picked up from the dermatology clinic was to pat the skin dry and to apply emollient cream in downward strokes only (or else the cream clogs the pores making itching worse)within 3 minutes of gettgin out of the bath.

[Blyton]

Thanks for the advice on Oilatum. Was having niggly feelings that it wasn't very good but as he didn't react badly i didn't think to stop using it. Alot of people (inc. docs and HV's recommend Oilatum) for some reason. Gonna stick to the oats wrapped in muslin and see if that helps. I quite like the sliminess of the oats on his skin (makes it temporarily feel soft and silky).

[belgianmama]

You can always go back to your GP explain that oilatum isn't doing the trick and ask for a prescription for 1 of a number of better moisterisers for your baby's skin.
For my ds dermol 500 was the best (and my own exzema likes it too!!) And oilatum didn't work for him either.
Also if your baby's exzema flares up really badly and gets all raw and angry you might want to consider hydrocortisone 1%. It's only to be used in flare ups though as it a steroid and thins the skin with overuse.

[Pixiefish]

Depends on the child. I bathe my dd every day- sometimes up to 4 times a day/night. I slather her in cream while she is still wet though so it locks in any moisture

[Pixiefish]

Oh and get some Aveeno bath oil and some Aveeno cream

[bandstand]

bathign i was told once a week, somewhere...but my dd had dry skin not actually eczem, shall i shut up now, did not use oilatum either, something else, cant remember what? with a u in it?

[3andnomore]

pixie...why would you need ato bath your dd up to 4x a day/night....I personally can't think of a reason, but obviously know you have probably got a good reason to do so...just wondering!

[Pixiefish]

3andnomore- When her skin gets so dry sometimes an aveeno bath is the only thing that relieves it. Plonk her in an avenno bath and then I can cream her when she gets out and her skin is still wet and she's better.

I've tried wet wrapping but she gets hysterical and tears at the bandages making her skin worse.

When her skin is calmer I don't bathe her 4 times a day

Have done this since dd was about a year old and she is 3 at the end of this month.

I tried not bathing and just emolliating and it made her skin worse.

We have tried a lot of different ways and routines over the last 2 and a half years - we go to the hospital every 3 months and also in between if she has a bad flare up that i just can't get back under control.

hydrocortisone 1% isn't stong enough to thin the skin as it's the weakest type of steroid cream there is.

I use steroids on dd's skin when she has a flare up.

There are 2 schools of thought with this.

1. Whack it with the strongest steroid recommended for that particular area and then you won't be using steroid long term.
2. Weaker steroid cos it does potentially less damage but you have to use it over alonger period of time.

I have been told that steroids got a bad name years ago when they were overused and much too strong creams were used.

On dd's face I would only ever use 1% but i have Modrasone for general body use. I use a stronger cream still when she has a bad flare up- don't be scared into not using them.

I would also advise asking to see a dermatologist at the hospital. They are specialists and will also refer you to the eczema nurse who will help you and be available for specialist advice

[pointydog]

I bathed dd2 every day. Water dries the skin, yes, but with a good bath emollient it really helped moisturise her skin and made it much more receptive for the steroids and moisturing creams afterwards. I had a similar experience to pixiefish.

Speak to eczema nurse. He/she'll advise what's best for your baby.

[3andnomore]

Pixie, that does make sense...have heard of the aveena stuff before, but not used it yet...is there a online distributer...if so, do you have the link?
As for steroid cream, when I had it really badly, after starting working again in a Hospital, sigh....I had steroid ointment for my body, and a 1% steroid cream for my face....I had flare ups right on top of my lip that time, which is unfortunate, as it is a area I already feel a bit strong about, as I have a cleft lip/palate, so, it was right on top of my scars, sigh....also tend to get it on my eyelids, when it does falre up, which is a pain in the neck, as it effects the eye itself, too...well, in jmy case anyhow.
BUt, I believe, personally, that using a strong enough one to use it short term will cause less damage then a milder one longterm...iykwim....
Must say, it does annoy me when people completely poopoo steroids, because, if it's bad then that is the only thing that will work, and you just don't need the distress of hearing all the time how bad it is....sigh!

[Blyton]

3andnomore - you can get Aveeno on prescription so ask your dr for it as it's quite expensive to buy. Or you can buy it from Boots. Am sure you've tried loads of stuff for your eczema but if you ever want to go down the 'natural' route there's SOS rescue cream which i use on baby's face. Pure Potion (can't remember website address), www.theremustbeabetterway.co.uk, Elena's Natural Collection, Salcura. Unfortunately they're all really expensive and some don't always work (probably not strong enough). Allergenics also do a good and affordable range, ranging from baby bath milk to ointment for extra sensitive skin. Good luck.

[3andnomore]

Oh, my eczema, right now, is just fine (don't work in Hospital environment, so, bathing in garpeseedoil bath, with a few drops of lavender is just fine and the cheap emoilient cream , asdas own, works crill as a moisutriser....but my Kids sometimes don't seem to be that great with it all, although better then on the other stuff, shall try to get teh aveena for them

[MissM]

Oilatum was awful and my dd hated it. Screamed every time I went near her with it on my hands. We use Aveeno sachets in the bath (prescribed by GP) and Aveeno baby cream about three times a day (expensive cos we get through so much, but brilliant). We bath her every other day, which seems to help.

[Vindaloo]

Hi dd now 2.10 yrs and I was given conflicting views on bathing. I decided to bath her everynight as part of bedtime routine and put balneum bath oil in the bath and slathered her in doublebase cream before getting into the bath (can be used as a moisteriser or soap) after bath I use Aveeno, which I like as its oatmeal based.

Have used the stockings wrap thingy when she was little, it makes her look like a mummy. It was horrible - she hated it and cried and cried, didnt use that again!!

At the end of the day every child is different, all you can do is try a few things out and see what works best for you and baby.

[Jimjams2]

Dermatologist (ds1 used to have very severe eczema) said once a day at least. He loved the wet wraps! Found they helped more than anything tbh.

We used propaderm, a stong steroid, but diluted in emolient. _ apparently GOSH use it- this was 7 years ago though. We also used 50:50 - very gloopy vaseline- that was fab under wet wraps. Then all the normal stuff, diprobase etc

If you use steroids remember to taper when you come off or everything will flare up again.

We had to taper from prpaderm to 1%HC to 0.5% HC, to every other day etc.

[Blyton]

JimJames2 - what do you mean by tapering the steroids ? And how do you do that ?

[bothered]

I haven't read all the thread but I was told by the skin specialist three weeks ago at the local hospital to bath dd once a day and to cream her as many times as necessary, the creams given have 90% cleared the eczema, I was given many creams by the doctors but nothing seemed to work. Im so glad its now almost gone, although if I dont cream her it soon comes back!