infnat eczema & laundry soap

[vondaleonard]

my 3 month old developed eczema patches on his forearms 1 month ago. I have since eliminated dairy, soy, nuts, fish & wheat from my diet. I have added an essential fatty acid and probiotic supplement to my diet. I have been using 1 % hydrocortisone cream (hate using this!) and aquaphor after oatmeal & aplha keri bath every night. we live in a very dry climate, so we have a humidifier running in his room. we have been using ALL Free Clear for the laundry.

Still, my poor child has been experiencing flare ups when i don't use the cortisone cream. I guess the next step is to try pure laundry soap. anyone have any successful experience with any particualr brands, besides the one in the baby bargains book? or any other suggestions?

[cambridgemama]

Sorry your little one has to deal with this. My son had it from about 6 weeks to 3-4 months. The ped. insisted it was our detergent (dreft) combined with New England winter. Switching to Tide free didn't make any difference, but I can tell you what did. We stopped giving him baths more than one night per week, and stopped using all Aveeno products. For whatever reason, the Aveeno/oatmeal stuff made his excema much, much worse. We switched first to Burts Bees, then to Baby Magic, which for whatever reason, is great on his skin. We follow a bath with Aquaphor and a short-sleeved onesie. When his flare ups first started, he was exclusively breast fed, so we tried all the eliminations to no avail, so I am pretty sure it was simply an environmental issue. He is 10 months now, eats everything under the sun, and only has flare ups when we aren't using the Baby Magic (we bathe him nightly now, too). Anything you try will take a few days, but it might be worth a shot. Good luck!

[erosenst]

Abby had relatively bad eczema and cradle cap for six months or so. For us (and many others - I talked to everyone:) the best things were:

* Dove unscented bar soap - that's the first recommendation of most dermatologists. Interesting that it's always that brand.

* We had to do baths every day because of her cradle cap - but otherwise, bathe infrequently. If you have to bathe more than a couple of times a week, only use soap once or twice a week - they don't get that dirty, and even the Dove is drying.

* Put on lotion as soon as you can - there's a three minute "window". While I know a lot of people swear by Eucerin and Aquaphor, our ped believes that Vaseline Intensive Care for Sensitive Skin (use the generic - it's the same) is the best. It definitely worked better than Eucerin for Abby.

* We also used the 1% hydrocortisone on the flareups. We finally found the ointment (really greasy, like vaseline - but really effective) for her cradle cap, and it worked well on her skin, too.

FWIW, our ped doesn't believe that mom's diet has much to do with eczema. I never saw any difference in Abby's depending on what I ate, although I never did any eliminations, either.

Hang in there - many/most babies outgrow it. For a long time (9 months?) Abby has only had an occasional flareup in two small spots - and a day or two of hydrocortisone clears it right up. We do still use the Dove and lotion religiously though.

[tigalig]

You have already received great advice here and I just wanted to add that you try double rinsing all of your ds's clothes. I still do that with our 4 yo and I can use regular detergent and double rinse and he's fine!

[SummerBaby]

Does the Alpha Keri have fragrance? I've found that I can't put anything with fragrance on my DD. You'll find even things that are supposed to be for sensitive skin have fragrance. What I have found to be the biggest help to my daughter is Cetaphil. It's more expensive than Dove, but for us it's worked much, much better. I've only had to use the OTC hydrocortisone twice in the past 3 months.

Val
Mom to Madeline
7/28/04

[mamicka]

Before changing to laundry soap, I would try other methods. What works for us is bathing less frequently with Aveeno wash & using Aveeno lotion. We only use cortisone a couple times a month for flare-ups. We also live in a very dry climate.

A PP mentioned that Aveeno did *not* work for them & it works great for us, so I think experimentation is the key with eczema. Since we found what works for us, flare-ups are so much more rare, I really don't have to think of it much.

Allison

[NewGrandma]

My grandson had eczema during this past winter and spring. His pediatrician said to use the Eucerin cream on him. We went on a mission to see if there was something in particular that was causing it. My daughter uses the Gentle Naturals eczema wash for bathing him & washing his hair. She has continued to use it even though he has been eczema free for a few months. When he had flare ups they would rub him down with the thick Eucerin cream all over his body immediately after his bath. He continued to have the eczema and we didn't know if it was the weather or an allergy so we pursued it further. Our next step was for both of our households to use the scent free laundry detergent (ALL free clear)AND fabric softener (Downy Free and Sensitive)for EVERYONES clothes. After we did that (we rewashed everything of his and ours) his eczema disappeared. Cool weather will soon tell us if it is weather related or an allergy to the scents in the detergent and softener. Good Luck. I know it is heartbreaking for your precious baby to have this.
Linda

[hellosmiletoday]

DD went through some bad eczema episodes, where the ped even prescribed elidel (I discountinued it after hearing about fda warnings).

Although not confirmed, I honestly believe a few of the eczema triggers are environmental and include vaccines (it can happen 1-2 weeks after shots), stress, heat, and lack of hydration. We keep our a/c low, but when we visit grandparents, the room is warmer and thus DD develops eczema (although it may also be from stress of new environment). DD's ezcema also flaired up when she developed hives (from unknown source, suspects include insect bite or grass) and viral infection (suspect roseaola). I could never pinpoint anything in my own milk causing eczema (BF for 13 mo), but I did postpone cow's milk until about 14-15 months. DD still drinks formula 50% of time (she's 16 mo). I also give DD Stoneybrook whole milk unflavored yogurt almost daily (shown to help with eczema).

As for detergent, I have used Dreft, Ivory Snow, and Kirkland free and clear with no problems. I think double rinsing is what makes a difference.

I use Cetaphil blue for baths, and gave her baths every 2-3 days. Cetaphil green lotion is good for moisturizing. Both are on sale at costco with coupon.

Last, ezcema often clears with time!

edited to add...I used to live in S.Fla, and I always suspected that the high humidity aggravated the eczema, so I'm not sure if a humidifier is a good idea...was it recommended by ped?

[kedss]

When my kiddo was very young, he had pretty bad eczema, but we started using the Dove for Sensitive Skin soap since he has about 8 months old, and it really helps!

[helaina]

You might want to ask your pediatrician if it's safe for you to add an essential fatty acid to your diet with GLA in it. My pediatrician said it was fine for me to eat flax while I was nursing and she even encouraged it. Flax has ALA which is good for skin but I believe that GLA (Gamma Linoleic Acid) is the best dietary supplement for excema. I think that Black Currant Seed oil would be the safest kind but I'm not sure about that so you'd need to ask. ShiKai makes a line of lotions with Borage seed oil (another GLA source) for children that is supposed to help with excema. You might want to ask your pediatrician about it: http://www.shikai.com/publications/children_dry_skin.htm

My other suggestion is to bathe him less often or just use water for most of his baths. California baby makes an infant soap that claims it's safe for excema. Maybe this could double as a laundry detergent? Not sure about that.

ETA: I found these articles that might help:

"What about Natural Remedies to help my child?

The number one recommended natural treatment for improving baby's dry skin and eczema-type irritations was adding flaxseed or flax seed oil into your child's diet, which makes sense to me as Omega-3 fatty acids are natural anti-inflammatory sources. The recommendation of Omega-3 fatty acids (found flaxseed oil, salmon, haddock and cod) was also recommended to treat eczema in the book, "Allergy Free Naturally". (Please discuss proper diet amounts with your doctor.)

Less Recommened Natural Remedies Included:

Recommened in the book, "Allergy Free Naturally", was another essential fatty acid called gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) which comes from evening primrose oil, borage oil and black currant seed oil. This doesn't come as a surprise as I found the borage oil and rose hip oils being sold online for their tpoical moisturizing abilities. According to one website selling borage oil, there was a clinical study [British Journal of Dermatology, 129:95, 1993] using borage oil on infants with cradle cap. The babies were treated twice a day with topically applied borage oil. Within two weeks the condition cleared up. If treatment was discontinued, the symptoms returned until the infants’ own systems matured at around 7 months of age." http://mommyguide.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=187

"Eczema is an immune system problem and should be treated that way.

Read "SuperImmunity for Kids"... he needs probiotics and essential fatty acids... the natural kind from flax, cod liver oil and/or evening primrose oil. NOT the artifical kind that is in the "lipil" formulas. Which formula is he on exactly?"
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=330683


"Eating to Cure Your Eczema
By Christine Climer

If you have eczema, when someone mentions modifying your diet to improve your health, you probably think about eliminating food allergens. But while it’s true that food allergies can trigger eczema flare-ups, eliminating allergenic foods doesn’t address the root of the problem.

Eczema appears because of the way the immune system works. In order for your immune system to function properly, you need to have adequate levels of certain nutrients. Armed with the right facts, you can include certain foods in your diet that will help prevent or correct this immune dysfunction.

Setting the stage
From the minute a child is born, something very important to the development of her future immune function starts to happen. Babies are born with sterile guts, so they are totally dependent on environmental exposure to acquire GI flora, the bacteria that live in our gastrointestinal tracts. She may get these bacteria from the birth canal, during breastfeeding or from medical staff. Certain bacteria are critical to acquire, in that they help teach her immune system to work properly in the early months and help maintain healthy intestines.

Because breastfeeding helps to selectively nurture the beneficial bacteria, exclusive breastfeeding is one way you can help your baby develop a balanced immune function. Make sure that you have healthy flora balance yourself. In a recent study, mothers consumed a probiotic containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG before childbirth and continued until their babies were six months old. The incidence of eczema among their children was half that of babies in the control group whose mothers received no probiotic.

Formula-fed infants may benefit from probiotic-supplemented formulas. A study of infants with eczema concluded that formulas containing bifidobacteria and L. rhamnosus GG provided significant relief from symptoms after two months.

A miniature ecosystem
The bacteria making up your GI flora are transient; that is, they are continuously being replaced through environmental exposure. As your child grows, he will be exposed to other sources of bacteria, such as pets and foods. Include sources of healthy bacteria in your older child’s daily diet to continue to nurture his immune system’s function.

Fats that count
“Fat� has become a negative word in our culture. The truth is, certain kinds of fats are important to people with eczema. You’ll hear a lot about “fatty acids", “omega-3s� and “omega-6s.� Omega-3 and omega-6 are each a family of fatty acids.

There are several individual fatty acids within each of these families. The first in line of each family is called an “essential� fatty acid. This means that it must be obtained from the diet. The body then produces a sequence of reactions to transform the “essential� fatty acid into each subsequent family member. Each of these transformations requires an enzyme and nutrient co-factors that help the enzyme work.

In the omega-6 family, the “essential� fatty acid is named linoleic acid. Most of us get plenty of linoleic acid in our diets. If all is well, we should then be able to convert it into gamma-linoleic acid (GLA). Unfortunately, many people with eczema and other conditions are not able to make that conversion well enough, so they end up with a lot of linoleic acid and not enough GLA. This is important because our bodies turn GLA into chemicals that calm inflammation.

Research dating back to the 1930s established this fatty acid deficiency as a cause of eczema. In fact, fatty acids were the primary treatment for eczema in the 1940s up until the introduction of steroids such as hydrocortisone.

Finding the right fats
Breast milk contains GLA for your baby, but the amount depends upon how well you are able to make the needed conversions yourself.

To introduce GLA directly into your diet, choose spirulina, evening primrose oil (EPO), borage oil or black currant seed oil. Though the amount needed to notice improvement is likely to vary from one person to the next, a study of three adult dosages (2, 4 and 6 grams EPO per day) and of two children’s dosages (1 and 2 grams per day) showed highly significant, dose-related, beneficial effects.

Minerals: A supporting role
As already mentioned, we need certain nutrients in our bodies in order for those fatty acid-converting enzymes to work. Most notable for people with eczema are zinc, magnesium and vitamin B6. Many studies have noted that children with eczema tend to be zinc-deficient and some have speculated that GLA supplementation in certain children works by compensating for the zinc deficiency.

Find out more
To learn more about how to include nutrient co-factors in your diet, visit the Facts about Dietary Supplements web page of the National Institutes of Health.

For more information about how to choose probiotic foods for your family, read my Q&A response in the May issue of Natural Family Online.

To learn more about how fatty acids work, visit CAPI.

For more details about controlling allergic conditions with nutrition, check out Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Dr. Elson Haas."
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20047-excema-treatment.htm