Baby Acne

[mom2andrew]

My DS developed baby acne around week 3 and he is now 3 months and it is still there, some days it gets better and some days it is really bad. The Baby 411 book said that most acne will clear by week 8.

My Ped said to use 1% hydrocortizone cream. It did make the face all clear in 3 days. So when I stopped using it for 2 days some of it started to come back.
Is this normal? How do we get rid of it without constantly using hydrocortizone cream?

Thanks in advance,

[JMS]

Hi Monica..
My DD is just a little older than your son and had terrible baby acne. I took her to the Ped. to make sure it wasn't chicken pox (I know that sounds nuts but it was on her chest and back as well). Anyway, he recommended a mild hydrocortizone cream IF it looked really bad (like it may scar). I think I used only 1/2% and I only used it once. Hydrocortizone is a steroid and therefore will eventually thin the skin with repeated use so you may want to use it sparingly. What really helped my DD (b/c her skin was also dry) was washing her face with Cetaphil every day. It says on the bottle that it's sensitive enough for babies. It is also pH balanced (or something like that) so it's not very drying. Ironically it's what I've been using on my face for years (I'm a skin-obsessed-freak.. I use a lot of high end products, but Cetaphil is something I swear by and will never replace). If you decide to try it, just be very careful of your DS's eyes. It's not a no-tear product.
Good luck.. hang in there - it will clear up for good eventually (I think DD had it for about 4 weeks)..