Eczema advice...

[PrincessFiona]

All of my children have eczema outbreaks around this time of year...for the most part on their hands...but sometimes on their faces. We have been able to handle this with a non-steroidal cream from our pedi or Eucerine (which is fabulous).

Aidan has developed this on his feet though...right at the ankle on top of the foot...and he simply can NOT tolerate socks or shoes. I cream his feet several times a day, but putting socks on irritates the feet and shoes or boots or slippers are completely out of the question. As long as he is....shoe/sock-free he's ok...but anytime we put on socks/shoes, he screams and cries and rips them off. Sure enough...his little feet will be irritated and inflamed and the cycle starts again.

I've stopped even bothering with shoes and we're just doing socks for outside...but today when I was walking into Kohl's with him, he ripped his socks off in the parking lot and I didn't notice. I had a woman walk up to me and tell me that he had no socks on (it is ....COLD....here..we have ice/snow everywhere) and I thanked her profusely...then she said "if he had shoes on that wouldn't happen" in this tone that implied that I am completely irresponsible.

I don't know why I let it bother me today, but I was actually speechless. 1. How would you guys have handled that? and 2. Do you have any suggestions at all for my little guy?

kris

[Auspicious]

Ooh, a mommy drive-by!

[SueC]

1. How rude! I probably would have tried to defend why my kid wasn't wearing shoes, but honestly I don't think it's necessary. I'd like to be the type that doesn't let it bother me when some nosy stranger has to give me parenting advice, but in actuality it eats at me for days!

2. Eczema, my kids get it two (especially Syd), but not in the feet region. She gets it on her butt, her thighs, and the upper parts of her arms. It's a little embarassing to have your kid scratching their butt all the time in public! We have had good luck with Elidel (whcih I think is a steroid)--it works wonders. I also give them baths in an Aveeno product that has an oatmeal type bath, followed up by their oatmeal lotion that is supposed to be good for eczema. I was thrilled to find that Target has a knockoff line for the lotion, but no luck for the oatmeal bath. We have to manage the eczema all the time throughout the winter months. If I slack on the lotion on just a few nights, it comes right back, unfortunately.

[Rapunzel]

My kids all get eczema on their arms, legs and torsos. The baby is getting it on her face as of yesterday. And, she's old enough to be clawing at it with her little fingernails and cannot stand having her hands covered to prevent the scratching (she'll scream nonstop and pitch a fit).

We bathe with Aveeno body wash, put on Eucerin lotion, and go to the doctor if it becomes too unbearable (for steroid cream). I must confess that I don't bathe the children as often during the week because of the skin issue. It seems to be worse if I bathe them too often (maybe because of the drying effect of the water and soap?).

My son's eczema seems to correspond with his more severe asthma flare-ups.

Regarding the shoes and socks: I would've done the same thing. If this were Sophia and she couldn't wear shoes because of the irritation I'd be carrying her around in socks as well. What Julie called a "drive by" was pretty accurate. Being a bit on the snotty side I'd probably have turned around and said something to make the woman feel as guilty as possible. "Well, I'd put shoes on him except that if I did he'd be screaming and writhing in agony because of a severe skin condition. Would you rather him be in pain and suffering? Hmm?" But, that's just me....

Jennifer

[Rapunzel]

Actually, I take one of two approaches when I'm given some sort of snide remark about my parenting abilities:

1) Throw it back in their face. You do this by making them feel guilty for saying anything. (See above).

2) Smile sweetly and say, "Thank you so much." And, leave it at that. I don't let it bother me after that because I make a decision in my head to treat that person's comments as an indication of their acknowledgement of how wonderful my kids are and that they are just watching out for my precious babies. That psychological "game" in my head helps me blithely go along my merry way. An equivalent reaction is being flipped off and blowing a kiss back at the offender or smiling like a maniac and waving at them like they just said something sweet to you. If the person meant to be antagonistic it just hacks them off even more. Regardless of their intentions you've just come out smelling like the proverbial rose.


Generally if I'm in a bad mood I do #1 and if I'm having a good day and I don't want it spoiled I do #2.

Kris,
I'll PM you. DH has helped a few of my friends w/ their kids eczema.

My son has eczema on his shoulders, elbows, legs, and torso. I have used several different products, but the only one that has helped is California Baby's Calendula Cream. I think both Babycenter.com & Drugstore.com sell it. We've been battling his eczema for 3 weeks and it had just been getting worse despite the different treatments we were using. We just started using the Calendula Cream two days ago and his eczema is almost gone. We have also been giving him oatmeal baths with the Aveeno oatmeal powder that Sue mentioned.

[Meenah]

Kris,
I would have looked right in the eye and said "damn, I thought I took those off before we got out of the car!!!"
Luanne

If you have very hard water you may want to consider getting a water softener. Jacob had very sensitive / dry skin (probably eczema) that has calmed way down since we got ours.

Here's a cheap treatment from a friend of mine for dry winter skin.

"Fill a knee high stocking or the bottom part of a pair of old pantyhose without holes with 1 cup of oats, knot the top and hold it under warm water while filling the tub and squeeze the life out of it.

Let the kids soak (no soap) until the water gets cold. Then I slop them up with lotion. Eucerin cream is really good but expensive. I've been using Vaseline Intensive Care...the one in a white bottle with a blue top.

Make sure anything you use in unscented. The alcohol in scented lotions will burn like hell."

Also, putting a few drops of baby oil in the tub might help. We have been doing that with Henry and Tim this winter. When their skin gets severly chapped we use Bag Balm.

[spotty_dog]

LOL. I can be a bit of a bitch with nosy biddies. I love playing with subconscious signals and body language while making my words as sweet as cream. I would probably straighten my back, shift my weight just a little bit forward to my toes, turn so that my shoulders are facing her squarely, look her square and firmly in the eye, (all of this would be about guaranteed to make a protection dog want to bite you, and humans have the same instincts down deep) and say..."Thank you SO MUCH for your suggestion." In the nicest tone imagineable. 8)

It's no wonder my coworker hates me.

(I also do like Jennifer says, when someone cusses me out or cuts me off or flips me off while I'm riding my bike, I've trained myself to smear a HUGE ol' s**t-eating grin across my face and wave energetically, calling out "THANKS!" if they've shouted an insult out their open car window... )

Fatty acid supplementation, especially GLA, is purported to work for some folks but a quick Pubmed search on "evening primrose eczema" showed that in the studies that have been done, the statistical evidence is pretty scant. Might not hurt though, and one study showed that a small subpopulation of folks did have a benefit.

[houseelf]

LOL. I can be a bit of a bitch with nosy biddies. I love playing with subconscious signals and body language while making my words as sweet as cream. I would probably straighten my back, shift my weight just a little bit forward to my toes, turn so that my shoulders are facing her squarely, look her square and firmly in the eye, (all of this would be about guaranteed to make a protection dog want to bite you, and humans have the same instincts down deep) and say..."Thank you SO MUCH for your suggestion." In the nicest tone imagineable.

I *adore* the kill them with kindness approach. I find this is especially appropriate when I can see MIL going in for the kill, I sweetly smile and inquire, "why do you ask" insinuating it is none of your *^%$# business lady.

Kelly

DD has it too. She'll claw away at her skin until its bleeding and it will often wake her up at night. So we generally use whatever steroid cream the ped prescribed for about a day to get an outbreak under control, and then I pour on the cetaphil. That seems to help us.

Also, I forgot to add that I use Tide Free laundry detergent and I run the extra rinse cycle. DD is definitely sensitive to the detergent, and those two changes have made a huge difference for her. For DH too. He also has eczema breakouts, though not near as bad or often as DD.

[houseelf]

RE: Excema (sp?). Have you tried Aveeno bath products? We have dry skin in our house and a good soak with these products helps.

By the way, can you believe what sort of spa experience we give our kids? Teeth brushed, detangler applied to hair before brushing, lotion massage, soak in Aveeno bath products.... Um, when is it my turn?

Kelly

[SueC]

By the way, can you believe what sort of spa experience we give our kids? Teeth brushed, detangler applied to hair before brushing, lotion massage, soak in Aveeno bath products.... Um, when is it my turn?

Kelly

Too true Kelly! These kids don't know how good they've got it!