Okay, I've received conflicting information from a dermatologist and an allergist with regards to eczema. How often do you bathe your eczema child??
The dermatologist said less baths was better since bathing too often can dry out the skin and irritate the eczema. But the allergist said that kids with eczema tend to have more bacteria on their bodies, so bathing daily and moisturizing after can definitely help.
What do you do??
eggplant / 11861 posts
@Adira: we bathe less with AJ and I skip soap if I can or if he needs a rinse after dinner!
I try to bathe him every other day with soap on the every other day lol ........did that make sense?!
I think the allergist is referring to maybe a rinse super quick so they are not in bath for awile, maybe a rinse and moistorize?!
persimmon / 1273 posts
I find that my son has flares when it's hot and he's sweaty so I've been bathing in cool water daily or every other day. He's a baby though so it's a quick rinse with a little soap and right out.
grapefruit / 4361 posts
DH has eczema and what works for him is less showers, and lotion EVERYWHERE afterwards. Also mosturizing bath wash. There's a bath oil he uses, it comes in a golden bottle? Anyone know what Im talking about? I'm lying down on the couch....
pear / 1961 posts
@adira: i think it's probably a little bit of trial and error depending on your kids' skin and severity? DS has pretty irritable skin w/ maybe some mild eczema that crops up from time to time. i've found fewer baths keep his skin happier, only use soap on his hands, bottom, and occasionally hair, and i lotion him all over while he's still wet -- that seems to be the right combination for him. i've heard of people doing well with more frequent baths (but not necessarily soap) and/or the diluted bleach too, but those friends had kids with more severe eczema!
pomelo / 5129 posts
Personally, I do better with fewer showers and less hot showers.
I also did a lot better after I stopped using oatmeal products. I'm not sure if the oatmeal in them was contaminated with gluten or what...but I was using an in shower oatmeal moisturizer and things just got worse.
nectarine / 2460 posts
With DS we've found that his eczema flairs up differently (and I assume for different reasons) in the summer and winter. Summer seems to be helped by more baths, winter by fewer.
papaya / 10560 posts
I've found it doesn't matter if we do nightly baths or skip, DS has the worst eczema either way. What I will say is that what we have recently found to help immensely is an activated charcoal bar of soap and then the Aveeno Eczema Therapy lotion caked on with socks before bed. He has been on every type of lotion you can imagine for eczema and this has been helping so much!
grapefruit / 4079 posts
@JennyPenny: same. Winter seems to be from overalls dry skin. Summer seems to be more from scratching sweaty areas so washing them in cool water helps.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@JennyPenny: @ladybee: I never really thought about this, but you ladies make a very good point. Logan's eczema seems to be worse in the summer. I wonder if it's also from sweat! I'll try implementing more cool baths over the summer and moisturizing more and hopefully that will help!!
@FaithFertility: @gilmoregirl: @DesertDreams88: @KayKay: @matador84: Thank you ladies so much for chiming in! I thought we had Logan's eczema under control, but it's gotten worse now that it's summer, so clearly I need to try something new!
grapefruit / 4079 posts
@Adira: also, my husband says not to put cream or lotion on it unless I've washed it. He has horrible eczema and says it makes it so much more itchy. We also keep nails cut as small as possible.
persimmon / 1458 posts
@Adira: I also noticed my sons eczema seems worse in the summer and I wondered if it was sunscreen. Last year we used Thinkbaby but his eczema was bad. This summer I've been using CeraVe baby sunscreen and it's much better. Overall though he seems to be outgrowing his eczema (I hope) because it seems better. We do fewer baths in the winter and more frequent in the summer due to sweat, dirt and sunscreen. I am also trying to make an effort to use more chemical free products.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@ladybee: That's an interesting tip. Thanks! I wouldn't have thought to do that, though it makes sense!
@Canoli: We also use Thinkbaby and I wonder if that is making it worse. I'm going to at least try more baths to wash off the sunscreen and see if that helps. Thanks!
eggplant / 11861 posts
@Adira: AJ too I was told it is better I summer but I think it is worse 
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@FaithFertility: Same here! People keep telling me that winter is worse because the air is so dry, but Logan's eczema is definitely worse in the summer!
apricot / 264 posts
I bathe DD daily. She is still crawling so I figure I need to wash the dirt off of her in addition to the sweat from being outside. One tip my doctor gave me which helped tremendously was to put her medicine on first and then lotion on top. I always did the opposite order before that tip.
pear / 1610 posts
@Adira: Personally, my eczema is worse in the summer because of pollen and allergies from being outside! My allergist stressed limiting the length of time I am in the shower, lotion within 3 minutes of the water being turned off and not too hot of water. Oh, and showering at night for me to wash the pollen off of my skin. I found that some of those things combined with getting allergen covers for my mattress and pillow have made a world of a difference. My eczema still flares up in the winter, but it is a different kind of flare up if that makes any sense.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@creativemomma15: Yep, that makes perfect sense, thanks! I'm going to try more dailiy baths for Logan and immediately applying lotion once he's out. Hopefully that helps! Thanks!
pomegranate / 3601 posts
@Adira: If daily baths are too much of a hazzle maybe try a shower instead. Both DS1 and DD1 take showers and it's usually a lot quicker and gets them just as clean. We both started them young on showers and it was usually just once or twice until they started enjoying them.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@Pumuckl: haha, I could try, though I feel like Logan would freak out! He hates water over his head, so I feel like he wouldn't be a fan, haha.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
@Adira: DO you have a removable showerhead? My son doesn't like water over his head either, but he's fine to be rinsed off with the showerhead if I am holding it.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@looch: Hmm... good call. We do have one, though I forget it's there because it leaks and I never use it. But it definitely is still useable.
cantaloupe / 6397 posts
Our allergist recommends nightly baths followed by lots of lotion! Since I started that my daughter's eczema has been a lot better. We don't use soap every day though!
cherry / 222 posts
We only had flareups in the winter so bathed my son about once a week...
I tried a bunch of lotions (at all price ranges) and the CVS brand eczema relief cream was finally the one that worked for us. I think the magic ingredient (for us and at least one other parent I know) was Colloidal Oatmeal.
kiwi / 578 posts
Bathe every day (shower or bath) with lukewarm water, and limit the time. NO SOAP, not even the expensive eczema friendly branded ones. Most anything comes off with little warm water and a wash cloth. We only shampoo his hair twice a week. Pat dry and apply a thick layer of lotion (Curel Itch Defense works better for us than anything else OTC.or Rx that we've tried) immediately to lock moisture in. We also lotion him in the morning when he gets dressed. So far, DS hasn't had a bad eczema flare in more than a year.
ETA: for sunscreen we use the Neutragena baby faces lotion all over. We had to experiment quite a bit to find something that didn't make him rashy.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@gilmoregirl: @JennyPenny: @ladybee: @Canoli: @Mamatimes3: @creativemomma15: @sslm: @azjax: Just wanted to pop back in and thank you ladies! We've been bathing daily (or at least rinsing off sweat/sunscreen daily) and then applying vaseline right after and his eczema is definitely improving! Thank you!!
eggplant / 11861 posts
@Adira: I've been bathing daily too water only and also the beach/salt water I think it helping
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@Pumuckl: Thanks!
@FaithFertility: Yay! Glad to hear that's working for you!
persimmon / 1095 posts
My daughter has eczema this summer from the heat. As soon as it got hot she started itching like crazy. We do eczema lotion every morning and night in the knees/elbows where she has it and a bath 3-4 days a week with some oatmeal eczema bath pods we found on Amazon and try to have her soak as long as she wants. It's helped so much. Hopefully it will go away when it cools down this fall!
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Update: Ugh, his eczema is getting WORSE! Or he has heat rash on top of it. I can't tell. 
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
@Adira: Oh no! It is getting to be hot/humid part of summer... Was it like this too last year?
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@snowjewelz: It is definitely getting to be hot/humid here. My last update (2 weeks ago) was after a string of cloudy and cooler days, which may have been why we were seeing an improvement. Now we've had a string of hot days, which I think have aggravated it. Ugh!!
pomelo / 5524 posts
Have you tried oatmeal baths on the days you don't use soap? Also, what type of sunscreen do you use? I've heard blue lizard is good for those who have skin irritation issues.
If you've tried both of these things, tell me to be quiet 
olive / 53 posts
When DS's eczema was bad, we definitely limited soap (just rinsing/scrubbing with water is really enough for most people, other than the really dirty bits). We also tried bleach baths on occasion, which seemed to help. (Google for details, it's a really small amount, comparable to a swimming pool.)
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@2PeasinaPod: I haven't tried oatmeal baths, but I'm willing to give it a try! Ordering. As for sunscreen, we use thinkbaby, which is supposed to be really good since it's mostly just zinc oxide. Thanks for the suggestions!
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Broke out our prescription cream and started using it again and the eczema is FINALLY clearing up. Figuring out how to keep it clear without using the prescription is going to be crucial... hoping regular baths and moisturizing will work...
apricot / 265 posts
@Adira: Did you figure out a solution? I’ve been using prescription cream for my LO’s exzema and would like to find another solution as well. I bathe my LO every other day, moisturize and use prescription cream.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@MsBAM: For us, the weather had been playing a huge role in our issues. Sun screen and sweat really aggravated his skin and made his eczema worse. So during the summer, I bathed him more often and then would lather him in a prescription cream. We actually just got prescribed a prescription ointment and that's been working a LOT better than the cream we had, even though they are supposedly the same strength. Now that it's cooler here, I'm back to only doing baths twice a week, but we still moisturize twice a day. Even when his skin is clear, we'll moisturize with Vaseline, and then if he shows any sign of the eczema coming back, we use the prescription ointment. If you haven't, look into seeing a dermatologist. There are multiple strengths of prescriptions they can give you and maybe you just need something a little stronger. And then just getting the latest tips and tricks can be really helpful.
apricot / 265 posts
@Adira: Right now we use a prescription cream which is a steroid. The pharmacist said it’s a strong cream that can’t be used longer than seven days, which is why we were hoping to find another solution. After I use the cream for a few days it does clear up quite well. I haven’t found the trigger yet for his exzema, hopefully once I know that will help.
I may ask about seeing a dermatologist at his next appt if it keeps up though.
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