Dealing with your childs eczema

Parenting Australia

Toddler

Health

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How to manage your child’s eczema

Up to 10 per cent of children under the age of five develop eczema. The disease in a child calls for special attention. Below are some tips for helping your child to manage their eczema:

Bathe your child in lukewarm water using a soap-free wash
After bathing your child, pat the skin dry and apply a suitable moisturising cream or ointment.
Use hypoallergenic products and avoid anything perfumed.
Keep your child’s fingernails short to prevent their scratching from breaking the skin.
Dress them in 100 per cent cotton clothing to reduce sweating, which can be an irritant. After purchasing new clothing, wash them before dressing your child to make them softer and remove any tags to avoid irritating the skin.
Avoid wool and other coarse or rough-textured clothing or blankets and if possible, remove wool carpets. If you are wearing woollen clothing, put a cotton diaper over your shoulder when holding your child.
Keep your child’s room at an even temperature.
Use a humidifier in dry or heated rooms to keep the air moist.
If your child is allergic to dust or dust mites, use protective coverings for pillows and mattresses and wash bedclothes frequently in hot water.
Keep pets off beds and other furniture, or outside.
If night-time itching is a problem, use a cold, damp washcloth to soothe your child’s skin, followed by a moisturiser and a sedating antihistamine, under the guidance of your doctor.

Easing your child’s emotional stress associated with eczema

Children, like adults, experience emotional stress which can exacerbate their eczema. To help your child cope with their illness, it’s important to develop and maintain a routine. Anyone who cares for your child should also keep to this routine. Talk to your child about eczema and inform him/her about what triggers the disease and how to avoid them.

Explain the importance of treatment and how necessary it is to use moisturiser and medicine. Also teach your child to field comments about their eczema from other children and even adults. If your child is old enough, help him/her find ways to explain that the disease is not contagious and how to discuss it with their friends at school. Most importantly, inform your child that in all likelihood, their eczema will get easier to live with as they grow older and they may even outgrow it.

The content of this article is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Any questions regarding a medical diagnosis or treatment should be directed to a medical practitioner.

5 Comments

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Sandra Dye makes this comment

Sunday, 08 November 2009

In addition to the moisturizer or medicine there is an emotional "ointment" we can use. Parents staying calm, listening, and offering a story can help take the emotional sting out of bumps or rashes. When your child is focused on their body producing signals that make them different their focus is on getting rid of the eczema. You can help your child refocus their attention and see their body signals as positive. Just talk about how lucky they are to have signal lights on their skin that appear to let them know what they are allergic to or what not to touch. When your child is more accepting and feeling positive about their special signal lights, they relax. Fighting with the symptoms, trying to get rid of them often leads to scratching and greater discomfort. Turn the tables to positive signals and your child will thank you.
Karlie makes this comment

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

My five year old son has terrible eczema on his feet. I bandage his feet every night using Jelonet dressings (available from Chemists) which are infused with parrafin. Then put on the bandages. This helps keep moisture on the skin, stops the bandages sticking to the wound, plus prevents him from scratching at his feet. I agree there is a huge emotional side to eczema, and his behaviour and mood is highly dependant on how bad his skin is at the time. Eczema can make children very emotional, and they require lots of extra cuddles and love.
Melanie makes this comment

Friday, 13 November 2009

As an alternative to hot water washing, you can also put your child's clothing in the freezer for 3 - 4 hours to kill the dust mites, then wash in cold water (which also saves lots of energy).

I have been doing this for the last couple of weeks as we haven't had hot water (tank blew up) and my son's eczema has totally cleared up - from quite bad around the back of knees, inside elbows and around neck/upper shoulders.

I suspect that even though my washing machine was always set to hot wash, there might not always have been hot water available - so with only "warm washing", the dust mites weren't killed. The freezer, on the other hand, maintains a constistent temperature!
Melanie makes this comment

Friday, 13 November 2009

Parents should also be aware that BABIES/CHILDREN WITH ECZEMA ARE AT INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING ANAPHYLAXIS AND ASTHMA and should consider restricting their chilren's diets to prevent the onset of anaphylaxis that can develop by exposure to the "risky" product. This unfortunately happened to my son. He had mild eczema as a baby; at age 1 we tried him on peanut butter (which we ate) and he was absolutely fine, he loved it. He ate it maybe once a fortnight for over a year. Then at 2 years 2 months he had his first anaphylactic attack.
What had happened was that HE DEVELOPED A SENSITIVITY TO PEANUTS OVER TIME, WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF WE HAD NEVER GIVEN IT TO HIM. IT IS NOT JUST A CASE OF FIRST TIME OKAY, ALWAYS OKAY. (Following this 10 months later he also developed asthma). Other risky foods which should be avoided until age 5 include sesame seeds, all other nuts, shellfish (including prawns) and kiwi fruit. See the Anaphylaxis Australia website for more information: www.allergyfacts.org.au
simon makes this comment

Friday, 08 January 2010

My son had eczema for the first 3 years of his life, my friend recommended a product called aalgo, 1 bath a day every day and he was clear in 3 weeks. although you do have to keep it up once a week after but it seemed o work for him