There is nothing as heartbreaking as watching the discomfort your child experiences with childhood eczema…especially when they are having a bad flare-up. I thought I was free from any of my kids having this illness, but when the winter months arrived, one of my girls developed her first outbreak.  Poor thing would say “owie” and “itchy” all day long.  I tried the recommended over-the-counter creams from a list issued from our Children’s Hospital, but the Vaseline and glaxal based creams made things worse. She became inflamed, like a burn after I put them on. 

We decided to move to the next step of using a prescription cortisone cream. I was never totally comfortable treating her with this after reading the warnings on the cortisone package. They emphasize to only apply the cream to the afflicted area and to discontinue use after a few days. I wasn’t comfortable thinking this cream might cause my toddler’s skin to break down. Well, the cortisone didn’t work at all on Isabella so I emailed out to the people I trust the most…other moms. At this point her rash was wide-spread, covering her upper torso, behind the knees, patches on her inner elbow and dry patching in the folds of her neck and back.  Thanks to some suggestions from other moms I started to also change household practices and her diet. I also insisted on being referred to a pediatric dermatologist via my family doctor. After 3 months I still haven’t gotten my appointment yet, so thank god I found a solution that worked for my little girl.  Here is the combination of actions that have completely eliminated her discomfort:

Diet:  In regards to diet, all my kids are big on dairy…love their cheese and yogurt. Although my girls are still breastfed, they also enjoy milk in a cup or with cereal.  So the family doctor recommended I stop having dairy and pull her intake to see if this helped the rash.  I only lasted a couple of weeks because it didn’t dent the problem.  (Apparently you would see immediate results if it was a dairy allergy.)

Household:  All the girls’ clothes were double rinsed in the washing machine and I had to retire my beloved dryer sheets (I still miss the smell of my Bounce sheets).  I was spending a fortune on fragrance free detergent (various brands) for sensitive skin, but I’ve recently found an awesome detergent that is cost effective, environmentally responsible, and her skin hasn’t reacted to anything in it.  The brand is called Earth Friendly Products and I’m using Ecos Liquid Laundry Detergent. I found mine (by accident) at Costco but you can use the store locator application from their web site to locate a store nearby that carries it. It’s a US family owned company, but the locator works for Canadians too!

Solution:  During this trial and error time period of trying different creams, I was told about a product that has completely cleared up her irritating rashes!  It’s been an absolute life saver and has eased all of her discomfort from scratching.  Within the first two days of using it….her eczema almost totally disappeared!!   It’s name is Spectro Kids EczemaCare Intense Moisturizing Cream and is sold over the counter as it contains no prescription ingredients (steroid or cortisone).   It’s been months and we’ve been using it nightly to keep the eczema in check.  I’m waiting to see a specialist and have her opinion, but I am 100% completely happy with the results from this cream.  If I miss using it for more than 2 nights, her rough, inflamed skin comes back, which is why I still need to visit a pediatric dermatologist.  I’ll post on this topic again after seeing the specialist to see what else she recommends, but I am happy with this solution.

With lots of laundry from the 4 kids, I’ve stopped double rinsing clothes and she is obviously back on all dairy foods.  Between the Ecos Liquid Laundry Detergent and Spectro cream we have found a solution that is working for our little girl.  She even brings me her “keem” (cream) and says “me, owie, keem” because she wants me to put it on.  So if your kids have a bad outbreak and you haven’t found anything to help sooth or clear up the inflammation, Isabella and her mommy highly recommend it!