Hi! My name is Monaca and I have a toddler who deals with Eczema on a daily basis.  He is 2 and finally the Eczema is under control.  Soon after he was born he had a major outbreak of infant acne.  Not just a few dots here and there, but all over his face, scalp, back and upper chest.  It was so red and inflamed.  The Pediatrician told us to wash him with Head & Shoulders shampoo and to make sure we didn't get it into his eyes of course.  It practically got better right in front of our eyes.  Then a few months later, he started scratching the flesh off of the front of his ankles.  We didn't know what was wrong .  We would put lotion on him as well as neosporin because it was like a real bad rug burn.  He couldn't wear anything that left his feet uncovered.  He had to wear feeted pajamas until he was 18mths old.  We finally saw a Dermatologist when he was a little less than a year old and he prescribed Elidel.  I was hesitant in using it due to the precautions I read online and in the packaging materials.  I held off until I couldn't anymore.  It worked so fast and I do not regret it.  They also prescribed Flutacasone (spelling?) as well as Bactroban.  After following the Doctors orders, well, he now has normal ankles as well as wearing shoes.  He would never wear shoes before because it irritated him so much.  What we use now is the Aveeno Bath powder and Eucerin as well as a lotion called Cetaphil.  Eucerin is only used when he has a bad patch.  He gets Eczema on his knees, under his arms, behind his legs, and his ankles.  With the bath regimen we use, we hardly ever see any eczema flare ups anymore.  If you have any questions or need some tips, I am sure I can help you, just send me a message and I'll answer within 1 day at the latest.   I am not a Doctor or Nurse, I am just a experienced Mommy.  I hope this helps someone out there or maybe this was just some entertainig reading. 

Sept 19th 2007

Extra Info:

I thought since I have recieved meassages about my Guide that I would post the thoughts or questions here for others to read and maybe get something from it.  If for some reason you do not want me to put your message on here, Please let me know and I will take it off or not add it here. 

Q:  Hi, I saw your post about your child with eczema and wondered what was the most helpful thing?? I have a 20 month old son who does the exact same thing with scratching the front of his ankles till they bleed continually -- we have wrapped his ankles to prevent the scratching, but he still manages to scratch and make bleed between changing the bandages. This has been going on for about 8 weeks, but I didn't know what was going on -- I didn't totally realize that it was related to the eczema that he has (I thought he was just having some bizarre obsessive habit). So your post was really reassuring!! Any tips for me?? I've gotten steriods from his pediatrician in the past for the eczema which have worked great on his outbreaks (on the rest of his body -- mainly elbows and knees), but I haven't been applying to his ankles! I'm also thinking of going to a dermatologist for him. ANy thoughts? Thanks so much for your time!

A:  Well, My Son still does it even at 3 years old but What I do is put some Cetaphil mixed with the Hydrocortisone cream they give me and rub it in real good on his ankles and anywhere else that is itchy.  When he has actually broken skin and there is blood or scratches I try to rub in neosporin or bacitracin in between the lotion treatments.  After awhile it gets better.  Now when it does get better and you noticed him scratching, I'd throw on some of the hydrocortisone and some lotion before he gets to the point of breaking skin.  I hate that he goes through this as well as your son.  I recentlly asked for a skin allergy test and will be taking him to see a dermatologist for it here in a week or so.  I finally got a referral for it in the mail.  I am hoping the test can tell me exactlly what I need to avoid to at least try to head off any of the itchy episodes.  I guess I should add more to my review as it seems a lot of folks are reading it huh?  I will post about it when I get more info.  Oh Yeah the meds they have given him is still the Elidel which works great when it is particulatrly rough.  They gave me Atarax as well but I don't use it really.  Just at night sometimes when he is have a particularlly bad day.