If I’m given a wish, I would wish for another wish (*kiasu*) and ask for #1 health and happiness always for Ewan and #2 a better, smoother skin for Ewan.
Well, we saw this coming even before he was born; my hubby has a history of eczema and the likelihood of Ewan inheriting it was rather high. True enough, as far as I could remember, his skin was never smooth like a baby’s bum.
What Is Atopic Dermatitis/Infantile Eczema?
Wikipedia: An inflammatory, chronically relapsing, non-contagious and pruritic skin disorder. The skin of a patient with atopic dermatitis reacts abnormally and easily to irritants, food, and environmental allergens and becomes red, flaky and very itchy.
After months of buying, throwing out and changing toiletries, we’ve finally found a recipe that works in containing and relieving his skin condition. Here’s our journey:
Before he was born, I stayed positive and bought him a set of ordinary but premium toiletries, namely Chicco Dermo Solution:
He reacted within a day of using this range. Under a paediatrician’s advice, we switched to Sebamed Baby:
A week after, his skin flared up again, with rashes all over his face and body. We went a notch milder and chose Cetaphil:
The key approach to containing atopic dermatitis is by keeping the skin moisturized at all times. Unfortunately, the Cetaphil range failed in this function.
More visits to the doctor followed, where he was prescribed with Decocort and Elomet, both of which contained steroid. Albeit effective, these cream left temporary white patches on my baby’s skin. Imagine how potent they are….
I wanted something safe and natural for him. After much research and asking around with a substantial amount of money being spent, the combination of products below finally helped to relieve Ewan’s skin:
My sinseh wannabe mom shared her recipe of bathing him in a herbal concoction, which worked wonders too:
Clear, smooth skin is possible for Ewan!
Fren, Elomet is not a very good one especially for the babies…as this wil leave the scar behind once heal. I myself is using the Eubos & find the product is mild & suitable for all skin types. Just want to share wif u on this.
By the way, Ewan is really cute & i believe he wil b very “leng chai” when he grows up later 🙂
Thanks for dropping by, Sye Fen! Didn’t know you have eczema too. Steve’s is really bad. Sometimes it got so itchy he scratched until his skin bled. That’s why I’m trying my best to contain Ewan’s skin condition now; didn’t want it to deteriorate like his daddy’s. So happy to see his skin as smooth as his bum this morning.
Thanks for the compliments! I believe a cute baby is a result of a cute mommy too, hehehe! 😀
Actually i have been following on your blogs for quite sometimes 🙂 Really not an easy way to become a mum… but i do see that u are enjoyin the process now..
I don’t have eczema, just that coincidence that 2 of your products caught my attention & my family members uses it for other treatment, so, thought of sharing it with you 🙂
Ah dui…this mummy, banyak perasan 🙂 Is combination btw u & ur hubby le…that’s why Ewan so cute..giv some credits to your hubby too 🙂
Just to drop a note to say I love you very much! Muaks… now you sleeping and kkkrrroooking,,, hehe.
I love you too!
hi joey!
I followed the link from your used grovia thread on diapersasia. just browsing around, and thought I’d drop a comment on this post because it’s relevant to me too.
My baby (now 6 months) also has eczema. I noticed it will break out after he sweats. I’m using Bud’s Soothing Organics – Soothing baby lotion for the eczema prone areas and I’m happy with the results. You can also combine with the soothing baby wash. These 2 products are specifically good for eczema prone skin. Just wanna share 🙂
By the way, drop by my website, I can add you to the Malaysian CD Moms listing too 😉
Hi Farhana,
Thanks for sparing some time in my blog and sharing some tips on eczema. I’ll try out the Bud’s range once my Aveeno cream finishes. Currently my baby is using Eubos Cream Bath Oil, followed by a layer of baby oil, then body cream. These are enough to keep his skin moisturised at the moment.
I’ve been a regular to your website for a while now; it’s my CD bible 🙂 Keep it up ya!
Thanks again!
hello joey, my fren gave me ur blog. so glad to read your experieence that your son is recovered from the problem. my son, 7 mths old is also facing eczema problem. his body sometimes can be very reddening, rahes all over his body and super the dry, very rough.sigh..he cannot apply olive oil, sebamec lotion, and J7J baby cream. now taking the Aqua cream, and balneum intensive plus..have u tried the above before? he seems cannot apply oil bcause after applying the oil, seems become worse. and once he sweats, getting very more serious.. now everyday he is under air-conditoned, so worry and i personally think air-cond no good as it will make my son’s skin even more dry. what to do?? sigh..sad sad sad.. and worse is, he has been using elomet for quite some times, hydrocort and also ezora. but still doesnt helps. i can see the scar now:(( doc precribed him to take cetaphil. n he is using cetaphil. this morning my MIL brought him to see doc at LGL, doc told us he has to take oral medication now. and change the milk powder. gosh.. what can help him anyway?mind to share which brand of milk powder ur son is taking? breastmilk?
Hi Calixta, thanks for dropping by my blog!
Your son’s skin conditions seem more serious than Ewan’s. He used Cetaphil before but it didn’t do much in maintaining his skin moisture. Hence I switched to Eubos Cream Bath Oil, which works wonders. If you want, I can always pour some Eubos bath oil for you to try and see if your baby is OK with it. Just let me know and we can arrange to meet up.
A friend of mine recently tried my mom’s roots potion and it worked too. I can share a little bit with you as well.
I find that the condition becomes worse especially after a hot day and baby sweats. That’s why it’s always important to keep baby’s skin dry and clean. For air-condition, put a glass of water so that the air isn’t so dry. Try not to use Elomet or any steroid-based products. They cause skin thinning. Have you tried Ezerra? My friend who is a doctor that works in skin clinic said this product works like steroid but doesn’t contain this ingredient.
Maybe he’s allergic to cow’s milk if he’s taking formula? My baby is fully on breastmilk now.
If you want to try out the Eubos or roots, email me ya?
hey thanks for replying me, thanks sye fen for your helps 🙂 yes, i almost forgot, he tried also the ezerra.. but i thought the spelling is ezora?? is akind of ointment, packing with teddy bear one right? cannot also. hydrocort cream type + the ezerra or ezora, not really worked for him. aiyo.. very worried. now doc ask the change milk powder, cause i fail to breastfeed him, only success for 3 weeks. 😦 ant simultaneously, he has to take oral med. will check out the ingredient when i back home. sigh.. i apply him elomet for 3 mths ade i guess. charm lo..i know will cause thinning but i have no idea cause only elomet and hydrocort can control him. but will not end, will come on and off. and sometimes getting worse. ok, will email you if i need, go back check with my husband. btw, the above products, must be used all 4 kind at the same time? and one of them only can get in US? :((
Yes Ezerra is the cream with teddy bear branding. Perhaps you can try and change milk powder, see if that works?
Are you based in Penang too? The products I wrote in my blog are just for reference and based on my experience, it’s not a medical recommendation. So it may or may not suit your baby. For me, if all 4 products are used diligently, my son’s skin can be maintained better. Yes, the Aveeno cream can only be purchased in US but it’s really good. Another good moisturiser that my sister recommended lately is Physiogel from Ireland. She bought it from her paediatrician in Subang Jaya.
Hi Calixta, my fren is based in KL.
Hi Joey, my fren, Calixta is based in Pg.
Just maybe to let you both know. 🙂
Sye Fen
hahaha.. cannot meet up then :p never noted with thanks. how good if i can get the aveeno cream. hmm.. sounds like i have no option now, have to give the oral medicine. is antihistamine by zyrtec. heard before? checked online, seems also will harm bb as will cause drowsiness, kind like flu med. he is now taking enfalac A+, have to change to enfalac HA. sigh..think i believe in my PD too much ade last time. and his prob been dragged too long :((
Hi Calixta,
Just to let you know that I managed to bring in the Aveeno cream from US. If you’re interested to get some, do visit http://sundaylily.blogspot.com/
Thanks!
hey joey, sorry that i didnt realise u write me msg here. think i will temporarily on hold the cream as my boy is now taking antihistamine and applying the emulsifying cream concurrently,and the result seems better. will see how and thanks for offering 🙂
No worries, just to inform you only 😀
Hello. Thank God I’ve read your blog! My little girl has not yet turned 2 months but her face has already turned into a crusty flaky one. It really hurts me looking at her like this. Many times she tries to reach her face and rub it, or rub her face on me when I carry her…I bet it’s too itchy. You’ve mentioned that the most effective method was that of herbal. I am really desperately interested to know how to make that or how I can avail one. Please share to me your knowledge. Thank you so much.
Hello,
May I know where are you based at? Perhaps if it’s in KL Malaysia, I can pass some to you. Do read up my other posts on managing eczema to see what will work for you. If you’re Breastfeeding, it could be something you’ve consumed that your baby is allergic to. Environment plays an important role as well.
Let me know ok?
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hello joey,my son happen to have the same skin problem as yours.thank you so much for this entry as it really help me in finding solution for my baby.i have search through the internet before and i did find some info about eubos,cetaphil,aveeno product but i’m not so confident to try it.But now i’m going to try it.before this my son used the steroid cream that i get from paed,the eczema did go away but it’lll come back after few days.and i dun want to use the steroid cream because of the side effects.The paed also told me that my son might be allergic to cow milk protein.that is way the eczema occurs.hermm…fortunately,the eczema only happen in his face not the whole body.i’ll try first the product that u used.tq again 🙂
Hi, can you share the formula or the herbs you posted. How much should use to shower? I have a 5 years old boy suffering very bad atopic azema for last 2 years. He was ok 1-3 years. Blood test shows he is allergy to egg, wheat and garlic which we have stopped him from eating those and follow strictly to doctor advice. After 2 years consecutive treatment by Skin Specialist the situation is not improving but the drug prescription (both oral and external use) is increasingly every visits. We finally decided to stop it and changed to traditional treatment/non steroid treatment. Getting frustrated as not much improvement after 5 months traditional treatment.
Hi Chris, if your boy has been using steroid medications for a while, it will take some time before his body recover from the steroid withdrawal symptoms. This drug is vicious but widely prescribed unfortunately.
It has been a while since I used the herbs, will have to ask my mom what is it again. Right now, what works for my boy whenever his eczema flares up is Epsom salt and Pinetarsol solution for bath soak, followed by lots of Physiogel cream, Lucas Papaw ointment and Florasone anti-itch cream (homeopathy) or Eurax anti-itch cream (urea cream) on bad days. When it’s so bad that it affects his personality, I give low dosage of anti-histamine plus LactoGG probiotics.
Where can I get this Avenno moisturizer? Izit available in pharmacy?
We got this particular Aveeno moisturiser from US. I still have one brand new, unused one left. You may have it. My boy no longer using it. Where are you based? If you can collect from me at my house in PJ area, that would be good as I’m in confinement period now.
Thanking you in advance. My wife will find ways to reach you. We are staying near damansara area. Can you email me your address and ctc number?
Btw, Congrats on your new born baby!
Hi there. Can u give me an idea how to tackle ezcema? My boy is 5 months old n has developed red rashes on his cheeks. Quite a bad incident recently as previously when we apply buds soothing rescue, it will go away almost immediately. This time the rashes are staying n quite stubborn. It gets better during the day when we keep him cool n put buds soothing on his quite religiously. But at night, he scratches his face a lot when sleeping with his mist n this has caused abrasion to his rashes n it goes red all over again. Currently I have bought ezzera cream, cetaphil lotion, Lucas paw paw . May I know if I should use all of it at once? Or should it be buds soothing paired with ezzera? N how often can I apply the creams n lotion on him. Look forward to hear from u.
Hi, sorry hope you don;t mind i asked you this question after years of your blog. Can I know which Subang Jaya paediatrician you got Physiogel ? I would like to buy it. Thanks