Baby skin problems - cradle cap and baby eczema

Our baby girl has been having skin problems. In the past two months, I done quite a lot of research (visiting websites, forums, talking to my mommy friends, even the odd doctor visit) and I thought I should share what I learned about baby eczema with all my family and friends, just in case (but hopefully not) you encounter the same problems as we do. Her cradle cap (dry crusty patches on head scalp) first started around Week 3-4. A week later, there were yellow crusties forming around her eyebrows, nose and ears.

Like any other new parents, Anders and I freaked out and went to a clinic right away. It turned out that Alison has baby eczema and the way to get rid of it is to use steroid cream and antibacterial cream on all the troubled areas. At first I was not very comfortable using steroid cream on our baby, but the more I read about eczema, the more troublesome I found the problem to be. Eczema is a form of extreme dry skin condition. It causes itchiness and the more you scratch, the worse it is. So in order to ease her discomfort, we had to use the steroid cream and it proved to work wonders.

It first started with red patches around the eyebrow areas:


Then the yellow crusties started to form:

It was a constant battle. It would get better some days and worse on other days. A couple of weeks later, there were rashes on her body and the skin was VERY rough - almost like sand paper. When I changed her clothes, I found A LOT of dead skin in her sleeper. It was just a sickening sight. I went to see another doctor for the rashes and he said it was eczema as well. I must have seen four doctors altogether and they all asked me to do the same thing. Put lotion on baby, check to see if she is allergic to something that I ate and put steroid cream on her whenever the baby eczema flared up.

If you click on the picture, you will see that there are rashes on her body:

I was very determined to eliminate her baby eczema and here is what I do every day to help Ali:

1. Use perfume free detergent to wash her clothes. I tried a few different brands and the one seemed to work well was Nature Clean. It did not remove stains that well, but baby skin seemed to agree with it. Try Oxy Clean Babies to remove stains before hand. Out of pure paranoia, I used the double rinse option on the washer as well.

2. We used Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture cream for her body. We have tried regular Aveeno baby lotion and it didn't work for Ali. Since I was rubbing lotion all over her body, I might as well give her a little massage. She loves it and a nice relaxing massage has become one of our morning rituals.

3. Once the eczema has cleared up on her face, the skin gets really dry and flaky. I tried using Aveeno, but it seemed to irritate her skin even more. After a few tries, I found that Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion for sensitive skin worked quite well.

Here is a picture of her dry and flaky phase:

4. Note what you are eating and see if there is any relationship between the baby's rash and the food that you ate. My girl's eczema seemed to flare up whenever I have seafood (fish, crab, prawns, jellyfish, etc.) and eggs. Her skin looked MUCH better after I stayed away from them.

5. As for the cradle cap, apply a generous amount of olive oil (any vegetable oil or baby oil would be okay too) on the scalp. Let it sit for a few hours. Then use a hair brush to remove the loosen pieces.

Here is a picture of her cradle cap:

6. Use warm water (not too hot) for bath and do not use too much soap on the baby. I only use soap at the end of the bath and apply it to mostly the diaper areas. Babies at this age do not move around much and so it is not really necessary to use soap (unless you let them roll around in the sand or something, they are usually pretty clean).

7. Don't try this unless you are desperate. My mom told me that drinking boiled water may help with baby's skin problems. I did not believe this at first, but for some reason, it seemed to help with the flaring. Chinese people think that the water in Canada is "too cold" for our body and so boiling it first would help to remedy the problem. I know it seems a little hocus pocus, but you do what you have to do in desperate times.

Ali is now 16 weeks old and her skin is still not 100%, though her condition has improved significantly. I can't tell you how frustrated I was with her eczema for the past two months. I guess persistent is the key and don't ever give up. It really takes time for the dry skin to go away. I was secretly jealous of all the babies around me. How come they have such beautiful skin? And when I found another mom who had similar experience as myself, I just kept on asking and badgering them the ways to combat eczema. I am so relieved that she is finally getting better!

Look at her pretty face! Her skin is much smoother and softer than before.