Baby itchy all the time

[Anonymous]

She’s 9 months old. She has eczema but we’re controlling it as much as we can. We use vanicream and Vaseline two or three times a day and any rashes she has are always very mild. We use hydrocortisone when she has a flare. We use free and clear laundry detergent. We run air filters in every room. We keep her nails short. We give her baths with no soap. If she really needs soap we use the gentle vanicream soap recommended by the dermatologist. She only wears bamboo and cotton onesies since she gets itchy when her skin is uncovered. We filter her bath water. We pat her dry and put her creams in immediately while her skin is still damp. We use dust mite covers on her mattress and ours since she spends a lot of time in our bed. We have had her tested for allergies after she had a reaction to eggs (skin and blood test) and she is definitely allergic to eggs and possibly peanuts, but not milk. I give her formula and breastfeed and I avoid her allergens and we read all ingredients in what she eats to make sure there are no eggs or peanuts. But she’s still SO ITCHY all the time. She’s generally a happy baby but sometimes she seems so miserable from the itch and it’s so hard for us to see. It gets especially bad at night. We often have to bear hug her or hold her down so she can stop scratching and get to sleep. Her doctor says to try giving her Zyrtec for a week or two to see if it helps. We tried last night but she was still up scratching in the early morning. Has anyone else had a baby like this? Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I had a baby like this. First of all, I will let you know that he is now 16 years old, swims competitively, and only uses topical steroids 3-4 times a year for chlorine rash, but is otherwise eczema free.

He was allergic to dairy, soy, eggs and some nuts, so I breastfed and avoided those allergens. He also had reflux, so he vomited a lot. He is still allergic to some nuts, but has outgrown the rest. We kept him in mittens and cotton seamless onesie, did vanicream and hydrolatum, the whole 9000 yards. We couldn’t sleep train him because he was so itchy and then he would cry and vomit. He would scratch the backs of his knees with his feet, so we wrapped his legs in muslin blankets to keep them separated and then swaddled him way past the normal stopping time. I held him to sleep every night. It was a lot.

A very experienced dermatologist told me not to be too sparing with topical steroids when he needed them, and that helped us a lot. Anytime we saw a flare, we treated right away and that helped him be more comfortable.


And then…I am not even sure when it happened that he became less itchy. I know that by the time he was 2.5, he was going to bed on his own, because that is when our second was born. I was worried that the new baby would be the same, but he had no allergies, no eczema, and was so easy to put to bed. Curiously, he has a tiny bit of eczema as a 13 year old, more than his older brother.

Your post brought up a lot of memories of how hard it was to take care of an itchy baby - you are doing a great job and it will get better! My advice is to not be too hesitant to use topical steroids. Our dermatologist assured us that most doctors are too conservative and that he had not seen thinned skin with judicious steroid use in his 40 year career, and that it was important that our baby be comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I had a baby like this. First of all, I will let you know that he is now 16 years old, swims competitively, and only uses topical steroids 3-4 times a year for chlorine rash, but is otherwise eczema free.

He was allergic to dairy, soy, eggs and some nuts, so I breastfed and avoided those allergens. He also had reflux, so he vomited a lot. He is still allergic to some nuts, but has outgrown the rest. We kept him in mittens and cotton seamless onesie, did vanicream and hydrolatum, the whole 9000 yards. We couldn’t sleep train him because he was so itchy and then he would cry and vomit. He would scratch the backs of his knees with his feet, so we wrapped his legs in muslin blankets to keep them separated and then swaddled him way past the normal stopping time. I held him to sleep every night. It was a lot.

A very experienced dermatologist told me not to be too sparing with topical steroids when he needed them, and that helped us a lot. Anytime we saw a flare, we treated right away and that helped him be more comfortable.


And then…I am not even sure when it happened that he became less itchy. I know that by the time he was 2.5, he was going to bed on his own, because that is when our second was born. I was worried that the new baby would be the same, but he had no allergies, no eczema, and was so easy to put to bed. Curiously, he has a tiny bit of eczema as a 13 year old, more than his older brother.

Your post brought up a lot of memories of how hard it was to take care of an itchy baby - you are doing a great job and it will get better! My advice is to not be too hesitant to use topical steroids. Our dermatologist assured us that most doctors are too conservative and that he had not seen thinned skin with judicious steroid use in his 40 year career, and that it was important that our baby be comfortable.

Thank you so much for your post. I can’t tell you how helpful it was.

[Anonymous]

I had a very itchy baby! He has lots of seasonal allergies but no food allergies. He's been on daily claritin or zrytec since about 3 years old. Before that we'd stop for a bit until I realized he just needs to be on it all the time for his symptoms to be better.

Like the PP said, we used cortisone which helped a lot. I was very anxious about using the least amount possible, but once it cleared up some of his worst spots I realize it was worse to have him so itchy.

Only one thing I'll point out: bamboo cotton is a type of polyester with a different name. Maybe try 100% cotton.

Also, what worked best for my itchy baby was mostly TIME. By the time he was over a year old he was better. We still have to rinse off every single day and change his sheet frequently. But sometimes I forget he was so itchy until I look back at all his baby pictures with his scalp SLICK with vaseline and a burp cloth under his greasy head .

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry, my second baby also has eczema and would scratch his cheeks until they bled. At 5-6 mo, we used rx steroid creams (like PP, our allergist was not very conservative about it; he said skin get damaged by scratching too so it’s a trade off). We did most of what you’re doing but also the following:

- nightly bath to moisturize the skin (not too warm, 95 degrees) for 5-10 minutes. Followed immediately by Vanicream (allergist said to apply it within 3 minutes of the bath).
-3x/day before naps and bedtime, apply Vanicream to his itchy spots. After letting it soak in about 10 minutes, apply Aquaphor on top to seal it in.
-Zipadee sleep sack so his hands are covered in the crib.

He’s 10 months now and the eczema has improved a lot. Our allergist said eczema often improves around 9 mo, and that’s been true for us. He rarely scratches until he bleeds. We haven’t needed the rx creams in months. We use extra Aquaphor when he has a flare up, and that works.

Good luck! I know how sad it is to see your baby so uncomfortable. I hope she is less itchy soon.

[Anonymous]

Instead of free and clear - assume you mean Tide?- try Meliora and a double rinse. Also aveeno oatmeal baby baths. The cotton is better than bamboo and agree on using cortisone when and as often as you need it.

[Anonymous]

I was doing everything possible for my baby and a chance encounter with a swimming pool on vacation made a huge difference. It was the chlorine. The Ped had recommended old fashioned bleach baths but I never tried it however the chlorinated water had the same effect. Try the bleach. It can kill whatever it is that’s living on the eczema skin.

My child had lots of food allergies too, so be careful trying new things.

[Anonymous]

Also I found cerave cream (in the pot) worked best. You might want to try it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I had a baby like this. First of all, I will let you know that he is now 16 years old, swims competitively, and only uses topical steroids 3-4 times a year for chlorine rash, but is otherwise eczema free.

He was allergic to dairy, soy, eggs and some nuts, so I breastfed and avoided those allergens. He also had reflux, so he vomited a lot. He is still allergic to some nuts, but has outgrown the rest. We kept him in mittens and cotton seamless onesie, did vanicream and hydrolatum, the whole 9000 yards. We couldn’t sleep train him because he was so itchy and then he would cry and vomit. He would scratch the backs of his knees with his feet, so we wrapped his legs in muslin blankets to keep them separated and then swaddled him way past the normal stopping time. I held him to sleep every night. It was a lot.

A very experienced dermatologist told me not to be too sparing with topical steroids when he needed them, and that helped us a lot. Anytime we saw a flare, we treated right away and that helped him be more comfortable.


And then…I am not even sure when it happened that he became less itchy. I know that by the time he was 2.5, he was going to bed on his own, because that is when our second was born. I was worried that the new baby would be the same, but he had no allergies, no eczema, and was so easy to put to bed. Curiously, he has a tiny bit of eczema as a 13 year old, more than his older brother.

Your post brought up a lot of memories of how hard it was to take care of an itchy baby - you are doing a great job and it will get better! My advice is to not be too hesitant to use topical steroids. Our dermatologist assured us that most doctors are too conservative and that he had not seen thinned skin with judicious steroid use in his 40 year career, and that it was important that our baby be comfortable.

Thank you so much for your post. I can’t tell you how helpful it was.

PP. I remember how hard it was to watch our baby try to scratch at every opportunity. I felt like I couldn’t ever leave him alone, even with mittens on.

It might have just been our experience, but I found that general pediatricians were sympathetic but tended to be very cautious with steroid use. Baby eczema is so common, we didn’t feel a need to go to a dermatologist at first. Being reassured by a dermatologist that topical steroids have been used since the 1950s, and that we could successfully treat the eczema with judicious use of stronger topical steroids was enormously helpful. Best of luck OP, to you and your beautiful baby.

[Anonymous]

It's allergies. Please be very careful of cross contamination. Once the allergens is actually eliminated, then thr eczema disappears completely. It can be a very long road, though.

[Anonymous]

Itch does sound like allergies. Is there a pet in your home?

Oils can be helpful. Try the Pipette oil. The aveeno colloidal lotion was my personal favorite - vanicream is good for sensitive skin but it’s not very emollient.

Hypochlorous acid spray can help as well, but run it by the pediatrician first.

[Anonymous]

PS my eczema baby was allergic to his diapers so watch for that too

[Anonymous]

Aveeno oatmeal baths helped us.