The Battle is real: a parent's guide to caring for kids with eczema

Christine Pham-Cutaran's baby son Drew developed a rash just two weeks after he had been born. No biggie, she believed. "We're convinced it was baby a reaction to nursing or hormones," she explained.

But shortly prior to his 2-month checkup, Drew rubbed his cheeks raw into his sleep. In the morning, Pham-Cutaran saw blood on his sheets. That's when she realized his rash was more serious than infant acne, and she had been perfect. At 6 months, baby Drew was diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (AD), I tried best eczema gel for that. 

Pham-Cuteran along with her husband Joseph were up every night, holding their baby's arms so he wouldn't scratch. After their pediatrician's advice, they applied an anti-fungal cream to his oozy, reddish lips, but"his psoriasis simply got worse," she said.

Dr. Robert Sidbury, a pediatric dermatologist at Seattle Children's Hospital, knows the Cuterans' struggle all too well. According to current research, he endorses ancient, consistent moisturizing of the skin of babies born to eczema-prone families. Eczema runs in the family of Joseph Cuteran, therefore his son matches that profile.

An ounce of prevention

Sidbury mentioned a 2014 study printed in the Journal of Clinical Immunology that explored the benefits of moisturizing skin of high-risk babies as early as two weeks after birth.

Initial author Dr. Eric Simpson, a professor of dermatology at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, discovered that daily moisturizing with a petroleum- or long-term emollient reduced AD risk by 50 percent by the time the infants reached 6 weeks old.

"That's a substantial finding," explained Sidbury. "The only real caveat is the fact that it's still early in the research procedure. We are not certain if early moisturizing will prevent AD from developing later on, and we do not know if it is going to prevent comorbidities like asthma and allergies."

Still, he said, parents have every reason to embrace this potentially preventive strategy--one that's also comforting for baby and parent alike. For more details visit Exzma Skincare.