Eczema is a tricky skin condition that many babies and kids deal with, especially during a change of season. With eczema, skin becomes red, dry and cracked at which point it can start weeping (oozing) and become easily infected. The skin reaction can worsen in the summer, but winter is by far when dry skin and worsening eczema tend to occur.
Recommended Topical Products
The absolute best way to treat eczema and prevent it from happening is to restore the skin’s protective barrier with a good eczema-focused moisturizer. There are a few topical options that I recommend for babies and kids:
CeraVe Moisturizing Cream: this is less natural without plant-based ingredients but free of concerning ingredients. Sometimes the immune system has a reaction to plant-based ingredients in eczema cases. If so, this is a great product to consider.
Timing is Everything
The most important thing about topical moisturizer with acute dry skin and eczema is that you must get the lotion on within 3 minutes of a bath. I recommend a quick, 10-minute bath in warm water with no soap, and then get your kiddo out of the bath and barely dry them off before you slather them with the lotion. Year after year I find this to be the most crucial step.
Change in Diet is Key
In addition to topical treatments, I recommend increasing healthy fats in the diet (cold water fish like salmon, avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds). These healthy fats help to decrease inflammation and calm the immune system. Giving fish oil as a supplement and probiotics also help.
In really tricky cases I will move to looking at the digestive tract and “leaky” gut which can tip the immune system in the wrong direction.
Home Heat Sources can Play a Part
Other things to consider are adding a small amount of humidity to the environment. Often in the winter the furnace or wood stove dries out the air in the home considerably, which can cause a flair of eczema symptoms.
