Fighting the face rash

It happens with all of my kids. I don't treat it and it eventually disappears. I hate that rotten rash.

I wonder now, if it was a dairy allergy thing. My kids all seemed to wind up constipated from my dairy intake, so I wonder if the face rash was the first sign of it. I'll be going super-light on the dairy during the next pregnancy in hopes of staving off the dairy sensitivity. I'll probably go dairy free after the birth. I wonder what the effect will be.

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I know you don't want to hear this, mostly because your doctor has already told you and you're still obsessing...but babies get rashes. On their faces. It's not a big deal. If the Dr. has said it isn't a big deal, then it really isn't. Yeah, it's unsightly, but lots of things babies do are unsightly. Wait till he starts walking and covers himself in so many bruises that he looks like an abuse victim. :)

If I were you I'd leave his face alone, wait it out, and stop wasting your money at the doctors. Save all that worrying for when he really gets sick. That first cold is terrifying, and don't get me started on croup.

Good luck, and don't sweat the small stuff.

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I think you're on the right track, actually. Keep him as dry as you can, with bibs and burp cloths (we used cloth diapers for this, and now have about 100 of them all over the house - they're soft and absorbent and great for mopping up drool, milk, tears...). My daughter had a minor case of eczema on her face for the first six months or so of her life, in two circles on her forehead and temple. We moisturized it at night and applied hydrocortisone when it got very irritated. Eventually it just went away.

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Baby A got a rash at that same age. It started when she spent a weekend around visitors who had washed their clothes in a perfumed detergent—Tide, in our case. The rash was in the places where she'd rested her head on their shoulders.

I do think babies' skin goes through a sensitive phase around that time. For us, it was hard to see (it was actually all over her belly and back, too) but not a real health concern. Her skin adjusted, and it was done with after about six weeks. It didn't seem to be itchy--she was no more fussy. In fact, she was quite happy. I think you can judge the seriousness of a condition to a good degree by your baby's mood. Is he generally happy?

- L

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I've had very good luck with the Aveeno baby lotion that comes in a tube and a dark blue lid.

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One of the other bloggers on this site wrote up a report about bathing kids and linked to a document that said that baby skin is about 1/5 the thickness of an adults. Babies are delicate, skinwise, and they get rashes. The most infuriating thing about that rash is that to you he is the most beautiful thing in the world and you know that the rash interferes with others seeing him that way as well. It will go away, slowly, hopefully by around 4 months but perhaps later - like 6 months, but it will go away.

If he starts to itch, stop using the hydrocortisone if he breaks the skin. There is a lot of evidence that hydrocortisone is effective in babies and children in managing eczema, but not so in adults, and represents the least problematic treatment that is effective. Keep his fingernails short, and start using neosporin or bacitracin if there is broken skin - if there are signs of infection take him in for antibiotics and ointment like Bactroban. Vaseline is the gold standard of ointments really, not Aquaphor (it just costs a lot). I would rather have my babies have an ugly rash for their first 4 months or so then the eczema that they have now (and the infections that sometimes come because they scratch in their sleep).

The good news is that about when your son is really getting a personality the rash should be gone or retreating and it will no longer be a barrier between himself and the rest of the world.

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You got a lot of good advice already, but I just wanted to add my two cents. My daughter also had bad eczema when she was really little, and like above posters said, rashes go away and usually get less severe/common as they get older. Also, sometimes all the creams and lotions and attention irritate the skin and keep it from healing on its own. Maybe you are overkilling it. Put on the hydrocortisone cream at night, and then seal it in with some aquafor. Then during the day try to just leave it alone and keep it as dry and clean as possible (washing only with plain cool water if you have to).

I stopped eating dairy (which I love) for a few months and that really helped her skin. I originally stopped because it seemed to give here bad reflux. Luckily she was just intolerant to dairy and not allergic, so I was able to resume eating my favorite foods when she was about five months.

Also, perfumed laundry detergent definitely aggravated her skin. Dreft works pretty good, but it does tend leave a build up of residue on your cloths and it is expensive. I now use Charlie's Soap for all my laundry and I don't have to do her cloths separate. I love the stuff. http://www.charliesoap.com/

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We went through this also. Best news I can give you is that he will likely grow out of it soon, as our little one did.

What worked for us:
Vanicream (hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, available at drugstore.com)

Definitely switch to a sensitive-skin detergent

I would discontinue the hydrocortisone. Extended use thins the baby's skin and it's not really recommended on the face. Best of luck!

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My daughter has a rash on her face and my pediatrician prescribed us eledin, she said it's similar to hydrocortizone but it doesn't have any steriod in it and it's working really well

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We use ALL free-and-clear on all of our laundry, sheets and towels included. Whenever we switch, my son gets rashes.

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My daughter had the same kind of rash when she was about 2 months old. I was told it was infantile eczema. I was prescribed a double base moisturising cream ( you can also get triple base) and a bath emoilient. I did not use any other products in her bath at all. These controlled it briliantly! Now she is 10 months old although she has sensitive skin - she nevers gets the bad face rash anymore.

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My three year old daughter still has a rash similar to this - over the years its got infected(as she sucks her thumb) and we have been through loads of cortizone creams. We have had allergy tests which were fairly inconclusive- however we eliminated dairy foods & milk solids (not easy with a wee babe)and it is greatly improved. We still have not got a fail safe treatment and have accepted its eczema. But she certainly hasn't grown out of it yet.

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