Eczema

Lucas has had eczema for as long as I could remember. It is mainly on his cheeks and forehead, and a few spots here and there on his trunk. I wasn't fussed initially, it's not uncommon for babies to have lumpy bumpy bits on their skin isn't it? Not until it started cracking and weeping and it didn't help with little fingers scratching, and big adult ones touching and pinching those adorable cheeks. (Not to mention mummy's daily shower of kisses!)

I used Lucas' paw paw ointment, which works for everything under the sun: mozzie bites, cuts, heat rash, any other lumps and bumps, nappy rash, cracked lips and even grazed nipples. I swore by it. I have a tube in every handbag. It was so great they even named it after my son... O.o (not!) Eczema left for a little while, but came back with a vengence.

Then I tried saline dressings. I remember this from my brief stint as a paediatric resident. Basically it's just keeping the skin moist. It's rather fiddly and doesn't quite work for a 6 month old bub. I tried mosturizers, from first pressed pure sunflower oil to the finest certified organic baby mosturizer. All of which did not work. I left it alone, ignored it, pretended it wasn't there. Not for long, Lucas kept scratching, it bled, he cried and cried, it woke him, he woke us... poor thing.

The doctor (nope not me) prescribed a light corticosteroid cream, which is effective but not better than the paw paw ointment.

Where do I go from here? I didn't think it could be the food that he's grown to love because it was there even before I started him on solids.

A few days ago, I eliminated dairy from my diet. It seemed to have gotten better. I lost a couple of kilos too! Great...

Does that mean I can no longer have froth on my coffee????