Infant or baby eczema is a condition that scares many parents. This condition appears on the face, upper chest, scalp and neck in the first months of life. Later on it may occur also on the forearms and shins. There are a number of facts regarding baby eczema that parents should be aware of. Parents should notice if there occur tiny blisters which may open and leak some fluid or if the baby’s skin is very dry overall. If the baby’s condition is really serious, it may involve the whole skin. Generally speaking such manifestations do not involve the area around the mouth, the nose or the diaper areas that are usually free of eczema. If the areas of skin on the forearms and shins are thickened between the ages of twelve and eighteen months, parents should not be worried since this happens due to babies’ crawling a lot.
Eczema or dermatitis, with baby eczema included, are terms used to describe some skin conditions recognized by symptoms such as very itchy and dry skin, reddening, swelling, cracking or scaling of the skin. Though eczema can occur almost anywhere on the body, in babies it mainly appears on the scalp, chest, and forehead as well as around joints. In very severe cases, baby eczema can become extremely itchy and irritating for the baby and it can even disturb their sleep. Very many babies suffer from atopic eczema which is usually hereditary. This condition tends to occur and develop somewhere around the age of two or three months. Atopic eczema represents an oversensitivity of the immune system with reactions of the sufferers to environmental aspects that normally do not elicit an immune response. Whether babies develop eczema because other members of the family suffer from atopic conditions such as asthma, hay fever or eczema it is still not very clear and certain. Another possibility for babies to develop baby eczema may be prolonged exposure to a specific allergen.
Regarding the treatment of baby eczema it must be pointed out that there is no specific catch-all treatment, unluckily, since it is an allergic condition. Fortunately several treatments and remedies have been developed and they can help improve the suffering babies’ conditions significantly. These remedies for baby eczema include moisturizing, careful bath times, avoiding detergents, using cotton clothes, being careful about the babies’ diets, and keeping pets away. Besides, parents should make sure they keep the baby’s environments dust free, as well as minimize scratching through cutting the baby’s nails short.
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