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Eczema:

Eczema is a very common rash that many infants develop. Most often, it appears between the ages of 2 months and 2 years, and it usually involves a rash on the forehead, cheeks or scalp. It can also spread from there to other parts of the baby's body.

What does the rash look like?
It can actually appear differently on different babies. It may just look like dry scaly skin, or it may appear as red oozy bumps or blisters.

How does a baby get eczema?
It is hereditary, so your baby likely was just born with it, and something triggered it so that the rash appeared.

Is it common?
Yes, as many as 10 to 20 percent of babies will develop it at some point during their first year of life, but with many of these babies, it goes away by the time they are two.

How is it treated?
There are many ways to treat eczema or to ease the itching of the rash, and a few of these are:

• Don't let baby's skin become too dry. You should use moisturizers and lotions to help put some moisture into their skin, which can help make it better.

• Use mild soaps, as this can help with keeping baby's skin from drying out and harsher soaps can irritate the rash even further.

• Avoid rapid changes in temperature, because this can make your baby's eczema flair up.

• Reduce allergens in the air as much as possible. You can do this by using a vacuum cleaner with an allergen-reducing filter, or an air conditioning system that does this.

• Have your baby wear the proper clothes—itchy clothes like wool will make the rash worse, and will also make it itch more. Instead of putting these kinds of clothing on your child, you should put breathable clothing like cotton on them.

• Don't let your child get too hot. The hotter skin becomes, the drier it gets, and the drier the skin is, the more the eczema will act up.

• While it's hard to tell if a baby is itching, since they can't tell you when they are, you should assume that, if your baby cries often with no explanation, or if they are having trouble sleeping at night, it might be the itching of the rash that is the culprit. If this is the case, you should talk with your pediatrician about an over the counter antihistamine. If they say that you should give one to your child, they will also be able to tell you which kind to use and how much to give your baby.

• If your baby's eczema doesn't seem to be getting any better, you may want to talk with your pediatrician, and ask about medications to help it. They may only want to do this in extreme cases, because treatment usually involves some sort of oral steroid medication.

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