My little one is 2 next month. He has eczema mainly above his genitals. As soon as I take his nappy off he claws at himself and I am constantly battling him, attempting to hold two hands with one of mine while I change him with the other. It is a nightmare for me and him. The eczema doesn't actually look bad, in fact most days you can barely see it but he just can't stop scratching. I turned my back for about 30 seconds once and when I looked back he had blood dripping down his legs because of the scratching.

The doctor said that his eczema will not go until his last four molars come through. We have tried the following: 50/50, vaseline, sudocrem, oilatum. we only bath him once a week as that triggers it off despite using oilatum in the bath. he also claws at himself in the bath. he has cream (one of the above) on after every nappy change.

I don't think I will ever be able to potty train him as I can't leave his nappy off for even a second. he can't even run around without trousers on as his hand goes straight into the side of his nappy. he is not trying to grab his genitals, just scratch the whole area.

Do you think switching to cotton nappies would help?
Is there ANYONE with experience of this????? Please HELP!!!!!!!:\?

Switching to cotton nappies has got to be worth a try. I have recently gone back to using them for Millie and I haven't had any problems with nappy rash or anything. If the eczema is mainly in that area then it is possible that it could be made worse by something in the nappies. Do you have a local nappy laundry service near you? If you do that would mean you could give it a try without having to shell out a lot of money up front for something that might not help. Hope you manage to find something to help, it must be horrible for both of you at the minute.
Kerry xx

thanks bedhead. What exactly does a local nappy service do? I am unfamiliar with this.
Thanks .x

They deliver clean nappies each week and then pick up the dirty ones, it saves you having to wash them! It is more expensive than washing them yourself but it would save you having to buy a lot of nappies just to see if it helped. It depends where you live but have a look at this
http://www.cottontails.co.uk/index.html
They do a home trial pack as well, so they would lend you the nappies for 2 weeks to wash at home and see how you got on.

The website looks great but unfortunately they dont deliver to my area. I will find out if there is somewhere that does thought. There is a meeting about these types of nappies at our local library on Thursday so I will find out what I can there!
thanks for your help!!!!!!

Oh your poor boy! - Have you tried putting gloves on him while you change him? when he scratches at least he won't break the surface of the skin. or would he just take them straight off?
It is a shame that you can't take the nappy off because if he was able to go naked round the house he would be able to get some air on the area.
I personally found with my first son that some products such as the oilatum made him a lot worse. Also that he got wetter quicker in the real nappies and that agravate the situation. have you tried a different brand of nappies? it's really difficult to know how to resolve this for your poor boy.
my son did not have it as bad as yours by the sound of it but he did grow out of it so it will get better.
best of luck, julesy

had an awful day yesterday. When he has his lunchtime nap in his cot I always put his pyjama bottoms on so that he can't get his hand in his nappy. He was having a bit of a tantrum beacause he was tired and I forgot to put his bottoms on. When he woke up, I noticed his hand was convered in blood. I checked his nappy and there was blood everywhere. He now has scratches all over his 'bits'. Poor thing, I cried because i feel so helpless.

Gloves are a good idea Julesy - at least that would reduce the severity of the scratching. He is two next month and I am going to try and potty train him asap because that will stop the problem altogether.

I hope it does anyway:\?

poor little thing, it must be so painful and distressing for him. I hope you are ok - it's making me well up just thinking about him so no wonder you're crying. I can't believe in this day and age your dr or health visitor can't find anything that will actually help him clear this up! Best of luck with the potty training - I will be thinking of you, julesy

Caseymay - how are you getting on? how is your little boy? I have been thinking of you both and hope its going better, xx

Caseymay - how are you getting on? how is your little boy? I have been thinking of you both and hope its going better, xx

Hi,
My brother has bad eczema and the only cream that works for him is E45 (not the lotion, only the cream in the tube). You could try this maybe?
Hope he get better soon

Hi,

Well my little one still has the eczema.
He woke up this morning squirming all over the place because he was itching. The only way to stop this is to potty train him. I am planning to do this once the weather gets better. Poor little thing - I feel so helpless and the docs say there is nothing they can do.

Where is the sunshine???????

Have you tried aromotherapy oils, both my youngest 2 have really bad eczema and my daughter is out of nappies and still has it on her bits and my 7 month old has it really bad on his back and legs and after going on a course last wek i thought i would try the oils so I have started using olive oils with just 2 drops of lavender in it and I have been pleasantly suprised as it has dried it up so much and like you have previously tried oilatum and hydrocortisone cream but even olive oil on its own was better than any cream the doctors had prescribed and both my little ones love the massage as well good luck x

Oooh - I love the idea of olive oil and lavender. I shall buy some olive oil this afternoon. When you say 2 drops - how much olive oil to 2 drops? Is it 2 drops to the bottle????

Thanks for such a great natural suggestion - will try it asap!!!!!

Its easier to put in about 10 mls or so in a pot then add the 2 drops of lavender , my little ones love it and my 2 year old loves lying down and having a massage and is definetly working on my 2 especially the little one of 7 month and his skin is looking so much better , hope it works for you x