Starting with washing powder, I'm starting to think that just changing brand can trigger a flare-up, so I stick with Surcare although I've heard good things about Dreft - I think this is because the detergents in soap and other household products can trigger eczema and Dreft has less detergent than other brands. Surcare is perfume free but still has detergent, but it seems to work better for us than our previous brand which was Fairly and I dont want to change again. I've also tried liquid soap flakes - these leave the clothes a little hard but contain no detergents. http://www.solveeczema.org explains a lot about eczema caused by detergent allergies, if your in the UK and believe that detergent is responsible for your babies allergies then the brands of household products they mention as being detergent free substititues aren't really available here, however pure liquid soap flakes are available in most supermarkets, the cheap plain unscented veg soaps are often SLS free. For household cleaners then perhaps using some old fashioned remedies for cleaning, vinegar, baking soda etc would be the way to go. I always do an extra rinse after washing clothes to make sure no powder residue is left.
Moving onto bathing, luke warm but not hot baths every couple of days works best for us, I tried a few things in the bath including the soap substitute the doctor gave us which was Dermol
Keeping baby cool is important, certainly in our case heat seems to be an issue, I've dispensed with the 'always wear a vest' theory and I watch the tempreture closely at night. I always dress baby in cotton clothing to help keep her comfortable - special eczema clothing is available on prescription from the NHS - dermasilk, however it's only prescribed in severe cases so it might be worth buying direct from the manufacturers http://www.dermasilk.co.uk/ personally I haven't tried it and I don't know anyone who has.
Keeping babies fingernails short really helps us, that way if she scratches she's less likely to draw blood, I use Emmay Care Baby Nail Clippers
Food allergies is interesting, they've recently discovered that breast feeding doesn't protect against eczema - a milk allergy could trigger eczema but then again so could a reaction to the detergent used when you wash your babies bottles or even the handwash you use, changing milk away from the major brands to soy or a hyperallergenic formula is probably something only to be done after checking with your doctor - soy formula isnt recommended for babies as it doesnt contain all of the nutrients they need - a doctor would prescribe a hyperallergenic formula if they thought it necessary. I have the impression that if baby is feeding and gaining weight well then doctors are reluctant to prescribe hyperallergenic milk for something like mild eczema.
Moisturising - I do this once or twice a day if bathing - after the bath its important to apply emmoilent as soon as possible, we were prescribed Diprobase Cream Emollient 500g
For flare-ups I use the prescribed hydrocortizone cream once a day, at other times or if the eczema is very mild I use 'Aveeno baby eczema therapy cream' at every nappy change, this is steriod free and available from Skin Soft and possibly ebay as well. For significant flare-ups if I've already used the steriod cream that day then I use Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream
