Children and babies often have fairly dry skin as it produces less natural oils. In fact, in the UK, one in five children have uncomfortably dry skin or eczema – so it’s a lot more common than you might think.

Children’s eczema

What should we avoid?

What else can we do?

Children’s eczema
Atopic eczema affects one in eight children, and almost 30% of all new-born babies could potentially develop it. It usually starts in young babies who have dry, itchy cheeks, then moves down the body to affect areas like the backs of the knees and inside of elbows. If it’s more severe, the whole body could be affected.

While it can be upsetting to see your child constantly scratching, the E45 range has plenty of ideas for soothing their dry skin, and there’s lots you can do around the home to make things more comfortable too.

What should we avoid?
Some of the things we come into contact with everyday can trigger or aggravate dry skin and eczema. Follow the tips below to make your home as skin-friendly as possible…

• Avoid dressing children in woolly clothes, as it can make skin hot and itchy. Cotton clothes will let their skin breathe
• Bed linen makes a difference too – choose cotton sheets and covers, and avoid pillows or duvets that contain feathers
• Keep bedrooms cool as being too hot can make itching worse. In warmer weather, try placing a saucer of water in the room to keep some moisture in the air
• Choose non-biological washing powders and fabric conditioners
• Fur and feathers can aggravate eczema, so keep pets out of the house where possible
• House dust mites can make eczema flare up, so try to keep dust to a minimum
• Sometimes, dairy foods like milk and eggs could be making skin conditions worse – ask your doctor or dietician if you think this might be the case
• Avoid soap and fragranced bubble bath, as these can be really drying. E45’s got some great alternatives

What else can we do?
When the temptation becomes unbearable, encourage children to pat or rub their skin rather than scratch. Keep their fingernails short too, to minimise the damage they’ll do when they do scratch.

Eczema can make life pretty miserable for your child, especially if the nights are warm and they’re finding their itchy skin makes it difficult to get to sleep. So as well as keeping their skin moisturised and knowing what to avoid, try to stay positive too. Even very young children will be able to tell if you’re worried, and although it may sound odd, stress can actually cause skin to flare up even more.

The above applies at school as well. If itchy skin and sleepless nights are making it hard for your child to concentrate, it’s worth having a word with their teacher to explain.

It’s also important to try and keep things peaceful at home. Be aware that if one child in the family has eczema, others can easily get jealous of the extra attention they’re getting. To keep everyone happy, make an extra effort to spend time with other children on their own.

Your little ones (and you) can find out more by taking a look at our exclusive E45 Junior site. There’s the chance to have some fun and win some great prizes too! And for tips on keeping your children protected from the sun, don’t miss our Caring for your skin in the sun page.