Hydrocortisone for the baby

Gataloca

Gataloca

Registered User
My 7 week old has what seems to be baby acne. He also used to have a little bit of cradle cap.

His doctor said that this is common, and should clear up on its own in few month. He prescribed some hydrocortisone 1% cream for the baby, which worked pretty well, cleaning the baby skin with just few applications.

Now, I am a little concerned about how safe this cream is. Also, although it works great, the rashes or acne keep coming after few days. I am not worry about my baby appearance, but it seems that rash makes my baby itchy. He keeps rubbing and scratching his face and ears at a point that it is disturbing his sleeps. He woke wake himself up by scratching, and if I had swaddled him, he would get mad trying to free his hands so he could rub his face.

Any suggestion? I read that the acne is due to hormonal imbalance and should clear up when I stop breastfeeding. But my baby is just 7 week old and I would like to breastfeed him till he is 6 month old.
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If it's the regular baby acne, I think they are also called milk-spots then it's very common and you absolutely don't need cream for it, it is just cosmetic and will clear up in it's own time.

If it's eczema which looks different and I believe a doctor should be able to tell the difference, then hydrocortisone is a very common treatment however if it was me and it kept returning I'd try to look into causes - possibly a sensitivity to washing powder or something else touching his skin or, if you're bf, then maybe it's related to something in your diet. There are also more natural creams you can try - I used to use calendula when I had childhood eczema which worked well although of course check if they're suitable for such a young baby.

I'd also have a look at the baby development info, my memory is pretty hazy of those early days (one year later) but I'm not sure that they can consciously scratch themselves at 7 weeks so what you think is him scratching an itch might just be him discovering his face and wanting to wave his arms around?
 
Thanks jvn. I am sure he was scratching. He was doing that a lot on yesterday. I applied the cream last night and this morning and now he is not rubbing his face. He just had a 2 hour nap. He eventually got his hands out from the blanket, but just put them besides his head.
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Hi Gataloca,
I have used this cream several times and I hate it everytime I do however small the percentage of steroid may be. When the baby is so uncomfortable then you sort of have to. Problem is that it just suppresses the symptoms but really doesn't treat the cause. My baby has reflux, "eczema" and a fungal infection (similar to jock's itch). So I use it but I also consult a naturopath and a homeopath. The naturopath, Dr. Lynn Lim @ OT&P gave some meds to reduce the itchiness but I also was supposed to be on a non dairy and a anti-candida diet. I found avoiding milk easier, the other diet was a bit impossible to since I am a vegetarian. I do what I can as even I want to feed the baby till he is 6 months. She also told me to get virgin coconut oil for massage. Its great, his skin is much softer! Homeopathy meds with Dr Sonal @IMI also have helped in making the baby comfortable. I don't know what has helped exactly but I don't use the cream if I can avoid it.
 
Also wanted to add- "eczema" seems to be a general category that they put every rash under and it really annoys me. My baby's eczema turned out to be a fungal infection. Perhaps get a second opinion....
 
Well, the doctor said what it was in Chinese. I didn't ask him for the diagnosis in english though. By searching on the web, his condition seems to match with baby acne since the doctor also said that should clear up itself in few month. Didn't say anything about allergy so I thought it may not be eczema...

But if it is something on
my diet, then probably is the milk... But if the baby has allergy to cow milk, shouldn't he had rash long time ago when I was topping up with formula???
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excema is not always caused by an allergy. i've suffered from it since i was a kid. i only get it in certain areas and it is VERY itchy....
 
Oh, definitely is not eczema what the doctor said that my baby has in his face. Searched for the translation of eczema in Chinese, and in fact, the doctor did say that the baby may have eczema, but on his legs. He said that they felt dry and rough so gave him a sample of Cetaphil cream to try. But for the baby's face, just the hydrocortisone cream.
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See the thing is that hydrocortisone is also used for eczema... sometimes it just crosses my mind if it just a wonder drug when the docs don't know what to do. And face or the crotch- these are such sensitive areas. Sometimes rashes are exacerbated by our diet.... try cutting out dairy, see if it helps.
 
Hi Gataloca, have you tried the AI Cream, it works great on my son, it's not medicated, but it does redues skin redness and irritations.
 
Peanut2010, can you give me more information about this AI Cream and where I can get it?

oi0io, the doctor just gave me a Cetaphil moisturizing cream for the baby legs and diaper area. Can this Cetaphil Restoraderm be found in Hong Kong?
 
I'm not sure if you can get the Cetaphil Restoraderm in HK as I purchased it in Canada.

You can also try the Aveeno Oatmeal bath. My friend said it worked for her son's itchy skin.

Also, keep your baby cool at all times will work too. Once they go out in the heat and they start sweating, their rashes usually flare up.
 
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