My Solutions for Dry Skin and Eczema

It's official. The winter weather is upon us...at least those that live on the Northeast coast of the United States. It has been fah-reezing outside!! And with the cold weather comes dry air and dry skin--the two main reasons why winter is not my favorite season.

So I have eczema, and for those that have it or are familiar with it, you know that there are some good times (ok, not really) and some really really bad times. EVERY winter is a really really bad time for my eczema, and unfortunately, I passed that gene along to both of my kids.

Out of all of us, the baby has it the worst. Since he was born, he had inflamed, infected eczema all over his body. From 2-6 months he also had infected cradle cap down the sides of his face. It didn't help that he was born in late October, right before the cold weather came. That only made it flare up more, which prompted him to scratch more, which in turn made it more infected. It was a vicious cycle.

Anyway, we turned to doctors and eventually dermatologists, and no one could find a long term solution for his eczema/dry skin. We all have used hydrocortisone, other stronger steroid creams and ointments, non-steroid creams, oatmeal baths, Aquaphor, Cetaphil, Eucerin...you name it, we tried it. We even tried putting Crisco (yes I mean the cooking grease) on his face (per recommendation)! Believe it or not that actually worked!

Everything was temporary until, thanks to a good friend of ours, we finally found something that worked--Cetaphil Restoraderm Eczema Calming lotion. I LOVE this lotion. I'm guessing a lot of people do, because it's always sold out in the Targets and Walmarts near me. It's about $12-$14 a bottle, but trust me, it's worth it! It cleared up my baby's skin within a week, and I started seeing and feeling results almost instantly.

What was great about this situation is that since Jacob is a baby, his body heals very fast. It's sooo great that babies' bodies can heal minor cuts, bruises, and scratches so fast!! That helped speed things up tremendously. We would put the lotion on him every night, before we left the house in the morning, throughout the day as needed, and ESPECIALLY right after his baths, when all his pores were open. The healing effect it had on his skin was immediate and long lasting. I started using it on my skin as well instead of the hydrocortisone because I prefer non-steroid ointments as much as possible.

Below are links to the Restoraderm products. I've only tried the lotion but I heard the body wash works good as well, and I plan on trying that next. If you see a dermatologist, see if they have coupons for it. Mine gave me a few $1 off coupons for some of the products. :) I have to thank my good friends Jaz and Dave for this one! You guys have really saved my household this winter!! :D