EczemaZones - Patient and Carer Zone

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1. Home
2. What is eczema?
   
   1. What causes eczema?
   2. Why has my child got eczema?
   3. Will my child's eczema get better or go away?
   4. What causes my child's eczema to flare-up?
   5. How do I look out for signs of infection?
3. How treatment works
   
   1. Getting to grips with your child's emollient »
      
      1. Ointments, creams, lotions or gels
      2. Building a daily emollient routine
   2. Using topical steroids with confidence
   3. Other treatments available to your child
   4. Seeing a specialist
4. Living with eczema
   
   1. Supporting your child
   2. Coping with sleep disturbance
5. More info
6. Accessibility

Supporting your child

Sometimes caring for a child with eczema can make you feel helpless. But rest assured there are things that you can do to help and ways in which you can support your child:

Encourage your child to keep a diary

It's good for children to be able to express themselves and very useful for children with eczema to talk about how they feel. We've included special feelings charts in each of our children's zones so you can encourage your child to record how they are feeling.

Make treatment fun for younger children

It's really hard to explain to young children what's making them itch, why they need treatment and why scratching is bad for them. When you know that their treatment plan is important it might be tempting to force them to accept treatment and try to stop them scratching. But this can make them irritable, angry and upset, as you've probably discovered. Instead you could try to make treatment fun by making faces with their emollient on their skin or by drawing shapes on their arms and legs. Or you could make up a rhyme or song. If your child is under 5 why not read our story about Max the monkey in the Eczema Jungle zone.

Try to balance support and understanding with tough love

Some children can use their eczema to grab attention or to get their own way and we know that sometimes parents of children with eczema find it difficult to deal with their behaviour. Be strong and don't make special allowances for any bad behaviour.

Talk to the school about your child's eczema

While you won't want to single your child out as having eczema, there are some reasons why talking to their school could be useful. For example:

• Sitting next to radiators and windows can make eczema worse and you might be able to ask for your child to sit away from these potential triggers.
• In many schools children still sit on a rug or carpet for story time - the perfect place for dust and dust mites, which can make some children's eczema worse. Your child may be allowed to sit on a chair or bring their own mat into school with them.
• Sleepless nights and daytime itching can have a real impact on how well your child performs at school. If you are worried that your child's eczema is affecting their education talk to the teachers and your doctor or nurse.

Support from the National Eczema Society (NES)

The National Eczema Society (NES) provide lots of information and support for people living with eczema. Visit www.eczema.org to find out more.

Talk to your child about their school day

School age children are very aware of what is going on around them and anything that makes them feel different to other children, so they can feel isolated. And if the other children in your child's class don't know what eczema is or why people have it, they may point and stare or ask questions. So it's important your child has a grown up to turn to when they need to talk, whether that's you or perhaps a grandparent. You can also support your child by helping them to prepare answers to any difficult questions they may be asked.

Try to carry on as normal

Living with eczema does not mean your child has to miss out. Of course there may be times when they don't feel like joining in, but on the whole children with eczema can do all the things other children do. So don't let it hold them back.

Coping with sleep disruption » « Living with eczema