Symptoms of neurodermatitis: baby and toddler
Severe itching and inflamed skin areas (eczema) are typical symptoms of neurodermatitis – in babies as well as in older children and adults.
However, there are also differences between neurodermatitis in babies and toddlers and the disease in other age groups. They mainly concern cradle cap, which only occurs in babies. In addition, the eczema of atopic dermatitis in babies and toddlers preferentially forms in different places than in older children, adolescents and adults.
The following are the most important features of atopic dermatitis in young patients:
Cradle cap
Baby neurodermatitis often begins on the face (for example, on the cheeks) or on the scalp, with cradle cap: this is the name given to yellow-brownish, weeping, crusted foci that resemble burnt milk.
To be on the safe side, parents should always have cradle cap examined by a doctor. Often it is neurodermatitis after all. Baby and toddler can then be treated at an early stage. This often prevents the inflammatory skin disease from spreading further.
Many babies develop a sebaceous, yellowish to brownish scaling of the scalp in the first months of life. This is not cradle cap, but harmless head gneiss. It usually disappears on its own during the first year of life.
Other neurodermatitis symptoms in babies
Typical for neurodermatitis in babies are also very itchy, scaly eczemas on the extensor sides of the arms and legs.
With increasing age, the inflammatory skin becomes coarser and leathery (lichenification).
Atopic dermatitis in babies and toddlers does not have to continue into later childhood and beyond. By adolescence, it heals in most cases. However, many people who had atopic dermatitis as a child also develop eczema as adults, at least intermittently.
Prevention of neurodermatitis (baby)
Some measures can prevent the development of atopic dermatitis even in infancy. They are especially important in children who have a family history of the disease:
Such at-risk children have close blood relatives (e.g. parents, siblings) with atopic dermatitis and other atopic diseases such as hay fever, food allergies or allergic asthma. They therefore have an increased risk of also developing such an atopic disease themselves.
Tips before birth
In addition, pregnant women should eat a balanced and varied diet. However, it is not necessary to avoid common allergens such as cow’s milk, nuts or eggs. This will not reduce the child’s risk of allergies.
Tips after birth
- After birth, the same applies as before: children should be protected from contact with tobacco. Therefore, make sure that the home is smoke-free.
- As for pregnant women, a balanced and varied diet is advisable for breastfeeding mothers. Again, avoiding common allergens will not affect the baby’s allergy risk.
- Mothers should ideally breastfeed their baby fully for the first four to six months of life.
- For at-risk infants who cannot be breastfed or cannot be breastfed sufficiently, various manufacturers offer hypoallergenic infant formula. It is intended to reduce the risk of allergy. However, the effectiveness of HA foods for allergy prevention is controversial.
- A varied diet in the 1st year of life seems to protect against atopic diseases such as neurodermatitis. Therefore, infants should receive, among other things, fish, a limited amount of milk / natural yogurt (up to 200 ml per day) and heated-through hen’s egg.
You can read more about how allergic or atopic diseases such as neurodermatitis can be prevented in children in the article Allergy – Prevention.
Neurodermatitis in children: Tips
The following tips will help you in dealing with neurodermatitis children:
Itching in atopic dermatitis
Especially infants and toddlers with atopic dermatitis often find it hard to stop themselves from scratching. Pathogens such as bacteria can easily penetrate the resulting wounds and trigger an infection. To prevent this, babies and toddlers with neurodermatitis should wear cotton gloves at night.
It is also helpful if you air out the bedroom in the evening before your child lies down. If it is too warm, this can promote itching in your child. For the same reason, don’t cover your child too warmly.
Also, make sure to trim their little fingernails short on a regular basis. This will prevent your child from scratching himself, which would promote a skin infection.
It is also important to take basic care of the atopic dermatitis skin, as recommended by your doctor for your child. Regular application of cream counteracts skin dryness and thus itching, because dry skin itches faster.
Cool things can also help against itching, as already mentioned. So, for example, you can chill your child’s skin cream in the refrigerator before using it. Or you can apply cool compresses to the itchy areas of skin.
For more treatment tips, read Neurodermatitis: Treatment.
The right clothing
For children with atopic dermatitis, use only clothing made of soft, skin-friendly material such as cotton. Scratchy, coarse materials (such as wool, coarse linen) are unfavorable because they additionally irritate the sensitive neurodermatitis skin. Clothing made of synthetic materials (such as polyester, nylon) are also not a good idea if your child has neurodermatitis. This is because such materials promote sweating, which in turn promotes itching.
Sweating can also be prevented with the “Zwiebellook”. Dress your child in several thin layers instead of a few thick layers. Then it is easy to put on or take off a layer depending on the outside temperature.
It’s also important to wash new clothes and linens before using them for the first time. This softens them and washes out chemicals used in their manufacture.
Much understanding and care
However, neurodermatitis in children (and the elderly) does not only cause physical discomfort – the soul also suffers. The constant itching can be very stressful psychologically. In addition, some children are sometimes teased by their playmates because of their skin inflammations. This puts an additional strain on the child’s soul.
Therefore, give your neurodermatitis child a lot of understanding and attention. You can also seek contact with other sufferers or join a self-help group. In this way, your child will learn that he or she is not alone with the disease.
It can also help if you do relaxation exercises with your child. These, as well as soft music or reading or telling stories aloud, can relieve stress in your child (and you). Among other things, this can counteract itching in the child.
Family life with neurodermatitis
Your child’s neurodermatitis must not become his or her personality trait. Even though the disease requires a lot of attention, your child should still learn that there are other things that make him or her tick. Above all, don’t let scratching become a pressure tactic! Some atopic dermatitis children quickly learn that scratching gets them attention from the grown-ups. Don’t respond with full attention every time your child scratches. Otherwise, your child will try to get his way by scratching constantly.
Another tip for caring for young patients with atopic dermatitis: babies and toddlers often can’t sleep at night because of the itching and start screaming or crying. Parents should take turns in getting up and taking care of the child. Thus, alternating once the mother and once the father gets longer sleep.
