Frequently Asked Questions About Skin

LYDIA KNOX: Being a new parent

you're already nervous,

and you're just kind of figuring

it out on your own.

You bring this little baby home

and you're like, OK, what

do I do?

ELI KNOX: Hi.

LYDIA KNOX: When my son was

first diagnosed with eczema,

I noticed it as just

little bumps, and we thought

it was baby acne.

It continually got worse,

and we started to get worried.

Babies don't sleep very well,

but a baby with eczema

wakes up even more.

He can't sleep.

He just wants comfort,

because he's itching

and he's scratching

and he's crying.

So it was just one

of those nights

where I go to the bedroom,

and I took too long.

And his face was just bloody.

He started crying.

I was crying.

I was putting him on steroids

actually, and they weren't

helping.

And, sure, people were giving me

advice constantly.

Use lotion, use this, use that.

But none of it was working.

So I felt even more helpless.

But at that breaking point,

that's when I realized,

OK, we're going to figure

this thing out.

I'm a researcher, and I just

decided to try searching

for websites that were credible.

But also just trying to find

other parents who

were going

through similar things.

And that's what kind of led me

to using all these little tips,

and once I found a plan I stuck

to it.

That kind of led us

into clearing his eczema some

more and more.

But one of the biggest things

was actually going

to the allergist

and finding a doctor that I

trusted a lot more than actually

his pediatrician, who was

able to sit down and have

a conversation with me

and educate me

on a lot of these things.

And that's how we found out

that Eli was actually allergic

to milk, eggs, and peanuts.

So that was playing a huge role

in why his eczema was flaring up

so badly.

Once we finally knew

that, vacuuming out the couch,

cleaning up the house

in different ways,

keeping the cat off

of the furniture, making sure he

didn't have milk and eggs

and peanuts,

it changed everything.

He began to clear up pretty

rapidly, actually.

It's extremely important to find

that relationship with a doctor

that you trust.

For the longest time,

I felt like there was a lot more

going on than just, OK,

it's eczema.

Let's just throw some creams

on it.

I knew in my gut

that I needed to get deeper

and find the root problem,

and if I hadn't had found

a doctor who was willing to help

me find that root problem,

I may not have been able to find

it.

So I'm a writer, and I always

have been.

There's nothing that I don't

love to write.

So I started my blog,

theeczemamama.com,

so that other parents could find

the information that they needed

to help them deal with eczema

for their babies.

As common as it is, there's no

cure, and there's no very

specific you-have-to-follow-this

rules to clear it.

And I think once you let go

of that, this is the one thing

you need to do, and start

creating a plan for yourself,

then you can find your way out

of those harder nights.

So today, even though he still

has acute eczema flare ups

on his elbows

and on the backs of his knees,

his face is clear now,

and he's happy.

And that's basically what it's

all about.