Does breastmilk help baby eczema?

Baby eczema, or atopic dermatitis, is a common skin condition that may have many triggers and no known cure. Whilst most children do eventually grow out of eczema, it can be very troublesome for both you and your baby, and it may seem like it will never end.

Happily, if you’re breastfeeding, you already have one of the best treatments for eczema available to you! As breastmilk naturally protects against infections, it can actually help significantly with your baby’s eczema.

Research has shown that breastmilk is as effective, if not more so than hydrocortisone cream at treating childhood eczema. Plus, breastmilk doesn’t come with any of the side effects of steroid creams, and it’s free!

How to use breastmilk to improve my baby’s eczema

Using breastmilk to improve your baby’s eczema is easy. Simply absorb some breastmilk using a cotton ball and apply it to the affected area.

Breastmilk can sometimes clear up your baby’s eczema entirely, but it depends upon the severity. If your baby’s eczema is very severe, it may require additional treatment.

What foods can trigger eczema in breastfed babies?

If you’re breastfeeding, your baby is effectively eating the same foods that you are. Some of these foods can cause your baby’s eczema to flare up, but identifying which foods are causing the problem can be tricky.

Not all babies with eczema have reactions to the same foods, but the common culprits are cow’s milk, nuts, soy, eggs and shellfish.

It may be worth eliminating these foods from your diet temporarily to see if your baby’s eczema improves.

In the meantime, keep your baby comfortable with HappySkin baby clothing, which is specially engineered to soothe your child’s eczema.

Can breastfeeding improve my baby’s eczema?

A study in 2019 showed that children who were exclusively breastfed during the first three months of their lives had a lower risk of developing eczema.

The research, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, indicated that children who were breastfed for at least three months had a decreased risk of developing eczema by the time they were 6 years old.

This does appear to show that breastfeeding can indeed help with the symptoms of eczema.

What else can I do to treat my baby’s eczema?

If you don’t breastfeed, or your baby has moved on from breastfeeding, there is another option that’s just as effective.

HappySkin® have a range of incredibly soft Tencel cotton clothing made specifically for children and babies with eczema and related skin conditions. The important difference with the HappySkin® clothing range compared to other organic cotton clothing is that the fabric is coated with a technology called DreamSkin®, The Dreamskin® technology, which is unique to this company has a skin-like stricture that prompts the skin to self-repair and therefore encourages the skin to start to regulate temperature once again, just like healthy skin.

You’ve probably found that eczema is particularly bothersome for your baby at night, as the itching can prevent them from relaxing. This is because, when the skin has been damaged by eczema, it doesn’t regulate moisture levels on our skin and we have a tendency to overheat. Our HappySkin® baby sleepsuits have non-irritating flat seams and an ergonomic fit, which, along with the unique Dreamskin® technology, gives your child the best chance of a good night’s sleep.

If you have any questions about how HappySkin® clothing works, or you’d like to find out more about any of our baby eczema clothing, please contact our customer service team by emailing hello@happy-skin.com.