'Gentle' skin creams may give your baby eczema

Modern-day bath oils and lotions are not good for a child's skin as they are apparently a reason for the increase in the number of newborns having eczema.

Eczema earlier affected 4% of newborns, but now the figure has increased to 25%.

New research by a leading expert has indicated that using these modern products on babies' skin during the first few weeks of life might be responsible for such an increase.

Professor Richard Cork, who heads the academic dermatology department at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Sheffield University, said there appears to be a six-week 'window' after a baby is born.

During this period, babies with a genetic predisposition to eczema, caused by a hereditary gene defect, can have their immune system made more sensitive, making them more likely to develop eczema.

"These babies are born with a defective skin barrier, which means that their skin can be sensitised — made prone to an allergic reaction — much more easily if the 'wrong' treatments are used," The Daily Mail quoted Cork as saying.

The outer layer of the skin, called the stratum corneum, provides a barrier which normally prevents the penetration of irritants and allergens.

But in babies who are predisposed to atopic eczema, this does not work as effectively, allowing loss of water from the corneocytes (cells in the skin), which shrink and allow cracks to open between them, so irritants and allergens can ­penetrate, leading to lesions from eczema.

"The use of soap on the skin leads to a further deterioration of the barrier, because it breaks down the cells which are still forming in babies' skin," he said.

Even so-called baby products can contain detergents too harsh for these at-risk children, said Cork.

"Still worse," he said, "the very creams prescribed by doctors to treat the eczema might actually be making things worse."

Indeed, he believes one particular treatment — aqueous cream — is 'extremely damaging' to the skin.

Another substance commonly applied to babies' skin is olive oil — but Cork said this is also unsuitable as it has a very poor balance of oleic and linoleic oil, which is damaging the skin before it develops properly.

Margaret Cox of the National Eczema Society said: "There needs to be more awareness on the best way to care for babies' skin in the first six months after they are born, and more education for parents in picking up the early signs of eczema."