Joshua has has dry spotty skin on the tops of his arms and on his legs since he was a baby.the HV told me it was just dry skin and not to worry.

when i mentioned it on my facebook most people said it was eczema so i got some aqueous cream and put that on and seems to be much better but recently its got worse.

im now wondering if its to do with our heating in our house.
we have storage heaters and not sure if its drying the house out too much.

do i just use the cream more?

Hi both my boys have eczema and the heating can make it worse. A tip i was told when heating is on put a small bowl of water under or above the heater to make the heat moist. Hope this helps you

If it is eczema, it does sound like it. Then yes you need to cream him once maybe twice a day and not give him a bath every night, this will dry his skin out a lot, unless you buy some baby oilatum(think thats how to spell it) and put that in, but then you can't use soap with it.

Maybe see the doctor and you can get it free on prescription.

I've had eczema since I was about 10 (I'm 36). For many years it was really awful, broken, bleeding and even infected at times. I went on holiday in 2007 and it was itching, dry, bleeding and sore the whole 2 weeks. I came back and decided that I was going to try everything to get rid of it because I'd had enough! I did a bit of research and bought a book: The Eczema Solution. It had good reviews so I thought it was worth a go. Best £5 I ever spent, it explains how eczema works, how your skin is made up and how to get rid of eczema. I was sceptical but decided I had nothing to lose so gave it a go. Basically, the cure is to moisturise. A lot. Never ever let the skin get even a little dry because that is when it is easier to damage. Put a thin layer of the cream on every hour. Mine began to clear up (from severe) to normal skin within a couple of weeks. Within a couple of months you would never have known I'd had it. I couldn't believe it was that easy - just moisturise often (oh yeah and don't scratch - but if you keep the skin moist, it doesn't get nearly as itchy).

As others have said, avoid soaps, baths etc, moisturise frequently (you can't do that too much) and you should notice a difference.

If you want to know more about eczema and how to control it, the book is definitely worth a look.

Good luck.

thanks everyone.
we only have a small house and there isnt any radiators in his bedroom or even upstairs.

he does have a bath every night as he gets so dirty.
will a shower be any different?

its hard because its on his arms and legs and to rub cream in he has to be naked and with this weather its too cold

Just keep the water as cool as he will tolerate, dry thoroughly and moisturise when you're done. A shower would be good because he's not sitting in the water, which dries the skin out.

You didn't mention if his skin is itchy - if so, it's really important that he doesn't scratch it when it's wet - that damages the skin a lot more.

it doesnt seem to bother him tbh.

ill start giving him a bath one night and then a shower next night.