Watching your baby wail in discomfort from red, irritated, eczema-flared skin can make you feel like you?re at your wits? end, so we asked experts for tips on how to get the itchy condition under control.
 1. Stick to the basics.

The emollient that?s most recommended to lock moisture into the skin of babies with eczema is plain old petroleum jelly?it?s among the least likely to trigger a reaction, and it?s also the cheapest option. But if you want to try something else, you can find a list of moisturizers that have been reviewed by the Eczema Society of Canada and found to be free of common irritants such as fragrance and sodium lauryl sulphate at eczemahelp.ca. When trying any new product, ?patch test it on a small area and leave it for 24 hours to see if the child reacts to it,? suggests Amanda Cresswell-Melville, executive director of the Eczema Society of Canada. And start early. Research suggests that applying emollient daily, starting at birth, can actually reduce the risk of developing eczema by the age of six months by as much as 67 percent in babies with a strong genetic predisposition to the condition. 2. Reduce bath-time irritants.

When your infant has eczema, bubble bath and soap crayons are off limits, because they contain harsh soaps and dyes that can dry and irritate skin. But that doesn?t mean your baby can?t have any fun in the tub. Invest in some colourful bath toys or sing songs while you?re rub-a-dub-dubbing. And speaking of rubbing?don?t. Pat dry wit...