Baby acne and eczema

[premama]

Our 3 week old baby has red spots all over her face - when we saw the Paediatrician a few weeks back, we were told that it's baby acne and will go away naturally. Since then, the spots have increased and are now on her forehead and cheeks.

Has anyone experienced this and if so, how did you treat it? We're just using a cotton ball soaked in drinking water to wipe her face and not using any soap or other products. Also, how long did it take for the acne to disappear?

I've also heard from eczema - what is the main difference between acne and eczema?

Thanks!

[ELT]

Our LO started having baby acne at around 3 weeks too. His face looked oily and he had cradle cap on his eye brows too, so you could imagine how our relatives reacted when we had the full moon dinner he's one-month! We were told it's just a phase so we didn't do anything but clean with water regularly. When we couldn't stand it we took him to the Pd who gave us a topical cream which cleared everything in two days. (wish we had taken him to the pd BEFORE the dinner!)

He also developed eczema when he's around 3 months but the eczema has a trigger and it looks different than baby acne.

Baby acne appears on the face. They look like white heads and would have puss if infected. I didn't think my LO was bothered by it at all.

Eczema appears on the face, behind the ears, neck, trunk and limbs (in the folds particularly). It is itchy so the baby would scratch and could affect sleep.

[premama]

Thanks ELT - what was the name of the topical cream that cleared up the acne?

[ELT]

the doctor gave us the cream in a plastic container so I don't know the name of it. Sorry!

[mummybee]

don;'t think acne can be cleared with anything. the topical cream ELT mentioned - can it be steroid cream used commonly to treat eczema? In any case, please use this cream sparingly and only when necessary. And discard once rash/acne clears.