Children's Skin Care

Daily Skin Care for Toddlers

Use gentle, fragrance-free cleansers and soaps.
To prevent dry skin and rashes, apply liberal amounts of moisturizer after bathing.
Initiate early sun-protection behaviors, including:

The regular use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen that offers a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30 or higher.
If child is prone to skin irritation or allergic reactions, select a physical or chemical-free sunscreen with the ingredients zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.
Reapply sunscreen approximately every two hours, even on cloudy days, and after swimming or sweating.
Wear protective clothing, such as a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses, where possible.
Seek shade when appropriate, and remember that the sun's rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Use extra caution near water, snow, and sand because they reflect the damaging rays of the sun, which can increase your chance of sunburn.

Skin growths caused by viral infection.
Warts most regularly seen by dermatologists are common warts and plantar (foot) warts.
Common warts usually grow around fingernails, on fingers, and on the backs of hands.
Plantar warts occur on the bottoms of the feet, close to the toes.
Warts can disappear on their own over a period of several months.
Treatment is recommended because old warts can spread the virus to the skin around them, creating new warts.
Topical treatment options include salicylic acid, liquid nitrogen, or canthardin.

Also known as the superbug.
Easily spread among families and children at daycare centers and schools.
Presents itself as skin and soft tissue infections, such as cellulitis and open sores.
Treatment includes oral antibiotics such as clindamycin and tetracyclines.
To prevent CA-MRSA, children should wash their hands often, cuts and scrapes should be quickly cleaned and bandaged, and children should be taught not to touch other people's wounds or bandages.

The most common bug bites are from fleas, mosquitoes, wasps, or bees.
Some bug bites can cause bacterial infections, such as impetigo, a superficial infection of the skin characterized by yellow, crusted, well-defined lesions.

To avoid bug bites, apply an insect repellent with the ingredients permethrin or the chemical DEET.
Repellents containing permethrin should only be applied to clothing.
Permethrin has a residual effect through several washings and provides lasting protection.
Repellents containing DEET should have less than 10 percent concentration if applying to children.
Repellents with DEET should not be applied to babies younger than two months old.

This general term encompasses various inflamed skin conditions, including one of the most common forms of eczema, atopic dermatitis.
About 10 percent to 20 percent of the world's population is affected by this chronic, relapsing, and very itchy rash at some point during childhood.
It occurs most often on the face and scalp.
Can be confused with cradle cap, which is a red, scaly rash on the scalp, sides of the nose, eyebrows, eyelids, and the skin behind the ears, and it usually clears on its own by 8 months.
Treatment options:

Nonprescription corticosteroid creams and ointments.
Prescription topical, steroid-free medications.
Tacrolimus and pimecrolimus, which are prescription topical medications that belong to a class of drugs called calcineurin inhibitors and work by modulating the immune response.

The 2004 total direct cost associated with the treatment of atopic dermatitis/eczema (in both children and adults) was $1 billion. The majority of the cost, $154 million, is attributed to spending on prescription drugs¹.

See us, at Water’s Edge for successful diagnosis and treatment of children's skin conditions.