Battling eczema...

Last winter, we noticed red blotches on Jakey's hands once winter hit. This year, right before Christmas I noticed a bald spot on the back of his head. Further investigating showed red bumps and a rash along his hairline. Made an appointment with the doctor and it was confirmed that this was eczema as well. I was shocked that last year it was little, red, blotches on the back of his hands, and now we have raised, red, bumps (and a bald spot!) and it's the same thing! I was informed that eczema can take on different forms and be on different parts of the body, or all over. We were given a prescription for a steroid cream and told to call back if after 2 weeks things haven't improved. Our other instructions were to cease bathing every day (this dries out the skin), make it 2-3 times a week, and to grease him up with lotion continuously. Eczema is severely, dry irritated skin and it can be associated with asthma and allergies. Since Jakey was on break it was easy to apply the steroid cream and lotion as often as needed. The rash started looking better and I had high hopes that he'd be rash-free once school started back up. Heading back to school didn't help the rash, it made it worse actually. The constant rubbing of sweatshirts (his classroom is a bit chilly) and lack of moisture, gave us another flare up. Back to the doctors we go, to be told that we have to cease the steroid cream because prolonged use causes thinning of the skin. This isn't good for someone with eczema because they will scratch that thin skin, which will break open the thin skin, which could lead to an infection, and then that leads to more problems. Our course of treatment now is to keep the bathing to a minimal so we don't dehydrate the skin, grease him up with Vaseline, and keep a humidifier on in his room if we notice the house feeling dry. The doctor said it's not a very bad outbreak of eczema, but to me it's horrible. My little guy is really different from his friends. He's got a red neck that looks wet all the time, how is that normal?! Luckily he's not being picked on, but I don't want it to get to that point either. My Mom suffered with this for many years and she said my next step should be a dermatologist, it was the only thing that worked for her. I'm going to wait a month (which was the timeline the doctor gave me) and then ask for a referral to a dermatologist if we can't get this under control. With the weather not even that cold yet, I'm so very worried for that cold winter chill to settle in. That's the worst time for kids with eczema. Wish us luck!!