Does your child have eczema? Use 7 tips to boost confidence when away from home

When at home, kids are likely to know the steps to manage their eczema. However, when away at school, sporting commitments, camps or other activities, things are shaken up. Here are our top seven tips to help kids feel confident about keeping their eczema under control when away from home.

1.     Form a go-to team

Beforehand, sit down with your child’s teacher, school nurse, coach, camp leader and any other go-to people to share your child’s management plan; including symptoms, triggers, skincare routines and treatments. Ensure the team understands when it's necessary to call you and when a flare up can be managed.

2.     Meet 'n' greet

If possible, let your child meet their go-to team ahead of time. Teenagers or more confident younger children may even want to introduce themselves and explain what they need to do to manage their eczema.

 3.     Walk through the day

If it’s your child’s first time at school or away on camp, talk them through what they can expect and point out set points in the day (such as lunch breaks or bedtime routines) when they can take care of their skin. Help your child pack a mini toolkit with moisuriser, sunscreen, lip balm, gloves, long-sleeved shirt or any other helpful items.

 4.     Remember the routine

Keeping routines as close to when at home is the best strategy. Some children enjoy having a checklist to work through in the day, whereas others may respond well to having timers pre-set to remind them to apply moisturiser or eczema-friendly sunscreen.

 5.     Boost their advocacy

Explain that your child can always ask their go-to team for help. Some children may not want to explicitly ask to be excused when they need to visit the nurse or bathroom. If this sounds like your child, a silent option (such as a signal, hand gesture, code word or leaving a note) lets kids inform adults when they need to leave to manage a flare up.

 6.     Break the rules

It may be wearing a long-sleeved top though it’s not official uniform; exploring another activity option when another one could trigger a skin reaction or being allowed to use a fidget toy to keep fingers busy and distract from scratching.

7.     Give your child a script

At some point, another child will likely ask about eczema. Prep your child for these moments by practicing short responses to help normalise their experience. These “scripts” could be responses such as:

• "I have something called eczema. It's not contagious, and it means that my skin can get dry and red sometimes.”
• “It’s just eczema, it means my skin feels really itchy. It’s like an allergy. You can’t catch it.”
• “My fidget toy keeps my fingers busy, so I scratch less.”
• “I’m not going swimming/doing cross country because the chlorine/sweat makes my skin itchy.”
• “Eczema is not contagious like a cold. That means you can’t catch it.”