Mum reveals her horror at caring for daughter with extreme eczema s

A mum has revealed how she watched her baby daughter battle extreme eczema for years, feeling helpless because she was unable to take the pain away.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Sydney mum-of-four Tayla Kahui said her daughter Journey, six, first started showing signs of the skin condition when she was nine days old.

Then when she was three, the mildly irritating skin condition got worse.

Within a year she was covered in weeping, inflamed sores which would tear open as she played and become unbearable to touch.

‘I have never seen anything like it, she was bedridden for days at a time because she was in so much pain,’ Tayla said.

The mum would cover her daughter in cold bandages and put her in bleach baths to try to minimise the pain – but it wasn’t enough. 

‘She would let out a horrible scream when the water touched her, she became afraid of it,’ she said. 

During Covid the sores became even worse – the family went to doctors who were increasingly horrified by the youngster’s open wounds and painful flareups.

But nothing they suggested seemed to work.

‘It got to the point where I would have to wake up several times a night to check her skin, make sure she hadn’t scratched it off or that it hadn’t stuck to her clothes. I would even put cold wraps on while she was asleep,’ she said.

Journey had the painful rash all over her body including her face and weeping sores all over her legs

Now she plays outside and is happy and confident – which makes her mum happy 

‘We tried every steroid cream, every moisturiser, at one point I told the doctors to stop making suggestions about what might work and give me something that actually would/

‘I would try each cream they suggested, popping it on her foot first, and she would cry “Mummy it is burning”.

The ones that didn’t burn on impact appeared to dry Journey’s skin out worse or trap heat inside – leaving to more painful spots later on, the mum explained.

The family were then alerted to Journey’s egg allergy and were able to eliminate that from the household diet.

‘She would even flare up when it was cooked in the house, the symptoms looked like her eczema,’ Tayla said.

The mother-of-four was still frustrated though. Eliminating egg had minimised some of the extreme flare ups but her daughter’s skin was still constantly broken, covered in wide, violent-looking sores.

Her before and after photos here show how much her skin cleared up after a month using the new lotion

Soon her funny, charismatic daughter was just a shadow of herself.

‘She was terrified of going to school because she didn’t want other kids to see her. It was all over her face and arms,’ Tayla said.

‘She would even refuse to wear short sleeves because she didn’t want her arms to be seen.’

The children who Journey was closet with were even hesitant.

‘They didn’t want to hurt her accidentally and were always scared of being too rough,’ Tayla said.

Tayla says she is so proud of her daughter’s skin now – and says the family has a much happier dynamic 

Journey had the sores all over her body with flareups happening daily for over a year

The youngster had been under the care of eczema specialists at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Sydney but they were running out of ideas.

That’s when Tayla saw an advertisement for Manuka Biotic on her Facebook page.

‘It kept popping up as something I would be interested in, at first I ignored it then my partner and I decided we would give it a go.’

The brand had reviews from other parents who found it helped their children.

‘But I had read hundreds of reviews on products before and nothing had worked. I just wondered why my kid,’ she said.

When they arrived Tayla felt the familiar sense of hope mingled with fear.

‘I started on her foot, like I always did, and she didn’t say anything,’ she said.

The youngster became afraid to leave the house and was often bed ridden

Now she enjoys a rough-and-tumble life – and doesn’t have to worry about opening wounds

Day by day the mother popped the lotion further up her baby’s body, even putting it on her face.

‘Within two weeks we had abandoned the idea of other creams, it was working so well,’ she said.

‘Each day it seemed to go on better and better and she wasn’t having any issue with it – no burning or crying to get it off.’

Within a month the eczema was gone.

‘We put it on every day and if she does get a flare up it is normally a bit of dry skin around the elbows and knees and we put some lotion on a wet wrap and it takes it away immediately.’

The youngster sometimes wears long sleeves now – but used to wear them all the time to hide her arms 

Journey was scared to go to school because she didn’t want other kids to see her skin

Tayla was terrified Journey would have scars from her years of blistering welts – but says they are minimal.

‘There are some on her arms, but none on her face,’ she said.

Not surprisingly, the youngster has become much happier. 

‘She was always quirky and confident at home – but now she is like that everywhere.

‘She is the funniest little kid who just loves to perform. She also loves anything girly like makeup and dresses which she avoided before with her sore skin.’

Tayla says it is important for her to share Journey’s story because she used to comb the internet for tips.

Manuka Biotic is a skincare line and good for many skin types – the company uses honey from bees in New Zealand for their ‘miracle’ lotion

‘This has been an absolute gamechanger for us. It was so heartbreaking getting to this point, with every new suggestion there was nothing but pain and disappointment.’

The hospital has now added the brand to their list.

Journey’s skin has been good for almost a year, giving her mum hope for her future. 

‘They were shocked by how well it worked because they had never heard of it, now it’s one of the lotions they suggest to other parents,’ she said. 

Manuka Biotic is a skincare line and good for many skin types – the company uses honey from bees in New Zealand for their ‘miracle’ lotion.