Food Allergies & Babies

My granddaughter had the same kind of skin. They determined that just some babies have it. She is now ten months old and her skin is clear. She will still have rough dry patches sometimes. We recommend Eucherin Lotion and Physoderm Baby Wash. It did wonders. Also, we use Dreft and Dreft Stain remover.

My son had the same thing starting at 11 months or so. The doctor prescribed a topical steriod for significant flare ups (which we used sparingly). He also suggested dove soap and eucerin cream. He is now 3 and he doesn't have any flare ups. We still use dove soap and eucerin. I think they grow out of it. It may be food but I wonder if it is not a good idea to limit the types of food so early on especially when this is a minor thing and can be addressed by other means. You don't want to create a picky eater.

Hi B..

Here is a link I found regarding your question about eczema and food. I personally have eczema and my daughters do too. I wish I had known this sooner.
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/eczema-and-baby...
If you need more, let me know. This a really good site from looking at it.
Bless you.
W.

Hi, our daughter is allergic to high fructose corn syrup. Which is in EVERYTHING. If you are feeing her fruit from a can/jar that has syrup in it, try just fresh fruit. If she doesn't have a lot of teeth yet, you can put it in a blender. This works for us. Our daughter can not have fruit salad or fruit from a can/jar, but the all natural thing does not have the same reaction.

A friend of mine has a son with many food allergies, one of which is numerous fruits. You may want to consider taking your daughter off of all fruits for a week (including juice) and then introducing one at a time to see the reaction. Keep a food journal. Good luck.

My daughter has eczema too and there could be several factors to this. Yes, it could be the food. The earlier you start food, (earlier than 6 months) the more likelihood you might have a reaction to certain foods. She could be allergic to certain foods and that might pass with time, but she could also have sensitive skin. What are you washing her clothes in? I wash both of my kids clothes together and use dye free, perfume free, all clear detergent. ALL has a great new product out and her dermatologist suggested I use that for their clothes. She has occasional breakouts and I have finally gone with a much stronger steroid creme to help heal the flare ups.

Food can cause a reaction and its' good to stop the food as soon as you see the reaction and then try again with it or go on to something else. Cereal is best to start off with first, then greens vegetables and introduce one food at a time repeating it over the course of several days to see if there is a reaction. Check out: www.http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ for awesome tips and advice to what you should give and some great recipes too.

My kids were not allergic to any foods, but they reacted to the soaps we were using. We only give baths every other day, rarely to we do bubbles, b/c that dries their skin out. As soon as they are out of the tub, barely even towel try, I grab the tub of Aquafor (sp?) and go to town on my daughter. She has the worst out of the two. The Aquafor will keep the moisture from the water in her skin instead of drying it out. Then I follow with her prescription creme if she has any problem spots. As far as soaps. We use all clear, free of dyes and perfume hand soap (Method has a great one available at Target or online) and ALL (brand name) detergent for their clothes. I try to avoid the hand sanitizer b/c of the alcohol, but do what you can. It could very well be an allergic reaction to the foods. If it persist you can go see a dermatologist for a prescription creme to use and very helpful advice on what to use daily.

Good Luck!
A. B

If you're concerned it is eczema related to allergies, you should see an allergist. But there is little that an allergist will do at this young of an age. You're on the right track with watching for reactions related to specific foods. Some doctors don't recommend even starting any foods until after 6 months and only introducing one food for 4-6 days at a time to rule out allergies. I would bring up the subject with the doctor and tell him that you're concerned. My son has allergies and moderate/severe eczema. It's been a struggle to keep him comfortable. Good luck to you.

ohhh so sorry! I love the idea from the other mom, it very well could be a reaction to something in the fruit. You may try what she recommended with blending the fruit. If the breakout continues and you find it is eczema I would like to recommend the same lotion my son uses to control his. Arbonne International's ABC baby line. He has used it for 4 years and has not had a breakout since. It is only avail. through consultants and I buy mine from my mom. If you want more info feel free to contact me. Good luck and hope you find answers soon!!!

I have a son with food allergies. Usually, the allergist will not see babies this young- I had to wait until my son was a year old. My doctor told us that eczema is almost always somewhere else in the family- 80% of the time. Sure enough- my mother in law had dealt with it as a child as a reaction to certain detergents and foods. My advice is to use all fragrance-free detergents, soaps, etc. Also, keep a log of the foods that cause flare-ups. You can ask the pediatrician for some ointment to put on the flare-ups to help. It's a constant struggle, so the best thing is just to avoid those things that cause problems.

Hi B., food allergies can definitely bring on eczema.

This is what I have learned:
Eczema is a mixture of dry skin and allergies. The cause is mainly genetic – an inborn tendency toward dry skin and allergies. There is no way to change this genetics. The important issue is not what causes eczema in the first place, but what allergies and skin irritants is your child exposed to that is triggering the flare-ups.

1. AVOID DRY SKIN – moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! This is the single most important step in minimizing your child's eczema. Do not underestimate this! This needs to be part of your daily routine with your child.
2. AVOID SKIN IRRITANTS – this is the second most important aspect of prevention.
3. AVOID ALLERGIC TRIGGERS

For number 1, there is a lotion that works phenomenally well with treating eczema. I shop at on line store that sells it. The store is very green. Everything they carry is safer for your home, the environment, and your family. I can send you the link on the lotion and the store if you like.

Good luck! D..

it could be your soap. Either bath or laundry?? Try Ivory, it is chemical free and for sensitive skin.

Yes, different foods can cause the same skin reaction -- just like if you're deathly allergic to both peanuts and kiwi, both can make your throat swell shut, although they're different foods. She may get used to the food so that she doesn't have this kind of reaction any more, even if she eats it; but then again, maybe not.

Just go slow on foods, and maybe try different ones -- vegetables instead?

We have the same problem. We can't use just the regular baby wash and lotions. We use Aveeno bath wash and the Aveeno eczema body cream. At 1 year, we broke down and started putting hydrocortizone cream (1%) on the really bad spots when they flared up. The dr recommended it long ago, but we didn't want to do it. That keeps them from getting scabby.

Another thing is to wash her sheets, blankets, and her stuffed animals with hot water very regularly. If she starts to flare up, I make sure to do this and it usually helps things.

B.,
My daughter has eczema and her episodes flair up at different times. She too seemed to react after eating certain foods. Are you using a special lotion twice a day and hydrocortisone? I use the generic Cetaphil twice a day and lotion her extremely well. Also if I use any scented bath wash on her after 2 days her eczema will flair up again. My doctor told me if I treated the eczema with hydrocortisone and cetaphil lotion for 2 weeks and it did not clear up then it was possible she could be allergic to her milk. She never mentioned any foods. So if it is clearing up before a two week period then 9 out of 10 it is not the food. To ease your mind you can go to a dermatologist but there is nothing they can truely do for eczema. Usually with children, they will grow out of it. Just keep her lotioned and do not use anything with perfumes. Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

I've heard that Renew lotion is good for eczema. I have a friend who swears by it.

We went through the same thing. Pears was our original culprit as well. It mainly broke him out around his mouth and chin but did get spots on his legs too. We put this stuff called Triple Cream (found it a babies-r-us) on the spots to smooth them a little. He would scratch at them until they bled so we also put cortizone cream on them. I switched to all organic baby foods and that helped tremendously. We had a rast test done at Childrens Hospital and it came back negative to pears. The doctor recommended to hold off on additional testing because the tests are usually more accurate when they are a little older and plus they grow out of a lot of allergies quickly-His reactions seemed to clear up at about 1 year.

my son can't handle apples, pears, or grapes...but does well with berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc)
It is possible she can't handle some fruits. It's also possible it is a reaction to detergents or something as well. Keep a diary to see if you can narrow it down.

Hi - my 15 month-old son has severe food sensitivities (gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, peaches and other random foods), and the primary way we figured it out initially is that he developed severe eczema, which eventually covered his entire body (not that this will happen to yours!). There's usually something going on internally when a baby develops eczema, not that it always indicates food sensitivities. I would not take your child to a dermatologist because he/she will deal only with the symptoms and prescribe a topical steroid cream that may help the rash subside. Typically, though, such treatment that deals only with the symptom of a rash rather than the root cause of the problem only covers the true issue and it may re-emerge in a different, sometimes more serious issue, like asthma.

You might consider stopping solids altogether until at least 6 mos. You could also take a look at an infant food introduction schedule online to see which foods are recommended early on - I found one from an ND at http://www.gaianaturopathic.com/docs/food_introduction_sc....

I'd be glad to talk more if you'd like. All the best!

Hi B. :)

I have about 17 years experience with severe food allergies. Both my kids suffer with it as well. It can be trying to say the least lol!
Since she seems to have sensitivities I would go back to only breast milk/formula for 3-4 weeks--then try again with only rice cereal & barley cereal for a week. If she does well, introduce bananas--wait 4 days then try another easy to digest one such as organic mashed up avacados. Wait 4 days in between introducing new foods so you'll have time to see reactions to them.
If it doesn't seem to be food related, but is just "eczema", I would highly recommend a cream called "aquaphore" combined with cold-pressed coconut oil. The aquaphore is healing and the coconut oil has anti-fungal properties.

Almost all fruits (the 'tangy' ones, anyway) have acid in them. That's probably what's causing the rash. Eczema is such a common 'rash' that doctors don't get too concerned unless it's severe. Try to keep her diet 'bland' (milks, cereals, sweet veggies -- not tomatoes) and use Eucerin cream or some such mild healing skin lotion on the rash.