allergic to something in my breast milk??

[mamaesi]

whenever my baby breastfeeds she gets this strange patchy redness in the face almost like a heat rash...all over her head and she gets hot...
it goes away a few minutes after she stops feeding

she also has been arching her back a bit. and seems tense while feeding.

can a baby be allergic to breast milk?? its so strange

Hi - I've replied to your other post in feeding. Hth.

Babies with food allergies can react to small amounts of allergens in the breastmilk but what you're describing doesn't sound like an allergy to me unless she has other symptoms like vomiting, eczema, crying/discomfort etc. Sounds more like she's getting a bit warm and may not be in the right position. Have you tried changing her position when feeding? Arching her back and feeling tense could be signs that she's taking in too much air when feeding, making her tummy uncomfortable. I would suggest contacting a breastfeeding counsellor or local La Leche League maybe?

Ive been told its not possible for a baby to be allergic to breastmilk itself as its the same immune system (whatever the doctor means by that) but they can be allergic to what you consume.

That said my baby gets a red patchy face. After feeding sometimes but its heat. Well, Ive always put it down to that anyway.

How old is she? Does it happen everytime? Does it go to places that werent touching (being heated up by) your skin?

i wonder if actually she is either getting too hot, or she is reacting to something on you? perfume? shower gel? deodorant?

caffine? drop that for while.

how old is baby?

baby is 15 weeks. We have had issues feeding all along. After seeking help, determined it was over supply fast let down...so baby has always taken too much air, uncomfortable after feeds, vomits a lot...

I thought it was getting better with age...but now this red face thing has been going on for a few weeks. I also thought she had eczema but doctor said it was just bad cradle cap...coming all down her face, neck, ears, shoulders, back.

Cradle cap will not get better, have tried everything...and she also seems to have patchy red skin behind knees and on elbows..

Maybe she just has super sensitive skin? I don't know..but I just keep wondering if its something I am eating or doing that could help??

and yes it happens every time I feed..

it could be something you are eating, but nailing that down will be difficult, and its important that your diet is pretty good when your feeding.Does sound like your baby has atopic eczema. imo anyway!

I think it would be worth your while pushing for a refferal to a skin /demo consultant.

have you tried the normal stuff? not wearing wool, but cotton, changing washing powders etc? bear in mind that babies with ezcema who get hot, will have a flare up of ezcema.

you could consider that the eczema may be environmentally based, and use dust mite covers and try and keep dust mite levels low.

you could start with stopping caffine. then perhaps consider removing milk.for a short while, but keep a open mind, this may not work. and certainly would not have helped my son, as his allergies were to things i would never have dreamed would have been the culprit. The main problem is the GP who hasnt directly sorted out the skin problem. you need some ezcema treatments , so perhaps see another gp in your practice and get 2nd opinon.

good luck.

If its at every feed, then you could start with the usual culprit - dairy. You need to totally cut it out though, which means reading all labels etc. And take some vitamin and calcium supplements, and make sure the rest of your diet is well balanced so you don't miss out nutritionally.

i would cut out dairy too

My friends had this, very sensitive skin, if you put a hand on his skin it would leave a bright red Mark, he used to have very bad cradle cap too, he grew out of it by about 4 I think. I know my friend used epiderm ointment that helped.

(son)