Excema. Soya milk - will it help?

[pandi52]

My 4 month od ds has broken out in what looks like excema like rashes all over his body and on his face. I had him on Cow and Gate's Omnio Comfort because he is a wee guzzler!!
I was told that putting him on soya milk might help. Has anyone found a thicker soya formula? The Cow and Gate soya seems to be the only one stocked in my supermarket.

wysoy is gloopy and i used it for mine none of whom have eczema ...hv's and eczema society dispute any benefit though!

Our consultant dermatalogist reckons it's not worth it either although I did try it when Tilly was younger with no obvious benefits.
I would say to try creams first (loads of threads on best ones) as changing to soya is quite a big thing and should only be done under medical advice as it has it's drawbacks nutritionally I think ....

dh's cousin put her ds on soya and took dairy out of his diet and his skin is perfect, he was all broken out before, and bleeding. Perhaps it helps some and doesn't others. Maybe worth a go then.

I would seek advice before making a switch like that.

My ds is allergic to milk, but doesn't react well to soya either. I think something like 50% of children with milk allergies will be unable to tolerate soya either.

I agree with trying the creams first too. Don't be upset if the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd lots of creams don't seem to have much effect. It really is trial & error. What worked for my ds when he was a little baby, doesn't work so great now that he's a toddler.

Soya formula is not particularly good and it has been under re evaluation during the last couple of years because is not apparently as nutritionally complete as other formulas, because it plays with baby boys' hormones and because there is a suspected link between the early use of soya and development of food allergies.

If your DS is allergic or intolerant to milk chances are that his eczema will improve but, as a mother of a child whose only early contact with soya was soya formula and a soya based bath oil prescribed for eczema ,I will advice against it: DS is now allergic to soya and other foods from the same family.

I'm very interested in this thread, my DD 11 months has been on soya formula and a dairy free diet now for 3 weeks to see if it helps her eczema (as advised by the allergy clinic, although her allergy results were negative). I'd say it has improved about 50% but we still need to use a lot of emollient and hydrocortisone, and she still has red blotches on her face and under her eyes at the end of every day. I'm not sure whether to continue with the soya or not. I would be interested to know more about what the National Eczema Society say about it, I'll have to do some more research.

My DS was allergic to cows milk and we used goat's milk formula. Luckily he tolerated the goat's milk but most kids don't. I think it's about 85% will be allergic to goat's milk if allergic to cow's.