18mo face reacts when eating cheese

[RubyrooUK]

DS2 is 18mo. He is still breastfed, no known allergies.

At about 12 months, he started developing a rash on his upper legs, which looked like keratosis pilaris, which DH has, so we didn't worry. It got worse and spread right down his arms and it is also a bit on his face/neck sometimes. We took him to the doctor who said it was early eczema and gave us some washes/creams that have made no difference. It is still spreading and looks worse.

The other night I made DS2 macaroni cheese and when he ate it, his face came out in hives. I wasn't worried at first as this often used to happen to DS1 with something acidic like tomatoes. But then DS2 was eating a bolognese last night and he had no face reaction to the tomato sauce until he begged for grated cheddar, stuffed it in and almost immediately his face broke out in hives again.

(see pics)

Could the cheese be doing this? Is this something that is worth a trip to the doctor (particularly as the rash still hasn't really been identified convincingly) or is it likely just to be sensitive skin? I know that babies do have sensitive skin but it just seems only to occur after cheese. Any ideas/advice?

Any ideas? Thanks!

What's he like after normal cows milk?

if he is ok with normal cows milk this could be a reaction to the high histamine content of cheese, tomato (marmite is another)
some children have sensitive skin that reacts this way and grow out of it.

that said this is still worth reporting and showing these photos to doctor and get medical advice.

good luck.

Ds1 used to get something similar when his skin touched egg. He didn't seem to have any other adverse effects, just the hives. He was ok when the egg was diluted (e.g. he could rub a slice of cake over his face with no reaction) but stuff like meringue or scrambled egg brought him out. We stopped giving him any egg for a year or so then re-introduced it gradually. No more reaction, except that he now hates egg!

Thanks everyone.

He seems fine after cow's milk. And until recently he seemed fine with cheese. All very odd.

My DS used to react like this to all dairy, I think cheese provoked a more severe reaction than milk (if I remember correctly). Cream was also worse than milk. We were referred to paediatrician - skin tests confirmed this and was consistent with diet history/diaries. He has grown out of it now. But has a few other allergies.

cockadoodledooo that sounds like classic food allergy to egg. its perfectly possible to be very allergic to raw or partially cooked egg but not to cooked.
its often outgrown.
our son is still allergic to raw/partially cooked egg and I suspect it will be life long as he is 18 now. Can now eat well cooked, small amounts of egg.

His egg food challenges were in hospital care in case of anaphylaxis.