Dairy free and eczema

[Cric]

Our DD has been suffering with eczema since she was about a year. The creams clear it (almost) and as soon as we stop and go to using moisturisers it always flares up. I would like to have ago at dairy free diet to see if that helps but have a few questions please....

1. how long should we try??
2. would lacto free replacement products work or is it something else in dairy that irritates the skin??

If you have any words of wisdom that would be fabulous. Thanks everyone!

You need to give it a good couple of months at least.

You'll need to go strictly dairy-free, familiarise yourself with all the different words that imply dairy in the ingredients lists. Probably lots of home-cooking.

It can be done. It's a bit of a hassle at first, but when you get used to DF life it's fairly straightforward.

Lactofree is no good, because dairy allergy/intolerance is usually to the milk protein (casein), not the milk sugar (lactose). Lactose intolerance is usually characterised by stomach/bowel problems.

Hi there.

My DD(3.5) was/is allergic to dairy and developed eczema at a couple of months old. We didn't know about the allergic until I gave her formula for the first time at 5 months and she had an immediate reaction (mild, thank goodness). A paediatrician told us that the eczema was caused by the milk protein (so not lactose which is a sugar iirc) coming through my milk. I went dairy-free straightaway and didn't give DD dairy on weaning. It took 2 months for the eczema to clear (longer than I was told it would). That was partly because it took time to leave my body before it could leave DD's.

In my experience, it might take a bit longer than the 2 weeks often quoted especially if breastfeeding. But it can be very effective. Plant milks and yogurts are pretty good these days. Avoiding lactose is not going to help by itself - you need to avoid the milk protein.

I have read in a few places that eczema starting before 6 months of age is likely to be allergy-related whereas later onset might not be. I have friends whose babies developed quite bad eczema after 6 months and they didn't eliminate dairy. The eczema cleared up quite suddenly a few months down the line.

I think it is worth a try for a month to see if there is any improvement. I hope this helps. All the best.

OinkBalloon makes a good point about milk-based ingredients hiding behind various names. Fortunately, packaged foods tend to have 12 (i think) of the major allergens, incliding milk, highlighted in bold in their ingredients lists if they contain them so it is fairly easy to see. Eating out can be annoying as many people working in restaurants aren't familiar with what does and doesn't count as dairy.

Thanks everyone.... Great advice. When she started weaning she had lots of cheese, yoghurt etc and was fine. It was about 3 or 4 weeks after I started to give her milk as a drink.... Do you think it is less likely to be milk? Thanks

My dc had dairy intolerance, but I assumed they were lactose intolerant because milk made them ill (vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps) whereas they were fine with hard cheese and yogurt. Or so I thought. They gradually developed little patches of eczema, also areas of rough dry skin and rashes, then came the chronic catarrh, mild asthma and the beginnings of glue ear.

When we went strictly dairy free the skin problems and the catarrh started clearing with a month or so, the glue ear and asthma taking longer to clear up. For years after, the first sign that they had eaten some dairy was that their skin became dry and scaly.