how do you determine if dairy products are aggravating eczema?

[tibsy]

hi, this may seem a rather foolish question, but here goes. dd is 6 1/2 months old and has been 'weaning' for about a month. she has 'mild' eczema, that seems to flare up occasionally. she doesnt have many dairy products, is bf (i dont eat too many either) and i cant decide whether the little amount she is having (yoghurt) is triggering a flare up. the only thing atm that i feel seriously effects her skin, is becoming overheated.
i have considered trying her with goats/sheep milk yoghurts etc 'just in case' but should i be eliminating foods already, when she's only just being introduced to them?
i guess what i'm trying to say is, how do i know for definite that dairy is aggravating her eczema?
tia

stop eating the dairy foods.

If the eczema improves, you'll know why.

I would ask your health visitor really or consult the baby and child question and answer book. If you ring your doctors surgery you can ask to be pu through to the health visitors and they will advise you.

It could also be something other than food, ie have you changed her babywash?
Also, if you have been using different washing powder or if you have been bathing in certain bath oils, foams etc. Some Bath products are unsuitable for you to use if you are breastfeeding cos they get absorbed by your body and it comes out in the breastmilk.

I weaned my children with no cows milk at all, and with no cows milk in my diet, because I knew that I have reacted to it since I was a child.

If you want to be sure, then cut dairy products out of your own and dd's diet for around 3 weeks, then reintroduce them.
Best have 3 completely dairy free weeks, no goats or sheeps milk. You can introduce these later, if you are sure that cows milk is causing a problem.
If you notice that cows milk does seem to be causing a problem, then I would try to get these observations backed up with tests, from your GP or a private clinic.

3 dairy free weeks wont harm your dd if she is still being breast fed. There have been some good threads here in the past about calcium rich foods that you can eat so that you wont miss out on calcium, eg dark green vegetables and fish. or calcium supplements if dairy free, maybe?

powder28, using only oats in dd's bath, i havent changed washing powder recently and i dont use bath foams as i shower. i do wash my hair tho and use soap! didnt realise that certain products came out in the breast milk, thats quite disturbing are there particular ingredients to watch out for?

As per the other replies! You can use rice milk with added calcium in her solids if you don't express, and for you to drink.

You'd be surprised just how many things contain dairy though.

My dd reacts (not with eczema) to even the tiniest amount in either her or my diet (she's 13 months and also b'fed).

dejags and nightynight, thanks for that. am already thinking of changing the way i'm weaning so that could fit in well with that

My ds had eczema when he was that age, and his did turn out to be aggravated by dairy products. We ended up removing dairy products from his diet and soon saw a great improvement. By the time he was about 4, he had largely grown out of it, and can now eat dairy products in moderation, although he doesn't like them very much, except for yoghurt.

He was bf until 5 months old, then given formula, which we switched to soya formula milk, when we started thinking dairy might be the problem (after consultation with the hv and gp). We also gave him soya yoghurts, and cut out cheese altogether. He seemed OK with butter, but most margarines caused a problem, as they usually contain buttermilk or milk solids (which I hadn't realised until the nutritionist at the hospital pointed it out).

I know that someone i used to work with used a sachet of bath salts with seaweed in and her brastmil turned green and her baby was vomiting. There was a warning on it that it was not to be used by pregnant or bestfeedng women.
Some aromatherapy products also have these warnings on.
I had severe eczema as a baby and i couldnt have any dairy products. I was out of nappies by eighteen months cos if it as well. I have asthma now and i find that dary products aggravate it.
It is worth asking your health visitor before you eliminate things from your babys diet though.

tibsy, if you want to experiment and cut out dairy for both of you, you have to look at packaging really carefully. Milk, dairy, whey, lactose etc all mean milk.

The best way I suppose is to cut out processed food altogether for 3 weeks. You will both be fine without dairy, its all a bit controversial but 2/3 of the world's population think its abhorent to eat dairy anyway. They get their bone-building foods from pulses, veg, fruit etc. Apparently one onion has loads of calcium (bet you didn't know that!!!)

But be aware that eczema can be from ANYTHING, not just dairy. It could even be genetic (does it run in your family - if so it's really tricky to get rid of).

Other foods to think about are: strawberries, tomatoes, sometimes milk is ok but cheese definitely isn't.

Forgot to say that bf is best until as late as possible, then dairy isn't essential after that. But at 6 months bf is essential, and if that's not possible, then formula with goats milk, or soya, but not the usual formula (made with cows milk).

ds is 23months and had bad eczema and we stopped giving cows milk after xmas and the eczema has cleared up and his behaviour completley changed (and hasn't had an ear infection), we give him goats milk for his main drink but he still has normal yogurts and cheese but there is not a dry itchy patch of skin on him.

Please can people stop recommending soya milk/formula as a substitute for dairy. It shouldn't be used under the age of 2. Unfortunately even a lot of GPs are ignorant in this area - see here .

thankyou all, for all of your replies. will keep of the yoghurts for the duration to see if that does make a difference