soya milk - seems people are saying it's not a good thing? 11mth old with bad eczema trying to work out why?

[qsack]

hi all
this allergies things is a bit new to me but having read some of these threads i'm clearly not alone! ds3 has bad eczema, covering neck, front, back and all the creases in arms and legs. i'm currently trying to exclude foods too see if he improves. Dairy and wheat at the moment. Did dairy for two weeks a while ago and no real improvement. Wheat and dairy now for a week so far. It is clearing a bit but wouldn't say it was conclusive.
He's on soya milk for cereal and meals i make for him which is fine as i am as still BF, but want to stop feeding if possible so why do people say soya milk and soya formula not good? am happy to try him on goats milk if think that's better option. as near 11mths sure it's near enough to one to be ok??

He is itchy esp when tired or hungry he crazily itches the back of his head and at night so hands are covered, but other than that he is generally well, a really good eater, poos' normal, sleeps well.

ALSO does anyone have good advice on how to keep at bay the really red patches they can get in their creases and chin. ds is a big boy near 98% percentile so i know that doesn't help. especially bad on neck under chin and elbows and under ams. if possible quite keen to stop breast feeding so i don't have to think about me being 'free from' aswell as him.

going slightly demented trying to work out how to sort all this out. doctor not much help and dont' really want to put him back on wheat just incase it is that as the flare up's take so long to clear up. HELP!

Soya formula is not necessarily a bad thing (the official NHS line is that its a perfectly good substitute for children with cows milk allergy) but there are a few things worth bearing in mind before going down this route.

The first is that soya is a major allergen in its own right - so kids with a predisposition to allergies may also be, or become, allergic to soya (which is a huge pain in the arse cause its in everything).

The second is that, cause soya is a common substitute for dairy in all sorts of free-from products, a dairy free dc will probably be eating quite a lot of it anyway eg in soya yogurts, margarines etc apart from all the soya in ordinary stuff like bread. So soya milk/formula on top of this means that a v. large percentage of the diet ends up being soya based. There is now quite a lot of research suggesting that this may not be a good thing - although this is by no means conclusive. Your best bet is to research it a bit and make up your own mind.

The final point about soya is that it has been suggested that early exposure may be linked to peanut allergy. Again -its not conclusive and would only be true for certain kids at any rate.

This last point preys on my mind a lot cause my ds was diagnosed with peanut allergy at 10 mo - without ever having eaten any nut (and I avoided peanuts during pregnancy/breastfeeding). He was on soya formula from 6 mo due to a suspected dairy allergy (since confirmed). So again not conclusive but that's certainly why I'm biased against it - and wouldn't give it to any future kids of mine.

Its so difficult with allergies - nothing is conclusive. Hope you find the right solution for you and your ds.

Actually WB my Paed wouldn't recommend soya for my Ds who was allergic to cows milk - severe ezcema.

He would only recommend Nutramigen, which my DS refused, eventually were sucessful with goat formula and then milk - although he tolerates dairy well now age 3.5.

From memory, going back 3 yrs mind you, there are synthetic female hormones in soya products (also many soya products are GM?) and our local NHS didn't want to be responsible for recommending/prescribing this.

Also soya (not formula I think?) is often sweetened with many types of hidden fructose/sucrose/glucose and not at all good for teeth.

Yes, they think that the phyto-oestrogens may cause infertility in later life, esp in boys.

That plus rotting teeth and poss soya allergies seems a good reason to stay off it.

Dd's paed & dietician preferred that she have rice milk (once over a year) to soya.

DS dietician agrees that the calcium enriched rice milk or oat milk is preferable to soya IF the child is eating a good, varied and importantly calorific enough diet.
[He is dairy allergic too].

I was giving my dd normal goats milk from 8 or 9 months with no problems. Cows milk really made her eczema flare up, but she was fine on goats milk. Marvellous stuff, IMO!

I would support Gomez's suggestion for calcium enriched rice milk. DD's dietician recommended it when she was 11 months and I was still BF. She loves it and has no reaction at all. Was such a relief after she refused all the hypo-allergenic formulas.

You can get Rice Milk at most health food stores and big supermarkets. Make sure you get the one saying "added calcium".

great, thank you so much. kids all in bed now so a chance to read these. a friend of mine mentioned the oestrogen thing too. i think i'll have a go at Goat's Milk as he's only a few weeks off 1. see how he does on that. He eats a good diet and is a great weight so there are no problems with the calories! thank you.

My DS got eczema at three months when I started drinking a soy shake to improve breastfeeding output...and as soon as I stopped drinking it, the eczema went away. I'd try that next for sure.

Have you tried changing your DCs exposure to things in the environment that might make his exzema worse? I mean chlorine in bathwater, the creams you use on him, washing powder etc?
My DDs had mild exzema although DD1 had it really bad on her ankles for months when she was about 1yo. I eventually had to get a prescription for a cortisone cream which helped, tho i used it sparingly. There are new non-cortisone creams now which aren't as strong as the old ones. It's worth it to get the exzema under control and then try and keep it there by other means. Such as:
I used a cream called Triceram from allergybestbuys.com also bought the Ecowashballs from them and stopped using washing powder altogether on the DDs clothes (except nappies but i halfed the amount of powder), also bought the bath de-clorinator crystal ball thing but am now using the vit-c shower head. (All from the same site).
For every day I use Weleda camomile products on their face and body inc a good dash of the oil in their baths. I use no soap (except for handwashng and they have very dry scaly hands as a result) and only a litle mild shampoo. I try to wipe most of the lather out with a sponge and then rinse out with their head over the side of the baby bath they bath in (inside the main bath) and into the main bath so they don't sit in the soapy water. (Well, DD1 4.3yo co-operates but DD2 15mo just wails so i just get it over with as fast as possible and then pour ready de-clorinated water from a bucket over her to rinse). All of these measures made a difference.
HTH

P.S. don't know if anyone has mentioned oatmilk - it has more body than rice milk and is not as sweet.

P.P.S. I know it's not much consolation now but it does tend to disappear after a couple of years, mine are both clear now. But i still keep up the above measures...

I do nothing now apart from the goat milk, restrict bath stuff to halos 'n' horns and moisturise when I remember - which is not that often. Oh and sunscreen, I use a high factor hypoallergenic one. Apart from that he eats choc, fromage fraise, cheese etc normal washing powder etc. His skin used to be open and weepy/bloody constantly on some bits of him - now fine.

Oats in a stocking or muslin in the bath is great for helping with flare ups.

I was told that the protein in soya is very similar to the one in cows milk, so many children who are allergic to dairy are also allergic to soya.
Ask for pepti formula - we tried it to see if ds's eczema improved and in 4 days it cleared completely
good luck!

My Naturopath recommend that my DS1 who had bad eczema as a baby that he has mostly grown out of (depending on humidity and whether he has had oranges/OJ), back off the dairy as it was not agreeing with his system (she diagnoses from history plus iridology). The problem is that most Soy milks have an absolutely paltry amount of soy in them anyway - so the Soy goodness is just not being imparted. The one I had been buying for us only had 3% - which is just pathetic. I have found one that has 17% but it is a long life one but apparently you can do better. DS1 and I are not allergic as such, but we just don't handle dairy that well. For myself I know that I get very congested. If your baby started getting eczema so young it is likely that he will probably grow out of it.

I BF'd both my boys past 12mths to try to pass on immunity. Have you tried giving your DS Fish Oil and maybe taking some yourself?

ds aged 5 monthsis having patch testing don enext week after prick testing a month ago..milk and egg ar ethe culprits they think so we were given neocate/nutramigen and pepti and with all of them his eczema flared up by next day so he looked like he d been scalded !!! an deyes itchy and red..poor thing..luckily im still bF and avoidind dairy..mostly! but hes on goa tmilk formula which seems to suit him a smuch as poss although he still has eczema but not as bad...has anyone else reacted to these so called hypoallergenic milks? i read on the ingreds thattheyhave coconut oil and soya oil in them and i thought they were allergens in themselves? any advice please

Hi
Having read the above threads i am now slightly worried also. MY DD has been recentyl started on wysoy she is nearly 7mths ols for Milk intolerance. She has had problems since birth and was previously on SMA LF as it was thought to be lactose intolerance. She has much improved on the wysoy but on reading the above i am now concerned that this formula is going to be detrimental for her it is so hard to find something suitable. She is currently weaning at the mo as well with very little success but i'm not even worrying about that

Re the eczema - have you tried bathing him in Oilatum? DD2 was lactose intolerant. She also suffered with eczema and I had Oilatum prescribed - its an oil to go in the bath. Also used E45 which also helped and also prescribed.

She was brought up on soya formula (again prescribed) which she thrived on and had for the first two years of her life. She had the most awful sickness and diarrhoea on normal formula and once she started losing weight my concerns were finally taken seriously by our HV who suggested she was intolerant! This is following many Drs appts and sprints to the A&E due to her being so poorly on normal formula.

Anyway the only downside to soya that I was told about was that it contains a fair bit of sugar and therefore not good for their teeth but I just made sure she also had juice and water in between her soya feeds and she has absolutely no problem with her teeth now - she's now 4yrs old.

To add to this she went onto soya from about 4mths old - if your ds is 11mths old I would certainly give it a go. Good luck.

Soya supposed not to be good due to the hormones - Goats can work, but if you move to it permanently and extensively the allergy can transfer to that as it is still dairy. If you can, then would suggest visiting a kinesiologist (SP?) as they will tell you for sure what the imbalance is that is causing the eczema. You might need some supplements - non dairy probiotic, fish oil and they kinesiologist will tell you what you need.

Re creams/shampoos etc you should try totally organic - Weleda or Greenpeople on Internet both good for eczema. For washing powder I find Ecover or Persil non bio with either Ecover or Surcare softener the best.

Sorry if repeating not read the whole thread - Good luck.