9 month old eczema - milk allergy?

[Mumof2boys95]

Hello,

My 9 month old has always had quite severe eczema. I took him to the GP at 4 ish months old who said not a milk allergy as it was only on his forehead and his creases at the time, was prescribed cetraben and hydrocortisone which kept it at bay mostly.

Started weaning him and it has become so much worse, all over his arms, legs, torso, pretty much everywhere. He absolutely loves yoghurt and I’ve noticed this is what makes it really angry.

Is this a dairy allergy? I’m just worried to continue weaning and applying creams if it could be what he’s eating that’s the issue?

He is always very sniffly, sounds bunged up and people have commented as it’s quite noisy nose breathing. Runny poos but not always. Like I say the main thing is the constant scratching. But he is a happy little thing and everyone tells me he would be sicky if it were an allergy which he isn’t. No reflux or anything.

Should I cut dairy and see? Do I need to go back to the GP and ask for a referral? I don’t think he would take to the special prescribed milk now but I’m at my wits end and don’t really know what I’m doing to be honest!

Just wondering what people think?

Thank you

You can go back to the GP and get tested. If they say the child is too young, tell them to check with the allergy consultant and get back to you as age should not be a factor. However, there are no tests that can say exactly what the cause is - the only way to tell is what happens when your child consumes/touches the substance. Cutting out dairy shouldn't happen without guidance long-term. However, you could cut it for a week or so and see. Take pics of your child's skin before and after to see if it makes an obvious difference. Makes notes as well as it may be months before you get to see an allergy specialist. For things like yoghurts, you can swap to oat or something similar. Soya can be an allergen for milk allergy kids, so it might not give you a clear result.

It can also be an intolerance, that your child will get more tolerant of in time, so easing back on the dairy could make a big enough difference, particularly when the eczema is worse.

Thank you for this, thats all really helpful. Sounds daft but would he be able to tolerate his formula but not other dairy do you think? I think that’s what I’m confused about, so if I cut dairy for a week do I continue him on his usual milk? I will make an appointment with the GP either way and fingers crossed they will refer him.

Hi I had similar when my son was younger. He didn't have a full blown dairy allergy but definitely intolerant, we had to change milk etc and when I weaned we had the same problem with big flare ups. Just ask your GP for a referral to the peadiateric allergy team they'll do all relevant testing and help you figure it out but for the mean time if you notice the link between yoghurt and symptoms perhaps get some dairy free ones until you get the referral come through? Best of luck!

You can take out milk from his weaning diet to see if that improves things - you’d see a slight benefit, but maybe it wouldn’t be 100% better, then after a few weeks you’d offer a yoghurt and see what happens (the yoghurt test). If you also google the milk ladder, you can see how you’d potentially reintroduce and build milk up back into his diet. Occasionally soya allergy can go hand in hand with diary.

allergy testing isn’t as important as food diary in this case as it sounds like it’s a non-ige allergy, so would only potentially show up in skin patch test, as opposed to the prick test (which tests for anaphylaxis). It might be worth doing a food diary (you can google them and there are pdfs), then take back to GP. Blood tests also aren’t 100% accurate either.

my son has dairy and soy allergy, cut out at 4 months, and then once we started weaning we realised he has a wheat allergy, but we can manage that as long as he doesn’t have too much (it’s called a build up reaction), so it may be that your LO can eat up to a certain processed level of milk, but like a milk drink wouldn’t be possible for them.

tbh we found our gp useless, and there’s a Facebook group - Main Group - CMPA support, and check out https://dilanandme.com/dairyfree/ this website as it has lots of useful info, even if you’re not breastfeeding. Good luck, hope he feels better soon!

It might well be related but eczema can have many causes. My son has many food allergies, and had non-ige milk allergy as a baby - but he had gastro issues too not just his skin

For my son detergents and soaps were a big contributor (takes some playing around to find out what works) but time as been the only bring which has really helped

I had similar. My little one started getting eczema around six months. Mildly. Then around 9 months his eczema it got worse. At 12 months we introduced full fat milk. At this point it was really bad plus he was having diarrhoea multiple times a day. We went dairy free, diarrhoea stopped, eczema got less but still there. Took around 10 days for the diarrhoea to clear up once we stopped the dairy.
If your planning to go to use a nursery you will need to find the issue to his loose poos as they won't take them with them And will need to keep off for 48 hours.

You could try cutting out dairy to see if that helps.

I get excema and it’s triggered mainly by cat hair so if you have cats that’s another likely trigger.

It doesn’t sound like a dairy allergy. There are many causes for eczema. He could be having a reaction from the laundry detergent, pollen, fur etc.

@Mumof2boys95 As said above, reduce the dairy and keep a food diary. I don't want to advise on the milk as not a dietician and best to keep a track of symptoms and then the consultant has something to go on. I would reduce the 'extra' milk in his diet for now though.

It could be the eczema is linked to other things such as dust, detergent, pets, pollen (esp this time of year!) but it sounds like the milk is most likely. Usually I would say as the Mum, you have a good instinct as to what is causing it as you will be absorbing the patterns. However, add any contact with pets, balloons, other potential allergens to the diary. And, if you get a GP appt, make sure you stress that you are struggling to know what to wean him on due to the exacerbation of the symptoms - make sure they know it is causing a real problem, as eczema is not usually enough in itself for them to bother about. If they can refer to a dietician at the same time, there is a chance that one might come first. Not sure if GP can do that, but might be worth asking as the allergist will likely send you to one if need to cut out/down on dairy. Might as well start both at the same time.