still not found any solids that don't bring 8mo out in eczema :(

[vitomum]

have posted about ds2 before. he had a big eczema outbreak when i started weaning him. i had given him a few things over the course of 3 weeks cos i thought he was 6 months, had been exclus bf till then, no allergies in the family etc etc. I just thought it would be fine and he had some very miniscule quantities of pear, mango, papaya, banana, advocado, porridge,babyrice, form milk. also, much to my i initially put the skin reaction down to an accidental purchase of biological washing powder (actually so did my GP), so i continued with weaning for about 3 weeks before the penny dropped and i stopped completely. i got some good advice here at the time which i proceded with.

in the last fortnight he has had pear and sweet potato (about 2 teaspoons of each). both have brought him out in another eczema attack. so i am back to exclusive bf again and it is becoming v hard. i am torturing myself with the thought i have sensitised him to a whole range of foods by not immediately recognising the weaning as the cause of his eczema and stopping sooner. i don't know what's best now. should i keep periodically trying new foods? should i totally stop again for a while to give his gut time to recover? should i be pushing for allergy testing?

any thoughts would be most welcome

Message withdrawn

I'd be pushing for allergy testing.

Also if you are using Calomine(sp) lotion/ointment stop immediatly. My DS has/had eczema and we were told to use calomine ointment and it never ever cleared up. I, like the big oaf I am, stood on his tube of ointment and as soon as we stopped using it his eczema cleared up.

The GP then told us that the HV shouldn't have told us to use it as it can cause allergic reactions.

try him on probiotics for a couple of weeks. You can find dairy free ones on the internet. Also add them to your diet as you are breastfeeding.

It would be very unusual for all foods to cause this although there are people who have oral allergy syndrome. So personally I'd try again after 2 weeks letting his gut recover and I'd start with baby rice mixed with expressed breast milk.

It takes ages to get to see anyone so you may like to ask for a referral now and try other things while you wait.

Chewing is important for later speech development so you will have to persist even if he gets eczema.

My DD1 was like this, she seemed to react to everything.

The safest foods for kids like this seem to be the following;
lamb, rice, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, grapes, dates and for some quinoa.

Definitely try the probiotics plus digestive enzymes are supposed to be good (never used them as found out too late about them).

I hope things improve for you, it's such a worry. If it is any comfort to you, my DD1 is now five and can eat most foods (no dairy, soy, avocado or fish). When she was a baby I never thought that we would ever get to the stage that we are at now. We avoided as many trigger foods as possible until 3YO in order to giver her gut a good chance to heal. and it seems like it has.

Good luck and best wishes.

thanks for the replies, and bumps. sorry for the delay in coming back to this.

i will try and get those probiotics.
thanks for the positive story beachcomber. it does help to keep reminding myself that they grow out of most of this stuff, seems a long way of still though

You're welcome. I remember hating weaning DD1 as she reacted to everything and I got so upset. I really never thought that things would improve but they have.

Slight side note, don't know how you feel in general about this issue but you might want to be careful with vaccinations. My DD1 reacted pretty badly to them and our allergist said this is quite common in atopic children. Very personal decision of course but you might want to take them slowly as they can have an efffect on gut health in some children.

vitomum

Just to say we went through this too. DD was quite late to wean (on hypoallergenic milk due to dairy intolerance and reflux) and came out in awful facial rashes from about 7-9 months - it was definitely food related but again we had trouble tying it down to anything logical as in your case. GP said it was eczema and just suggested the usual steroid cream! In the end we went to see a paed allergist at Addenbrookes (on health insurance) and even took samples of things we thought were causing the problem (all totally innocuous incl sweet potato!). All negative (though the testing isnt 100% reliable anyway and only shows allergies not intolerances). Within about 3 months it disappeared again - in the meantime we did go to see a homeopath - whether its a coincidence or not i just don't know.

DD is now 2.5 and we think coming out of the dairy thing. She still has the odd flare up but nowadsays it generally isnt food but more often sensitivity to something she comes into contact.

Not much help probably but i think as long as your are careful within reason (DD didnt have gluten for example til 8-9 months, nuts at 2 (not peanuts) you just have to keep going. And it may just disappear again.

Not much practical to add here but my dd is allergic to a range of food (more your dramatic reaction rather than eczema) and also has eczema and I just wanted to say that I have been there with torturing yourself as to what you did wrong. I suspect the answer is that you didn't do anything wrong and that your ds would have these problems whatever you had done. Btw it sounds to me like you are doing the right things...Eczema is a pig and can be triggered by all kinds of things - my dd's is definitely heat related.....Good luck to you.

Not sure if it is any help and may not be relevant at all but our no.4 (I'm new - please help! DS? DD? DS4? Take pity on me someone) at 2.5 reacts to the natural preservatives in all foods - awaiting referral but the Hyperactive Childrens Support Group put us onto the low-salycilate diet. He becomes hyperactive rather than eczema-y but we are an allergic family and I think that is just his reaction. But natural preservatives in the oddest of things can cause problems - hyperactivity/asthma/eczema. He is now on a diet of rice, peeled packham pears (and they have to be peeled as the salicylates are in the skin), rice milk (unfortified),meat, peeled old potatoes, cabbage and HACSG recommended vitamins. We were told by Allergy UK to ask for a referral to St Thomas because it is part of the chemical sensitivity family and lots of doctors don't even believe in it but St Thomas's will. And Allergy UK have a specialist on hand to help and you don't have to pay to join - subscription is voluntary. Am I allowed to mention specific organisations? It is just they have been such a help to us. I really feel for you - it is horrid to see your child ill with food and to feel helpless. Best of luck. Sorry if this is completely irrelevant. It was just in case..