So, I gave up dairy and

[jumpingjojo]

my BF 7 month old ds's eczema has made a dramatic improvement. It's nearly 4 weeks now and his skin is so much better. His cheeks still go red at times but I think that is hampered by teething.

But what do I do now ? I saw my gp last week who wasn't really convinced, saying it might be coincidence, but I could 'challenge ' him if I wanted. ie give my ds dairy and see what happens. He did agree to refer us to a dietician. Should I try re-introducing dairy into my diet to see what happens ? - though that seems a bit mean as it has made such a difference.
Also, obviously I have not given him any dairy, can I give him soya foods like yoghurts ? I saw on other threads about not giving soya milk. He hasn't put much weight on since I started weaning him over a month ago so I need to bump up his diet.
TIA for any advice offered.

Dear Jumpinjojo,

first congrats - we had similar problems with DD and it is very stressful to see your LO unwell. Eczema is a right down pain.

We did reintroduce foods as a challenge and she was also allergy tested. Our dr and paediatrician were both sceptical so when the results came back it was bitter-sweet; we were right but DD was also allergic to milk and egg.

TBH, I think that the food challenge is the best indicator. We have found that she reacts to food she isn't giving a positive response to as an allergen e.g. legumes.

The good news is that milk allergies are often outgrown but try not to re-expose in the interim so that the body hoepfully 'forgets' to respond to it.

I BF DD until 18 months, at which point she had stopped reacting to soya-based formula (she would not take any of the hypoallergenic formulas and I needed a better diet).

Good luck and hope DS continues to improve.
XXX

If it were me, I'd try introducinga bit of dairy back into my own diet to see whether he reacts or not rather than giving him dairy directly.

The reason I say this is that ds2 had eczema from birth, despite being exclusively breastfed, but put on weight well and was otherwise healthy. After we tried to introduce formula at around 4 or 5-ish months (iirc) he would only take about half an oz and that with a ton of screaming, but only after that did he start to get real problems from dairy allergy. These included sudden stopping gaining weight, blood in nappy and worsening of existing eczema. The worst of these was the stopping gaining weight. He only started again when I cut all dairy out of my diet 8 weeks later.

So, I think "challenge" him with dairy in your own diet, but don't introduce it to him directly unless he first reacts OK to reintroduction into your diet.

Also wrt soya, this is also a common allergen and many dairy allergic children are also allergic to soya. That said, ds2 loves soya yoghurt and thankfully he is OK with these (Provamel do very nice creamy ones with more calories per 100g than Alpro).

if you want to bump up his diet though, try avacado and banana (mixed together is yummy), also try mixing olive oil with any veggies you are giving him or try roasting veggies instead of steaming/boiling them.

I would try putting a little milk on his skin as a first challenge. A severely allergic child will react to this with either small bumps appearing or a more angry looking redness. This happened with my Ds after his neck came into contact with a strap on a supermarket trolley harness.
My Ds is fine with soy and had soy formula for years although severely allergic to dairy and eggs. He first tried it mixed with baby rice, and loved it.

sounds more like intolerance than allergy (even medics sometimes use the wrong terms).

If you want to be sure what it is reintroduce milk in your diet and see what happens - the only real way of telling if it causes the eczema. If you don't want to risk the eczema again just carry on as you are. When you do decide to introduce dairy to your child then its best to try cheese or live yoghurt before milk. Live yoghurt contains probiotics and there is research saying they help with eczema.

How about something like sweet potato in his diet? You can introduce wheat if you haven't already done so. Soy allergy is a real pain and not as often outgrown as milk problems, wouldn't risk it personally.

Thanks for your replys. I think I will go back onto dairy next week and see what happens. I nervously gave him some soya yoghurt today and he has been fine so far. But, will have more of a think about continuing with the soya. Will add olive oil in too. I gave him avocado mixed with banana the other week and he looked horrified, and wouldn't eat it ! I thought it was the avocado but he has since either refused banana or vomited it so maybe I'll try avocado again without the banana !

Have sound this site here and it actually states that there is a link between mother's intake of milk and child's reaction to milk (something my doctor told me was impossible -but like you thought otherwise)
It advises to restrict the mother's dairy intake of milk whilst breakfeeding. I know for diary allergy and intollerance but if ecaema affected as you suspect would probably reckomend you stick of dairy until you speak to dieticain

I had a look at that website - Very helpful, thanks very much. I will chase up the dietician referral next week.