My poor baby's skin :-(

[Flatwhite32]

I posted before, but didn't get much traffic. My 7 week old DD has a horrible rash on her face, and every day it gets worse. I keel getting told it's 'normal' baby acne, but she keeps scratching at her face repeatedly, and I'm now wondering if it's bothering her. I have stopped eating dairy (I'm BF'ing) but only for the past few days. Up until just shy of 6 weeks, she had lovely skin, and it started really suddenly. It's also on the other side of her face, on her ears and has started to spread to her neck. We haven't changed anything, and don't use products on her skin. It is just getting worse every day, and I'm not sure what to do. She also has digestive and reflux issues. I'm finding it really hard that I can't make it better for her. Would I be unreasonable to get if looked at, or would that be a waste of a GP's time?

DD had this, along with reflux. It was a dairy allergy.

I've attached a photo so hopefully you can see.

This is my DS at around a similar age. It started off as yours looks and , frustratingly , it was just baby acne. I washed it with it with cool boiled water and cotton balls and applied childs farm baby moisturiser religiously and it cleared up , he now has beautiful skin. If you are concerned definitely get it checked out , if anything it will reassure you too.

@Flatwhite32 you can where I am but the smaller boots won't stock it.

It's also available on Amazon if that helps

My son had similar and I cut out milk and soya and it went away and hasn’t returned. Common sensitivity in babies

Put breast milk on it x

DS had a similar thing at 3 months old. Kept being told it was baby acne but it got progressively worse. In the end we got referred to a dermatologist and he was prescribed clobervate which cleared it up within 48 hours.

It may very well be baby acne and I hope it is. But trust your gut. Don't be afraid to insist to be referred to a dermatologist if it doesn't improve.

I hope it clears up soon.

Aveeno baby eczema cream is amazing as is La Roche Posay Cicaplast

is it hot where you live? Can it be heat rash?

Child's farm.
Bath stuff and cream...

Works wonders

Milk spots. All mine got them. They pass by themselves

For the itching/scratching, look at cotton comfort's mitten tops -they were a godsend for our eczema babies.

OP I would really hold fire from treating this yourself.

You could make the situation worse until you know what you are dealing with.
It needs to be seen by a GP.

It could be eczema, allergy, dermatitis, bacterial or fungal infection or a number of other things.

I know other posters are well meaning, but I would get it seen by a doctor so you know what you are dealing with.

@Moody123 @QuickNC123 I have tried putting breastmilk on it, but it hasn't helped. Admittedly, however, I haven't been consistent in doing that.

@firsttimebabybirther that's really helpful, thank you. How long did it take to clear up? How often did you apply the cooled boiled water and moisturiser?

@peachgreen she's on ranitidine for reflux, and I've now cut out dairy to see if it makes a difference, as she has other symptoms too (e.g. Congested nose).

@speakout Hopefully I'll get an appointment with the duty doctor tomorrow, so I'll hold off buying anything until then.

@cutitout It's nowhere near as hot as it was when she was born. In her very early weeks it was 30c or thereabouts! It was about 20C here today.

My youngest had similar and as I was exclusively breastfeeding, I cut out milk and soya and it went away (took approx 2 weeks, and I was very strict with my diet) and hasn’t returned. Common sensitivity in babies causes lots of skin rashes/eczema etc.

At six weeks my DDs's skin looked very similar - I couldn't believe 'baby acne' could be so bad - but a couple of weeks later it was much better having done nothing.

However. she didn't seemed bothered by it and didn't scratch, so it is probably best to get it checked.

It take a while to clear up completely , it was all over him , down his neck , chest, arms , back and in his hair. It started not looking as angry in a couple of weeks and completely gone in just over a month , so not quickly by any means.

I'd clean it maybe twice a day , sometimes more and he was always bathed in just water , never added any soap or anything else ever. Childs farm is amazing , I still put it on him now and even my own face if I ever have a break out , you should do a bit of research on it , it really has worked wonders.

I also recommend Aveeno daily moisturiser, it’s brilliant, my baby had the same rash on her face and it cleared up within hours of first use

This was my dd at 5 weeks. The dd and health visitor both said to use nothing on it but I had to try something. So I used the child’s farm sensitive moisturiser. Cleared it up in a few days. Might be worth a patch test first though. Just in case!

It looks very similar to my dd who is now 16 months. She has been confirmed dairy, soya, gluten and wheat since 12 weeks. The slightest traces will cause her skin to come out in an excema type rash especially between her eyebrows, the side of her face and middle of her chest. Apparently it is very common for people who are allergic to dairy protein to also be allergic to soya.... Hope you get it sorted as it not fun when you're trying to change your food intake to suit your baby. It can be done but it's hard

Aveeno baby eczema- it’s great stuff. I was given it on prescription, but amazon is also good if you have prime.

My DS eczema started off looking like that, so might not be baby acne. You're doing the right thing eliminating dairy from diet. Hope you get on top of it.

My first thought was CMPA. My daughter's face was identical to this, also breastfed.

Dairy can take up to 4 weeks to clear from your system, I think. It was two weeks dairy free for me before her skin and other symptoms started to improve.

Yanbu to be concerned and I would definitely advise taking your baby to the GP, both to be sure and to put your mind at rest. My DS has regular prescriptions for a shower emollient and cream for morning and night. It was recommended to me by friend and on here to try lots of different creams on him, in the end I went down the route of getting him a prescription, which has worked, and means I don't have a cupboard full of creams that I had to pay for, and which haven't worked. Hope you get an appointment tomorrow.

just a quick note as to timing, I remember very clearly a foster mum who fostered newborns years ago, in the days when many babies were given up for adoption 'voluntarily' and at that time the paperwork for giving up for adoption took about 6 weeks. She laughed and said that it was the worst timing as they got acne just as their new adoptive parents saw them for the first time.

so 6 weeks sounds about right.