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?

Poor thing. My DD has the same kind of rash when she was tiny. I reduced dairy considerably from my diet and used a good quality coconut oil on her skin. It took a while to clear up, but we got there eventually!

If you think it's dairy, maybe try expressing milk and adding Colief to break it down. If it's allergies consider egg and wheat as well; push for specialist support early.

Normal Aveeno baby moisturiser helped our boy's baby acne. His acne started much earlier though, maybe 2 weeks and pretty much went by about 8/9 weeks, so not sure if that helps.

Are you the Flatwhite from ante-natal threads? I was in March, I'm really happy to see you have a healthy baby. Wishing you all the best!

It takes something like 3 weeks to see a change when you've removed an allergen so keep going with the non dairy.
I've had eczema my whole life so really feel baby's pain x

My lo had this the stuff the hv gave did nothing, I bought Childs farm moisturiser and bath wash. Worked a great

Definitely worth trying the GP.

One of mine had eczema up until about 1 year, and the only thing that worked was the Child’s Farme moisturiser (the one with grapefruit).

If she’s scratching, this website does scratch sleeves which are brilliant. They’re made of natural fibres and stay in place. The site also has excellent advice on how to deal with skin complaints (it was set up by a parent who couldn’t get the help she needed from doctors etc!).

www.itchybaby.co.uk

Hope she feels better soon.

My baby son (ebf) had increasingly bad baby acne from about 3 weeks - started on just one side as a couple of tiny pimples, became angry red spots and patches all over his face and shoulders by 5 or 6 weeks. I don’t remember him scratching at it, even though it looked sore. Baby acne is supposed not to bother them, so I don’t think it’d be silly to take your lovely girl to GP if you’re concerned. I eventually gave up all dairy - had to be very strict - barista oat milk in coffee/ tea made this bearable! - and (only) noticed an improvement 2 weeks later. So if you’re going non dairy, i’d say be strict, and stick with it for a couple of weeks to see if there’s any change. A month later DS’s skin was completely clear, but even now (he’s 5 months old) if I eat any dairy the spots start to come back. So weird! And probably against medical advice that would recommend women keep up a good calcium intake, when breastfeeding.

Try a fabric conditioner without the Benzisothiazolinone. It may very well not be the cause of course, but might help reduce some irritation while she has it.

Asda do their own brand one without. Ecover also do.

I know this probably sounds weak and old fashioned but I’d go with Sudocreme. It definitely won’t do any harm and I’ve found it to work wonders on practically everything, also very soothing.
Defo go back to go/hv
Good luck op x

@TheBananaStand2 I have got that Barista milk! It's surprisingly good!

Thank you for the website link @Lolapusht

@Excited0803 we are already using Colief. I think it helps her tummy a bit, but we've had no joy skin wise. Yes that's me from the antenatal threads! After my MMC I conceived again on cycle 3! Hope you and your DC are doing well .

@steppemum That's an interesting story! Loads of websites say babies get it really really early on. I naively thought DD had escaped it!

Thank you @Tiredtomybones. I don't want to spend a fortune on things that don't work or inadvertently make it worse.

@OkMaybeNot That's really useful to know. Her bowels have been all over the place the last few days too, and we've had watery poo this evening. I know a bad tummy can be a symptom of CMPA. Did you BF or use dairy free formula?

@Italwaysworksitselfout Yes eliminating dairy is hard enough. I struggle to keep my weight up (I lost my 2 stone of pregnancy weight in a month) and my concern is losing more weight if I have to eliminate more than dairy.
I know I shouldn't complain about that, but my GP was a bit concerned at her 6 week check how quickly I'd lost weight, and was hoping I wouldn't have to go on an elimination diet!

@Katkat222 How many times a day did you apply the Child's Farm moisturiser?

flatwhite I agree. Baby acne is normally earlier. At 6 weeks I'd assume it's an allergy. Anything allergy related needs to be seen by the doctor. Ideally ASAP. Here in the US it's a same day appointment with the paediatrician and they run tests for the allergist who gets the results within 48 hours after the tests are run. It's taken very seriously.

Only a couple of times a day. Honestly worked so well! Cleared up in a few days and has had perfect skin ever since.

I use it all the time now as the smell takes me back to when she was little god can’t be getting broody already! She’s only 7 months

flatwhite Unfortunately the elimination process didn't work out for me as it was too much and I was scared she wasn't getting the nutrients she needed. She was prescribed Neocate formula and things improved dramatically from there. At 16 months she is still on formula (as well as her food) and that gives her the calories and nutrients she misses from dairy but her skin has cleared up completely. I'd definitely push for better support and go with your instinct. They won't do a patch test in my area and it's a case of elimination and re-introduction of the foods in question with the guidance of a dietitian and paediatrics so it's been a lengthy process. Good luck and I hope you get the answers you need

Have just woken up to her thrashing around and furiously rubbing her left cheek. As a result it's now redder than ever (and that's with scratch mitts on). She's also making lots of very uncomfortable sounding noises. Think I'm in for a long night!

@Italwaysworksitselfout I've never been more tempted to give up BF'ing. I feel like my milk is poison at the moment, and I cry about it.

@Want2bSupermum I love the NHS, but they are very quickly to dismiss things as 'normal'.

I have nothing useful to add but look at her little newborn neck chub she’s beautiful, hope you can get her more comfortable soon

flat The Nhs manages to deliver healthcare which is better than what we pay for to politicians and others in positions of power and influence. Allergies are no joke. The blood test is horrible but it's over quickly and they can determine exactly what the issue is without blindly going through random elimination. If there is ever a moment for stomping feet and getting seen this is it. Not to scare you but we have allergies run in our family. My cousin nearly lost her baby this summer. It's a tree nut, dairy, soya and egg allergy for now. Baby is 5 months now and doing much better.

Aveeno moisturiser is available on prescription. DD has it, it's BRILLIANT.

Hi OP, my little girl is 7w old today - she’s had the exact same for almost a week now. My GP said it’s baby acne and do nothing but if it gets worse or bothers her they’ll give her a prescription for aveeno. Id already bought the emollient from amazon but after reading the above replies I’ll go back for the eczema cream.

Let me know how you get on

My ds had this and coconut oil got rid of it. Hope it goes away soon

Thank you @sugarnotsweetener. Waiting for the duty doctor to ring me back. This new patch developed overnight. She's also really congested in the mornings, which makes me wonder if it's an allergy.

It sounds I’ve cmpa to me.

Dairy free diet will take a few weeks to fully make a difference. NICE guidelines for suspected cmpa can be taken to Dr as they can sometimes be a bit behind on their training.

There’s a CMPA breastfeeding support group on Facebook. Loads of tips and food ideas and lists of all the good dairy free (and other allergens) treats.

Good luck!

Sounds like not sounds I’ve !

I wouldn’t try stuff that’s recommended here but go to the GP for advice

Thank you @DuckAndPancakes. I feel really teary about it this morning. I know I shouldn't as there are much worse problems, but I just feel guilty that it's my milk that's probably doing this to her. We were supposed to start our first baby group today, but we didn't go as she's really not herself and has also developed a bit of a bad tummy too.

My ds2 had bad baby acne too. I was advised to stop eating dairy too (was bf) but didn't clear up.
He ended up with 2 different antibiotics - the first didn't touch it.

If it persists the defiantly see your gp.

OP- don't worry- it could be any number of things- but they can be fixed.

I know it's hard but I am sure the GP will ease your worries.