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?

Flatwhite, only just checking back and see that you've gone dairy free. How has that gone for you and your DD? In answer to your question, my DD's skin improved within about a fortnight. I did a trial - I had dairy again for one day and she immediately showed the results in her nappy, so I stopped again and remained dairy free for the duration of her BFing.

We were given Oilatum for adding to the bath and some other creams for all day usage. We actually ended up having 2 different types on prescription; a really thick one (like something people swimming the English Channel would slather on) for her legs and arms and then a much thinner one for her face. I look back at the photos from that period in time and I just laugh .

We were also given a referral to the paediatrician who sent us to a dietician so we could work out how to reintroduce dairy into her diet (and also to monitor my own diet). She's 3yo now and can tolerate milk used in cooking and in products like ice-cream but we're still not brave enough to switch her to straight cow's milk as a drink.

Actually @Flatwhite, I think her skin started showing improvement after only a week. I think it was pretty much back to normal after a fortnight.

Poor thing looks sore and irritating

Could possibly be a allergy

I found all my children had rashy/eczema type skin and the only thing that worked and kept it at bat was aveeno bath and cream

You can get a aveeno baby version that's good, usually down aisle with nappies, baby shampoo etc and usually on offer for to

Just a thought but has this got worse since she started the ranitidine?
My daughter has cmpa plus a lot of other allergy/intolerances but one we found was that the ranitidine actually made her reflux better but her poo and skin were awful. We think it was sorbitol in it as the same happened with calpol when she had her injections.
Unfortunately the only thing that sorted all the issues was getting her on an amino acid base milk. Good luck

Bless her. I remember (many years ago) my sons being the same. You could try CHILD'S FARM moisturiser, from Boots or online. Aveeno is good too. I have extremely sensitive skin and these work well for me.

My baby had this, it was exactly the same and it lasted from 7 weeks old for about 7 weeks. At the time it seemed like forever. It cleared halfway through then came back with a vengeance. He also scratched at it a bit. I found aveeno bany products to be the most soothing and took down the redness a bit but unfortunatly theres not much you can do except let it run its course. It will go. My baby now has perfect skin.

Sorry haven't rtft so not sure what others have suggested. My DS1 had this at a few months old, I was told it was eczema, they gave me oil for his bath a moisturiser (diprobase) and I think a steroid cream. It cleared it up pretty fast but I stopped using the steroid cream as soon as it went away because it thins the skin.
My dp has been using the child's farm moisturiser on his psoriasis, it's clearing it up nicely. You could give that a try.

It's eczema. Ask GP for a referral to dermatology but in the meantime go straight to a private paediatric dermatologist (you can see one for about £150)You will need steroids to kill it and then you need to moisturise ALL the time, 4 or 5 times a day with something oaty like aveeno or dream cream

This was my son and he was covered to his chest. It went away on its own I just moisturised.

@zoobaby Thank you for asking! As much as dairy free is annoying at times for me, it really has improved DD's skin. Her digestive issues have improved a lot too. I accidentally ate dairy last weekend, and I noticed she was crying more all weekend. By Monday, a spotty rash had begun to appear!

@Rooberoobe Ranitidine smells and tastes awful. She screws up her face every time I give it to her! Thankfully my DD's skin has improved loads now I'm on a dairy free diet.

@Lynne1Cat and @Thatstheendofmytether, I now use Child's Farm moisturiser on her and it's great! Her skin responds really well to it.

Thank you of @MotherofDinosaurs. Thankfully things are under control for now (touch wood!).

You know flatwhite, with DD it was really obvious that she had CMPA so going dairy free was a simple solution. In hindsight I believe that her older brother also showed signs of CMPA, such as upset belly and just being grumpy/unsettled a bit at night. I had no idea though and just thought he was a difficult sleeper at the time.

The Child's Farm shampoo is also really great (and smells wonderful).

There's a good Facebook page called "Weaning - CMPA Support" which you might find useful. I know it's a long way off for you, but you're not alone and there is lots of support and advice available. I was on there and really counting my blessings when I read how badly some children can be affected by CMPA.

Both of my DDs had terrible rashes that started around 5 weeks old. They were both allergic to dairy. I bottle fed so didn't bf but as soon as they were on an amino acid formula they both disappeared within a few days.

My litte boy looked like an angry pizza base with his babyacne OP for a few weeks. It is totally normal and does go eventually.

I was freaking out a little and my uncle (he's a GP) came round and was like "Nah... just baby acne! Your cousin looked like we'd been at his face with a scouring pad with his" 😂

I would add that both children had a host of other symptoms in addition to the rash. Worth keeping a diary allergy in mind especially if she seems in pain, has bloody nappies, excessive vomiting etc.

OP I had a baby with skin like that who had allergies. It took a couple of weeks of me cutting out dairy to see an improvement.

Do not feel guilty that your milk is doing this to her because it isn't. if she has allergies your milk is exactly what she needs. It heals the gut, it's good for leaky gut and gut flora all the things that are being continually linked to allergies.

If it is allergies she would be suffering a hell of a lot more on formula. And trying to find a dairy free formula (lost of babies that are allergic to milk and allergic to soya due to the similarity in proteins) that doesn't smell and taste like sweaty socks is impossible and it isn't anywhere near as good for them.

You milk is excellent and healing and setting her up for the future which she will need that much more if she has an allergy.

Rest assured though most kids grow out of their allergies, if that is indeed the cause.

I'm well versed in allergies unfortunately so feel free to PM me.

Also you will have to wean her differently to how you would if she didn't show symptoms of allergies.

Thank you so much everyone. She is so much better now I'm dairy free. I'm finding it difficult to maintain my weight (not a problem I should complain about, I know!) but it's worth it to see her so much better.

@ButAIBUtho We have stuck with BF'ing and expressing! I've been tempted a number of times to give up (especially a couple of weeks ago when we went away for the weekend and I nearly fainted after being at a party all day where there was barely anything I could eat! My supply seemed to dwindle a bit for a few days after that weekend) but we have stuck with it. Thank you so much for the offer of sending a PM. How did you approach weaning?

@Daisychainsandglitter She also had bad nappies which are now much better thankfully.

@zoobaby We have the Child's Farm shampoo too, although we haven't used it yet.

@AlphaBravo I'm laughing at 'pizza face'! It's just as well they don't care what they look like!

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.

Don't. Switching to formula can cause additional problems. And most are dairy or soya based anyway, so if it's allergies that are the issue she'd be no better off. You ate doing the best thing for your baby. Keep at it and don't beat yourself up. x

@MemoryOfSleep You'll be glad to know I'm still BF'ing and expressing! She's doing much better now I'm on a no dairy diet.

Unfortunately we were told how to wean an allergic baby so we were in weaning hell for a long time.
The reason though, was because DS is allergic to many many things and has anaphylaxis to dairy (amongst other things) which we discovered when he was 5 months when I gave him yoghurt.

Anyway, he's 7 and and I'm now 7 months pregnant with our third DS. When I saw DS2's allergy specialist I asked her about this baby.

She said that if he shows absolutely no signs of allergies (eczema, wheezing etc) when he breasted then wean as normal.

But if he does show signs then we must wean one food item at a time.
So don't blend down a whole mean and give it to them (which is what we did with DS) because if he has a reaction we won't know what's caused it.
Wait a few days (I think she said 3) in case of a delayed reaction and extra cautious of the top allergens milk, eggs, wheat, soya, shell fish etc.

All of those too allergens (and more) DS is severely allergic to. Hence why it was such hell weaning him.

My teen daughter gets skin like this if I use normal washing powder and fabric conditioner - have to use Filetti to wash her bedding and clothes

Both of my children babies had this, it's there along trying to cope with the outside world. It owes go after a few weeks. I think I stopped using cotton wool too as it seemed worse after I had used that on her face.