Allergy to breastmilk?

[ellesbelles79]

Hi all...not sure if this is the right place to post or not really...

My son is a month old and I have been breastfeeding him from day 1.

After the first week I developed loads of red bumps across my chest/breasts which I believe must be caused by my breastmilk coming into contact with my skin. I always leak milk and cant have a shower after each feed so I have just been living with it. Its not itchy or anything and the bumps have now gone scaly so my chest is just really dry and it looks more like eczema now to be honest. I am allergic to most things which is why I've just left it and got on with things really!

However about a week ago my son now seems to have the same little rash on his face (mainly around his mouth, neck and cheeks) so I imagine he has the same allergy with the milk being on his skin. I try to wash his face after every feed but now Im wondering if it might be best to express all my milk to avoid it going all over his poor face??

I know its not hurting him or anything but it just looks so bad & I dont want his skin to be damaged.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Is it smart to express all my milk and feed him with the bottle to limit the amount of milk that spurts out on his skin??

sorry for long post!

bump...

I think milk from a bottle still ends up on the baby's skin. And babies are generally rashy spotty little critters. (and expressing and bottlefeeding is a giant faff, and many mums who try it find their milk dries up pretty quick)

Does it look like nettle rash?

Are there any products that help sort out your skin, that would soothe your chest?

yes its just little red spots...they arent that angry looking and I know they arent hurting him or itchy...it just looks awful! poor thing!

I just thought maybe I should try to do something but i guess you are right...the milk will still get onto his skin if he feeds from the bottle...and babies usually are a bit spotty as they are so sensitive to things.

thank you...i guess I will just have to keep doing what Im doing and hope it clears up eventually

I've been using olive oil and also bio oil on my chest.

I have seen babies with a bad red rash on their neck from spillage (formula in this case), bibs, drying and keeping clean tend to help, but I don't think this would be the case here.

I can't see you being allergic to your own breastmilk, perhaps again, a dampness thing, especially if you have delicate skin, but if you are using breastpads (and changing regularly to keep them dry) will help.

Personally I would go and see a Dr, it might just be an infection that he has caught off you, they might be able to give you something to help. I would also talk to a bfc, especially if your GP mentions giving up (a bad call if you have allergy in the family, but some GPs seem to use bf as a scapegoat)

My ds gets eczema, and it's much worse if his skin is wet whether it's milk or saliva. His face, chin and neck are awful at the moment because he's teething and dribbling constantly. I've been using hydromol as a bit of a barrier against the damp.