Eczema in exclusively breastfed 12 week old baby.

[belgo]

Ds is now 12 weeks old, and a very happy, strong, lovely little boy.

The only problem is he has eczema over much of his body, forehead, behind his ears, shoulders, armpits, elbows, back, and legs. My GP gave me a referrel to the hospital where they have diagnosed allergic eczema and have told me to cut out cow milk produce from my diet.

This is what confuses me: they carried out some skin prick tests on ds and they all came back negetive to allergies, but they still seem to think that he could be allergic to cow's milk. If I cut out cow's milk, does that also include all dairy produce, including butter, biscuits made with butter, milk chocolate, pizza with cheese etc?

I personally think the eczema is caused by washing powder (he often lies on his front and that would explain the eczema on his forehead) and have changed to a recommended washing powder.

Any advice would be welcome!

yep, I agree there. Also wrt allergies. My DS2 went into anaphylatic shock from cows milk yoghurt and still one junior doc tried to dismiss it!

Both my BF babies had bad eczema from 6 weeks to 4 months ish - no history of eczema in the family. I really did not want to go down the allergy route, and we switched washing powders and finally found that Aveeno worked brilliantly with DS, and Epaderm was the thing for DD. Plus not stinting on the steroid cream to get bad flare ups under control before they became infected. I really am not sure of the evidence for maternal diet being the cause, and one of the reasons that atopic diseases (asthma, eczema, hay fever) are becoming more common is that we are protecting babies and children from exposure to normal diet and dirt. (that's my excuse for not cleaning, anyway!)

The good news is that whatever the cause, your DC is likely to grow out of it pretty soon - DD is 9 months now and smooth as - well, a baby's bottom. She has lovely peachy skin and no signs of eczema. The BF'ing will continue to protect against other problems both for you and DC so stick with it!

Thank you all for your advice and experiences

There can be no discernible reason for ezcema - atopic eczema. DD had it but only lightly and EBF. We found out at 8 months she has an egg allergy and I cut out egg from my diet but her eczema persisted. Most baby eczema they outgrow. DD now 2 and has no eczema at all the same with a few of my friends so it is only for a short while.

that's interesting iwantitnow

By the way, you may want to check out this link on dairy allergy and BF www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html#dairy

Of course, I wouldn't advocate leaving dairy out of your diet if it's not necessary since its a major problem. For us it was necessary, but we were dealing with a confirmed milk allergy that was giving problems in addition to eczema, but obviously thats not the case for all.

thank you academic mum. THis I found interesting:
'if your baby is only a little sensitive to dairy proteins, you may be able to relieve baby?s symptoms by eliminating only the obvious sources of dairy (milk, cream, yogurt, butter, cheese, sour cream, ice cream, cottage cheese, etc.); you may even be able to eat small amounts of dairy without it affecting baby. '

I think that if he does have an allergy to cow's milk protein, then it isn't a severe one, as he is healthy and thriving.

dd1's eczema improved loads after she was tested (blood test) for egg. It is apparently as common as cow's milk but not as widely known.

She was given a blood test for dairy allergy at 8 months but came back negative. Hint: I eat nearly no dairy and she was having none so possibly why?

Retested at 2.5yo and came back dairy allergic, again by blood test. By then was eating dairy herself.

With the egg one, I ate lots of egg and within 3 wks of stopping, her eczema had significantly reduced. She still refuses foods with egg in them at 3.9yo.

hth.

Just a quick post Belgo to hopefully give you a bit of hope!

With both my DDs I was desperate at about 6 months with their eczema but DD1 had grown out of hers by the time she was one, and DD2 who is one next week has much improved skin and her eczema is now much more controlable.

I remember the doctor saying this would probably happen and being very sceptical.

DD1 (4.5 yrs) still has dry skin and we do use creams on her occasionally.

The things that worked this time for DD2 were porridge oats in an old tights leg in the bath - very soothing (good for chicken pox too!)The oats are the active ingredient in Aveeno I think. Socks are really useful on hands if he scratches in the bath.

We did resort to Hydrocortisone for flare ups and found a little of the 1% much more effective than lots of the 0.5%

I tried and subsequently got the doctor to prescribe eumocream, which worked brilliantly for DD2.

Hope your DS is feeling more comfortable soon.

I'm dairy free belgo, as ds is intolerant (dd was too). You do get used to it and it isn't so bad unless you eat out a lot. Why not give it a go as it will take a couple of weeks to clear from your system anyway, and if it doesn't help then you can re-introduce.

if you think it's the washing powder remember to clean out the inner workings of your washing machine as there can be lots of residue powder trapped where you can't see.
you can simply put a capful of bleach in the washer and run it through a long hot cycle. if you have an old machine this can result in bubbles coming out of the draw and seems, so put some towels down and watch it. you can buy macine cleaners but i have no idea whats in them. run the machine through a couple of times before outting clothes in just to rinse it.
my dd had eczema on her face and her under arm i wash her with epaderm and rub her in all over with radiance balm from superdrugs. this my sound strange, it reccommended by my sister who also have eczema and can't use any creams with out making her skin burn uses this it's great and cheap.

thank you all