Allergies in EBF babies

[EmmaRose26]

My 19 week old DD is having real issues with her skin and tummy - very bad eczema/ red blotchy rashes all over her face, and scaly, red and inflamed skin covering her scalp. Her poos are also very frequent (sometimes up to ten times a day) and mostly very green and often mucusy. Zeroderm from the doctor and aveeno etc haven’t touched the skin issues. I am starting to think she may be allergic to something.

As she is EBF I am obviously starting to look at my own diet, and am trialling cutting out dairy this week (researched non dairy sources of calcium so I hope I am doing it sensibly and with the support of our health visitor).

But it would be really useful to hear of others’ experiences of allergies, particularly CMPA in EBF babies. What were their symptoms? How long did it take to help going dairy free? Thank you!

My friend had to cut dairy as it causes symptoms as you describe, her son still has it but much milder and he can tolerate dairy

It's worth a try; only cut out one thing at a time eg dairy and do it 100% for a good few weeks eg 6. If it makes minimal difference give up. It is not common to find an 'convenient' solution like this ( aware it isn't easy to completely cut food groups out) if you are convinced then you could consider challenging DC by having some milk again and seeing if his skin flares up. I certainly think that you will need to discuss with your GPby that time as you might like some dietary advice around weaning.
As far as your baby is concerned now ; no detergents, water only in bath or a soap substitute if needed, grease all over as often as you think of it , short nail, long sleeved cotton vests and loose comfy clothes.hydrocortisone or stepping up steroids under the GP's care if getting sore red places.

It doesn't mean you will have the same but my child was EBF and always rashy and tried so many creams - when introducing foods we did discover allergies, and I believe it is a common theme that babies with eczema can turn out to have allergies.

I agree with other suggestions to try reducing your intake of certain foods or keep a food diary and note any skin reactions, so you can see what the triggers are.

My eldest was cmpa, but was fully tolerating cows milk as a drink by 2.5 (we worked up the milk ladder slowly over 18 months from 1) but I didn't cut out my diet as wasn't confirmed until he was 9months.

This time around I started to cut out dairy at 6 weeks (still had some oat milk in cupboard so gave it a try) , eggs at 8 weeks and soya at 16 weeks. His symptoms were crying out in pain, inconsolable, loads of wind , mucous, green frequent nappies. Rash on skin, as well as dry excema.
Within a few days I started to notice a difference with levels of comfort and red rash. The nappies changed after cutting the soya about 3 weeks. the excema after cutting the egg.

I found some supportive groups on Facebook with loads of advice and experience and alternative foods to try.

Soya is a similar make up to cmp apparently so we avoided replacing cows milk for soya substitutes.

I had to cut out dairy, wheat, egg, red peppers, courgettes and aubergines. DD bf for 2 years 10 months (mainly because I didn't quite know what to do without it).

She outgrew wheat and egg, had an epipen for years but went on a clinical trial which resolved the dairy allergy at age 8. Still allergic to the others at 13.

Symptoms similar to yours, additional one was that she looked like she had eaten a really hot curry every time she fed. When I introduced yoghurt she was covered in hives from head to toe.

Symptoms can vary but like a pp said, completely cut out dairy (check everything, even some ready salted crisps and things you don’t expect like stock cubes sometimes contain milk!). After 4-6 weeks if no improvement cut soya (it’s 50:50 if they are affected by soya Allergy if they have CMPA, not a guarantee like some people seem to suggest), and then after that work through the other common ones (Egg, wheat, etc).

You don’t need to avoid things that say “may contain” as there is no legal requirement to put that on food and it doesn’t indicate risk (same with things that say “not suitable for milk allergy sufferers” as long as milk isn’t in the ingredients it’s fine).

If you notice no improvement at all then do a challenge and then if it doesn’t get worse take it that it’s not CMPA, but it could be something else.

Thank you everyone, that’s all really useful advice. We’ve been to the gp again today and have a change in emollient, and some hydrocortisone, both of which seems to have had a positive effect today already. I am also being supported in cutting dairy, and have a check up appointment in 3 weeks, which I have been told to reintroduce dairy a few days before to see if it has had an effect.

I am completely cutting dairy and trying my very best to avoid soya too.