Please any skin advice? Can babies be allergic to oat wash?

[Charlotteap]

My 5 month old has had quite dry ankles since he was born but the last month have gotten much bigger and dryer , also some patches under his knees on the underside appeared. Also a very dry forehead which caused him to itch until he bled. We was prescribed Cetraben which has seemed to make his ankles slightly less dry but not fully getting rid and seemed to make his head worse we then were prescribed Oilatum and that cream really seems to soothe and stop his itching boats. However still not really doing much, on Friday I spent £50 buying a healing baby box after seeing lots of reviews saying it cleared their babies skin and eczema up. Maybe an hour after the bath his back/arms and tummy came out in like a rash? Nothing like his dry skin patches.

The box consisted of a natural oat wash and I realised I hadnt seen his skin like that since we used Aveeno and then realised that was also oats can he be allergic to oat creams/washes? Or be sensitive to it ?

I mentioned to the dr that nothing seems to be clearing up and he said we could now try steroid cream , any advice as it really is awful seeing him scratch so much. Thank you for reading

-the leg and ankles are what he has had for a month or so.

-attached a head pic too, his head can be fine but as soon as he rubs or scratches it, seems to go bright red and then he scratches more and it’s a viscous cycle

-the belly picture is after the oat bath, his tummy is usually clear and haven’t had a skin problem with

Yes, oats is a common cause of allergies in babies.

Our baby’s eczema cleared up when I cut out cows milk. Babies/people who are allergic to one thing are more likely to be allergic to other things.

Speak to your GP about potential cows milk allergy causing the original eczema and oat potentially causing a second outbreak.

Just to add. With any rash in babies and small children, check that the rash passes the meningitis test.

Google will help you with instructions. You need to press on the rash to check it disappears

Thank you for your replies, I checked the rash straight away and it seems to be going down since the bath also.

funnily enough I mentioned it to my gp many times about cmpa as someone at baby group mentioned it, he thought the patches were more dry skin in the creasez of skin, he also said with no other symptoms and that such a tiny amount of milk gets into breast milk anyway . I have pushed it many times! Also was referred to dermatology (for another matter at the time) and they also didn’t even entertain the idea of a milk allergy. Very infuriating as all that happens is different creams getting thrown at him. The prescribed creams always seem to work for a few days sometimes even fully clearing up but then seem to get worse after a couple of weeks

Oh dear. I’m sorry to say, your doctor doesn’t sound like he’s keeping up with new information. Ours said NICE guidelines recommend considering CMPA for any skin rash.

Given how sore baby looks, I would consider cutting milk out for a month (it takes 3 weeks to leave your body) then testing it out by eating something with cows milk.

I now know our baby reacts to the smallest amount of cows milk (a bite of a biscuit is enough).

From my experience, the rash looking as it does, the eczema clinic would be prescribing all sorts of creams for that. It looks infected to my eyes, which happens very easily with eczema. (Not a doctor but had eczema as a child).

Is there another GP you can see? Or an out of hours GP on 111? Failing that, perhaps making an appointment with your health visitor and ask for help? You probably need a referral to the eczema clinic or dermatology clinic.

People will recommend E45. Be aware it has lanolin, a common allergen.

Mine was the same but grew out of it quite quickly. I cut out eating dairy as much as possible and took calcium tablets. I wouldn't wash with anything apart from warm water and then use the oilatum if that is soothing him. I remember wanting to try anything to get it all to go away and put an oil on ds and he started screaming like it was burning him and I had to phone A and E! Was fine in the end but after that I stopped trying to find things to cure it and kept it very simple, water only and a cream from the doc that reduced the itching. He's 17 now and it all seems like a long (and stressful) time ago. Personally if you can avoid the steroids then I would but it depends how distressing it is for your little one of course.

How much washing powder are you putting in your wash? Try putting half the amount and do an extra rinse at the end.
Do you use fabric conditioner? If so stop using it.

These are common irritants for skin issues.

Also give your washing machine a very good high heat clean.

I accidentally put canesten behind my kids knees one evening and it cleared up! He had cracked bleeding dry skin behind his knees.

Yes! My daughter is allergic to dairy and oats (the oats provokes a far stronger reaction than dairy these days). We're finding the dairy easier to manage these days than oats, they're everywhere and aren't listed as an allergen.

Thank you all for the replies, the belly rash went away by the time we woke up and after a bath with no wash the other patches seem to have subsided too!

@CheekyHusky yes our gp is completely dismissive of it being cmpa he was trained in paeds too! But we saw a dermatologist who also immediately dismissed, after getting quite upset he let us see a lovely lady dr who was ‘ very experienced in cmpa’ she gave us a lot of time and went through lots of checklists and examinations, from my notes she said it definitely wasn’t lgE and she said 99 percent sure it wasn’t non lgE either due to the complete lack of any other symptoms. She says she was fairly certain it wasn’t even eczema and just patches of dry skin due to being very sensitive like me. I had terrible skin as a child and as an adult now I can’t use any fragranced soaps or moisturisers or even sunscream without coming out in similar patches. She noted that it wouldn’t come and go like it does, he has weeks where his skin is perfect and apart from the ankles this is a fairly recent thing. She also mentioned that the amount coming through breastmilk is so minuscule that if it was cmpa he’d have a strong reaction to formula , I was in hospital a couple months back and he had a day of only forumla and had no reaction. I can try push further but I’m not sure where else we can go as she is the head of paediatrician dermatology and is the ‘cmpa expert’

@Superdupes he had quite a bad nappy breach this morning so gave him a quick bath in only water, we usually use all kinds of fragrance free washes that have been recommended. Then used the oilatum also put him in an outfit without fabric conditioner which we stopped using 2 days ago and touch wood .. but his belly rash has completely gone and even his ankles seem to be much less inflamed. He also hasn’t even itched his head today. He seems much more relaxed

@OnMyWayToSenility thank you , we stopped using fabric conditioner a couple days ago. We’ve been using the non bio pods, do you recommend swapping to powder and not using much? Sounds like my sons ankles, he was born with super dry ankles , the drs said due to him being so overdue? Anyway it’s the only patch we’ve not been able to fix and hes 5 month now, he rubs them with the other foot and they can bleed sometimes they are that dry. Would you recommend the canestan? I only thought they did thrush cream 😂

Don't use pods as you can't adjust the dosage, but liquid and if it says 30ml put 15ml in

Non bio fairy or Ecover as it's non perfumed is good

Make sure you do an extra rinse.. some machines have allergy setting which does lots of rinses.

Canesten is anti fungicidal and can work of sweaty creases 🤣 if nothing else does. Minute amount though!

@OnMyWayToSenility thank you ! I just realised I used the non bio liquid back when he was newborn (and his skin was fine) and for some reason ended up on the pods. I also just realised that the pods I’ve been using have fabric softener in too 🤦‍♀️ our washer does have an allergen wash so will try that too. Sweaty creases is definitely the issue 😂 might try that too. Thank you again

No problem! Babies can be sensitive to all sorts of things, but fabric conditioner seems to be the worst thing! It also builds up in your washing machine as it's a weird oil texture

I'm by sure he'll he fine in time 😀