Help! Skin rashes on 4.5 month old!

[Rlmjones]

Need some advice. My baby is 4.5 months old. Since she was born, she’s always had bad skin (rashes and eczema). Up until 2 weeks ago, she was on normal shop bought formula. She has bouts of crying with trapped wind & her face was dry and red on her face. She was prescribed hypoallergenic milk (SMA Althera). However, instead of her skin getting better, it seems to have got worse. With rashes and redness that keep flaring up. We ended up in a&e who advised me to change her back to her old formula and ask for a referral to the milk allergy team. I am at a loose end, and she is now covered in an allergic rash on her belly and back, and face is constantly flaring up with hives and rashes. We have paid for a private allergy and intolerance test. However, I am just sick with worry and wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience with their child.
I just don’t know what the solution is anymore! And I’m just sick with worry constantly to the point my mental health is affected.

Sma althera still contains milk. If they are severely allergic, a completely dairy free option such as neonate or nutramigen pure is more suitable, but GPs have to try the hydrolysed formula (such as sma althera) first. Ask your GP to prescribe neonate on a trial basis. They may not be able to but it is worth asking - sometimes it has to be prescribed by a specialist initially.

Edited for typo

I am not sure if I even think it’s a diary allergy anymore, as her skin only got worse on the SMA Althera milk. It was never ever this bad.
From your experience, does this look like a CMPA rash?

My kids all had milk allergies that they grew out of. Some had eczema, some stomach problems. But almost all also had other allergies! Soya is very common. One was allergic to lanolin so the cream everyone recommended made things worse.

If the hydrolysed formula makes things worse, go back to the formula you were using before. It won't do any long term damage so go from the symptoms. Find a gentle cream - sometimes just olive oil works well.

But go back to the GP. Keep a diary of symptoms and what feeds you are using as that will be helpful.

And be kind to yourself. It is really hard parenting when you know there is something wrong and no-one is in any hurry to fix it. From the medics point of view, there is no long term critical issues so not an emergency, but it is hard to watch young babies struggling.

Thank you so much, this has made me feel so much better. What did you use on your child’s skin? I know all are different but just for an idea.
I have paid for an intolerance and allergy test for her, skin prick test so waiting for them to try and pinpoint what it could be too.
What formula did you use?
I think I need to be kinder, cause right now, I feel like my brain is going to explode!

One of mine did well with doublebase (you can get from pharmacy or on prescription) but it made the other worse! So used epaderm.

My godsons went through several formulas - one ended up on neocate.and the other nutramigen. Neither tasted nice but they got used to it!

They used to sleep lying tummy down on my arm as the gentle pressure on their tummies seemed to help. Not sure that works as well as they get bigger though!

Also - I wouldn't worry too much about the testing. Until they start solid food, it doesn't matter much and then you can introduce new foods slowly to watch the reactions. Get GP to refer to paeds dietician as they were great and can help through weaning.