Eczema and milk allergy

[Blodwyn831]

Hi all,

My 6mo has had a rash under his chin for a few months. Assumed it was a dribble rash as he's a profuse dribbler so used bibs to keep it dry and bepanthen and then aquaphor when that failed. The rash has gotten worse and worse and spread to torso and backs of knees, so went to docs who said eczema and prescribed an emollient and to try dairy free formula Neocate (baby has also had suspected silent reflux and general ongoing tummy issues plus hourly waking at night in discomfort). Upshot is 3 days in the rash is the same and he now seems really upset with some discomfort, crying which is not like him, and screeching (reflux, wind or tummy ache maybe?). Not feeding well today although had started well to begin with. Not sure if to carry on with the dairy free even though it seems to be making him worse. Anybody had similar experiences? Did your baby have a bad reaction to neocate to begin with but then improve? How long before you saw a difference with the eczema? Thanks

Attaching some rash pics in case anyone had similar

Oh my gosh! Poor little guy!

Our son had the exact same problem at the exact same age. A lot of times these inflammatory reactions are caused by what we eat so we also suspected it was a dairy allergy. We switched to the non dairy formula as well. If your child is anything like ours, they're having a bad time for several reasons. First, the non-dairy formula is gross. It tastes weird, it stinks, and your baby is just not used to drinking it. They're hungry but they don't want to eat what you're giving them. I'd be upset too! Second, changing their diet is going to cause some short term discomfort, a lot of gas, bloating, and probably diarrhea. This should only be short term (about a week or so) and can be helped with an antiflatuant medicine, the generic drug name being "simethicone." In my part of the world its in a drug called "Gas-X," I'm not sure what its called where you live. Just look for an anti-gas drug for babies with Simethicone in it. It works almost immediately and you should be able to get it without a prescription. As far as the rashes go, look for eczema lotion for your baby and lotion them up at least twice a day. If you use normal lotion it may sting and make it worse, but eczema lotion will prevent the rashes from cracking and bleeding while they're beginning to heal.

For our child it took almost a month for the rashes to start going away. He's been on a strict non dairy diet and, except for the one time he accidentally ate a string cheese, the rashes have not come back. Our son is a year and a half now and is no longer drinking formula. He got used to it eventually and now his skin is completely normal.

Good luck!

If the non dairy formula works and you've concluded that he's got a dairy allergy, I can share some advice for when he gets older.

When our daughter stopped drinking formula and was able to eat foods, we still gave her a bottle of cows milk every once in a while to supplement her diet. For our son we ended up giving him soy milk. A lot of soy milk. I still feel weird about that, I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do, but he turned out fine. We also got a nutribullet blender and made our own "plant milk" for him out of nuts. A handfull of nuts (cashews, walnuts, hemp hearts, etc), about two cups of water, and maybe some fruit (half a bananna, some strawberries, etc), and we'd blend that up and he was happy with it.

I was worried about our son not getting enough nutrition. I ended up getting him some vitamin D drops to put in his plant milk, and if we bought plant milk for him I got the one that had the most calcium and vitamin D. Of our two little ones, our son ended up having the best appetite, he's a big burly boy who loves to eat so i'm not worried about him anymore. Everything turned out fine.

There aren't many effective pharmaceutical treatments for eczema and I didn't want our child to be taking drugs his whole life if he could just fix it with diet. I know it looks like the change in diet is making things worse but I would strongly suggest keeping with it, at least for a few weeks. Good luck!

@NurseDad thank you so much for your response and advice. I'll definitely get back to you if it does turn out to be dairy. Will persevere with it then so we can rule it out properly. The strange thing is he started on normal formula at 3 months but only got the rash about a month after that and I would have expected it sooner. Or maybe it's been the build up. He's a very unhappy chappy tonight sadly. I wish there was a quick fix. We have infacol which is gas drops so I'll start using those again and see if it helps. Thanks again

Aw the poor wee one!

I don't know about the allergy side of things but one of ours had a nasty rash under the chin that looked very similar. GP eventually tried antifungal cream for thrush in case that was a factor. All the dribbling and moisture under the chin had created the right conditions for thrush and the cream healed it up.

It wouldn't explain the rash elsewhere but maybe worth considering in addition to the allergy aspect?

Thanks @thecurtainsofdestiny yes the pharmacist thought yeast rash and suggested canesten. Have to admit I only used it for a day as it seemed to flare it up but maybe I hadn't given it enough of a chance. When I said to the Dr about yeast he said he didn't think so but then the pharmacist saw ds in person whereas the Dr just saw photos. So hard to know! I guess seeing these creams aren't heeling I've nothing to look by trying the canesten again.

*nothing to lose

I think with a fungal infection it's necessary to use it until the rash goes away and for a few days afterwards - that's what I recall you being told anyway.

An update for anyone who comes here looking for similar answers. 2 weeks on dairy free formula and he's so much better. Reflux is gone, wind much better and no longer smelly, rash nearly gone (used aveeno) and sleep is so much better. We use carobel thickner with the milk to stop it coming back up as it's quite thin, plus added a drop of vanilla essence in to begin with while he got used to the taste. He eats so much better now. Anyone suspecting dairy allergy I say follow your instinct. I suspected for a long time but his symptoms, although there were many (congestion, cough, sneezing daily, painful wind, arching back, smelly gas, smelly explosive poos, hourly waking at night) they weren't severe so we kept being told it's normal baby behaviour until this rash showed up and we finally got taken seriously.

@NurseDad

If the non dairy formula works and you've concluded that he's got a dairy allergy, I can share some advice for when he gets older.

When our daughter stopped drinking formula and was able to eat foods, we still gave her a bottle of cows milk every once in a while to supplement her diet. For our son we ended up giving him soy milk. A lot of soy milk. I still feel weird about that, I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do, but he turned out fine. We also got a nutribullet blender and made our own "plant milk" for him out of nuts. A handfull of nuts (cashews, walnuts, hemp hearts, etc), about two cups of water, and maybe some fruit (half a bananna, some strawberries, etc), and we'd blend that up and he was happy with it.

I was worried about our son not getting enough nutrition. I ended up getting him some vitamin D drops to put in his plant milk, and if we bought plant milk for him I got the one that had the most calcium and vitamin D. Of our two little ones, our son ended up having the best appetite, he's a big burly boy who loves to eat so i'm not worried about him anymore. Everything turned out fine.

There aren't many effective pharmaceutical treatments for eczema and I didn't want our child to be taking drugs his whole life if he could just fix it with diet. I know it looks like the change in diet is making things worse but I would strongly suggest keeping with it, at least for a few weeks. Good luck!

I have two children who had cmpa and I’m confused by this advised it goes against what your paediatric dietitian will tell you (if you haven’t already ask for a referral).

For milk alternatives you need something which is forfeited with calcium, vitamin D and iodine. To reintroduce milk (you need to wait 6 months) you do it through the milk ladder.

Did it take the full two weeks to notice a difference in his skin? We are day 4 of neonate and his skin is awful still

Just checked back through my messages as it was a while ago but yes, it seemed to get worse to begin with but seemed to show improvement after 6 days. It coincided with trying different creams and aveeno seemed to help.