Toddler - sun / suncream / allergy?

[Thunderr]

My 21mo keeps getting red rashes on her face (mainly eye / forehead area), red eyes, puffy, watering eyes, and streaming nose. This really irritates her, and assume is itchy, and she struggles to open them.

it happens when we have any sunshine, and most time she is wearing sun cream.

• tried different brands of suncream


• avoided applying to face and hands


• Given her piriton

any suggestions on what to do next? We are under PEDS for food allergies and ENT awaiting adenoids and tonsil removal. Which I don’t think is linked.

we avoid going out at home as she gets upset. But this is driving us both mad, and is unavoidable at nursery etc.

Which suncreams have you tried? Sounds like an allergy to the cream to me.
Aveeno do a factor 50 highly sensitive zinc based kids suncream which was the only one my son could wear for a full year, after that he grew out of it.

Which suncreams have you tried? I've never used Child's Farm but have had friends who have, have you tried it? We use this one Calypso Kids Sun Lotion SPF50-150 ml, CAL50KT amzn.eu/e1ojIf5 and several of the reviews talk about people using it because their kids are allergic to other brands, so it might be another one to try?

Have you tried altruist sun cream? It's been formulated by a dermatologist and available online/Amazon. My LG's skin is really sensitive and we've used it without issue. (She even reacted to child's farm)

The only other I can think of is do you moisturise her skin regularly? I had lots of issues with my skin coming up in hives randomly, and the pharmacist suggested regular Aveeno Skin Relief moisturiser, which completely stopped it.

I second Altruist! I use it on my 3 year old as she also reacted to everything else I tried including child's farm (which was fine the last 2 summers!)

Thanks for the replies.

she doesn’t react to the suncream on any part of her body, apart from as described above. Ie no hives or anything.

we’ve tried: childrens farm, soltan sensitive, gambier ambre solaire, calypso, piz bun, avenno and la roche. 🤦🏽‍♀️

i will try altruist next. Does this sound like an allergy to the cream? As this only effect her eyes, face and nose.

@CrabbyCat we moisturer 3-4 times a week, with avenno. Had no skin problems, apart from as a baby when she was reacting to her formula. But we are gradually introducing milk now.

Did the reaction start with the milk introduction or has it always been an issue? We're also doing a dietician supervised milk challenge at the moment and waiting on an ENT referral for large tonsils. We've managed to get back onto dairy at 2.5 after no dairy since May 2021 but every time we've tried before this have struggled with it causing an eczema flare. Good luck

@hall84 I can’t spot the link between dairy. We started the ladder in spring and doing it slowly, and her bowels have been normal and no full body rash. We’ve had pauses due to other illnesses. This only occurs when it’s sunny, not if it’s a dull or rainy day. Which living in the north is most days. Good luck with your reintroduction.

My DS broke out in a mysterious rash in the spring after being in the sun. Took him to the GP who diagnosed Polymorphic light eruption. He's essentially allergic to sunlight. Apparently it's common in toddlers.The GP advised us to keep him indoors until the rash went and then build up his exposure gradually, which seems to have worked. No idea whether this is what your DD has though!

That sounds like it could be hayfever.

I learned last year that if I don't take antihistamines when pollen is high I get facial hives.

Have you tried Piriton to see if it relieves her symptoms?

My DS has eczema that was worse as a toddler. We used the child's farm and the Aveeno baby ultra sensitive. These weren't perfect but he reacted less to these. We also gave him antihistamine syrup and washed the stuff off as quickly as we could.
For us it was expensive trial and error.

@Imissprosecco thats interesting. We have a pediatrician check up next week, so I am going to ask the question. Was your DS a full rash? As this just seems to bother her eyes and sinus areas. Glad he has built up some resistance. My DD is also quite olive skinned.

@Yarnasaurus that was one of my original thoughts and been using piriton. Which doesn’t seem to be working, been giving it on moderate days on the build up to high pollen count too.

Sorry meant to add, we had all the diary/nut allergy tests too due to his eczema so I feel your pain. It was easier at home as we could just keep him in the shade. It was nursery that was the issue.

Example of her eye (very zoomed in photo) red and blotchy, puffy, streaming, itchy. Also constant running nose. She’s also had facial swelling around the eyes and nose. Sometimes it can just be one side of her face and not both.

@duvetfan i feel it is going to me an expensive trail and error (already tried lots of creams) process too. But she never reacts to the cream on her body or patch tests, as advised to do.
Yes that’s our issue too, at home we can manage it. But nursery is proving hard work, they’ve been out today and she’s come home in agony. We are also due to go abroad next year to a family wedding / holiday.

What is she like without sun cream? Even on a slightly sunny day, for a short trip to the shops or a play in the park for an hour or so (assuming you're in the UK), she will be fine without suncream. Just put a hat on with a wide brim to keep bright light from her eyes.
Obviously suncream is necessary on a blazing hot, sunny day or if you're going to be on the beach or otherwise outside for hours, but it's really not needed every time you step outside in the summer. Children need a reasonable amount of exposure to the sun to make sufficient vitamin D.
If she still reacts when there's no suncream, I'd assume a reaction to the sunlight.

It was his face too. Specifically his cheeks. I considered requesting another dermatology referral as I had been told of suncream that can be prescribed for eczema. I do not know if this is true as we found one or two that worked ok. He has grown out the facial rash and is now fine. Hope you get this sorted.

Hello,
Just wondering on the offchance you will look at this whether you found out the cause / any solutions? My toddler has been having the exact same - photo looks identical. I have another child with many food and environmental allergies and this reaction very much looks allergic to me - but only on one side of her face. It is hot and sunny here today, she had suncream on - came home after school run with puffy eye, red patches across one side of forehead, rectangular red patch on nose. Has gone down after an hour inside and being washed but I’m baffled?
Many Thanks if you do come
back!

Not the op but my daughter was reacting to really random things including sun cream. We originally thought it was lots of different allergies but one day she was baking with my and got her hands on the cinnamon and instantly reacted. Turns out cinnamon is in so many things, including many sun creams (under a chemical name).