BABY NECK AND FACE RASH PLZ HELP!!

[TheTealFox]

Please can someone help me figure out what is this rash??? What’s causing it? I’m a first time mum and I don’t understand how to make this rash go away I am trying everything I can possibly think of, such as keeping the neck as dry as possible, using a hair dryer (cold air) to dry it out after a bath, changing bibs constantly throughout the day, stopped using his fred and Flo and Johnson’s baby bath wash products and switched to aveeno baby oat bath soak sachets, have changed his detergent to non bio with no fragrance in it. When the rash first appeared we were given clotrimazole which didn’t help at all so we went to the doctor and were given fucidin H cream which was an antibiotic cream and had both fusidic acid and hydrocortisone in it, we were told to contact the GP again if the rash didn’t clear up in 10 days, whilst my LO was on the antibiotic course his rash was improving but not completely going away and once the course had stopped the rash came back and was a lot worse than before, then we were given canestan cream which again did nothing but make it worse, now we were given a steroid cream called trimovate and also Flucloxacillin to give orally. His rash again was improving with the antibiotics but once the course ended on Friday the rash came right back and looks like how it does in the pics that I’ve posted. The Gp suspects it’s CMPA and prescribed us SMA althera which I have been giving to him since yesterday morning so it’s been a day but the rash has went so much worse than how it was yesterday. So I want to ask does this rash indicate that my LO has a CMPA?? I am so confused because if it is CMPA then shouldn’t the symptoms be improving instead of getting worse?? Am I just being impatient? I’m fed up of being worried sick and crying thinking about how much pain my LO is in. Please can someone help me figure out what’s going on and guide me on what I should do??

This is another pic of the rash.

I don’t know but I’m bumping for you.

Oh sending hugs OP. Nothing worse than a little one being out of sorts, especially when you’re not sure what’s wrong.

im no expert but if it is CMPA, I’d give it another couple of days to see if it fades.

the rash your little one has looks similar to what my son had when he was born. I must admit, just wiping the area with cool boiled water throughout the day and then dabbing it dry with a soft towel was all I did. But he wasn’t in any pain as far as I could tell, the rash just looked angry. It took a few weeks but the rash finally disappeared. It wasn’t an allergy as such; it was just his skin was really sensitive to everything and he took a while to adjust to being on the outside :) perhaps your little one is the same?

how is little one in themselves? Fever? Unwell? Or is it just that it looks red and looks sore? Xxx

Has your gp offered to ask a dermatologist about this? I know there are long waits but they might be able to do advice and guidance. I work in this area but I see adults not children. This rest is really quite severe and I think they would help.

I don’t expect you take any notice of my advice though as this is an internet forum and it would be much better to see someone in person.

I don’t think a rash like this means your child definitely has CMPA. I think you need a better regime in terms o topical treatments than just plain antifungals like canesten.

did the trimivate make any difference?

please take advice from doctors in real life though as I worry you will get told not to use steroids etc on an internet forum.

rash sorry not rest.

Also, how old is your baby?

Aww! Beautiful baby. Xxx I would also try clean boiled water and ask for a dermatology referral. Would it be worth trying cutting out diary? If breastfeeding cut it out of your diet if bottle try non dairy formula. Worth a try.

If it is cmpa it will take several weeks for dairy to get out of his system altogether. Not saying it is that just that if he’s entirely formula fed you wouldn’t expect to see an improvement straight away anyway. However, cmpa rash is often a dry, scaly sort of rash.

Personally I think it looks more like a fungal rash but you say you’ve tried fucidin which should help with that.

I agree about seeking a referral to dermatology.

thank you for your advice I appreciate it so much! Everyone has been telling me to use corn starch/flour to keep the area dry and I’ve been doing that also, but nothing has been improving it at all just only getting worse as soon as the antibiotics are stopped.
he doesn’t have any fever and isn’t unwell either. He has just always had extremely bad reflux and when he’s feeding he refuses to feed more than 90ml (maybe 3oz) sometimes and sometimes it will be even less than that and he fights the bottle and hates lying on his back after his feeds.

How old is your baby OP?

Hi yes thank you for your advice! We did unfortunately try anti fungal creams however none of them ever worked. Only antibiotics work on him which is strange because as soon as his course is over the rash comes right back. When I took the pics he did have Vaseline on which is maybe why it looks a bit shiny or different but usually it is incredibly dry and the rash on his face is extremely bumpy and raised.

Hi there thank you so much for your guidance. So my GP has a friend dermatologist that he sent pictures to of my LO’s rash. The dermatologist agreed and said that it’s most likely CMPA especially because he also has extremely bad reflux and fights the bottle a lot and is generally just really uncomfortable when he’s feeding sometimes and also hates lying on his back after his feeds are done. He also has extremely bad smelling poop which I don’t feel is normal and sometimes there’s a bit of mucous in it.

My baby will be 3 months next Friday so he’s 2 months and 3 weeks just now

I wouldn’t put cornstarch or flour on it. Just bathe and dry intermittently. Does baby spit up a lot with the reflux? The rash looks to be in the places that would tend to get wet with the milk and any spit up.

I know other posters mention dermatology referrals which I think would be good but deffo also worthwhile ruling out / keeping an eye on the most obvious causes too - although I’m sure you’ve done this xxx

Hi yes my GP has a friend dermatologist who he sent pictures to of my little one’s rash. She said she agrees with him and that it is most likely CMPA because my LO also has really bad reflux and gets really bad smelling nappies which I don’t find normal and hates lying on his back after his feeds and just tends to fight his bottle a lot and will sometimes even cry and scream in pain

That is good your gp has a dermatologist friend. It is hard to get seen and sometimes these connections are the fastest way.

i agree with previous suggestions to avoid the corn starch and flour.

Washing with hydromol bath and shower or hydromol ointment can be very helpful for babies with eczema or eczema like conditions. In some areas it would be available on prescription but it can also be bought online etc. It is used a lot in paediatric dermatology. Might be worth asking the GP for their thoughts.

Yes baby use to a lot but the past few days I’ve been holding him up a lot for hours on end just to prevent him from bringing up too much milk and I also hold his bibs underneath his chin whilst feeding him so that any of the milk which is dribbling down will not go to his neck. I make sure there’s Vaseline around his mouth and on his neck just so that there is a barrier there. However the times when I haven’t put Vaseline on I have checked his neck after his feeds and his neck is always dry now just because I’m being so careful about it now. So if I’m keeping it dry now for a week or two it should have definitely gotten better but it just keeps getting worse not better.

My baby had a rash like this and I later found out it was CMPA, FPIES to gluten and egg allergy. I’m not saying your baby has all of this and I’m not sure which allergy caused my baby’s rash but be aware that you may need to do a long trial of elimination.
my baby was Breastfed - it takes 6 weeks to get free from any allergens. You need to do one at a time.
Don’t use Aveeno. Plain water is fine.
I’m not sure about your formula but some formulas still contain dairy so make sure that one is dairy free. Doctors can prescribe a dairy free one but I heard you need to thicken it.
I hope the rash clears up soon. X

Sorry, I also meant to say don’t use flour on him as introducing allergens to their skin at this stage can induce allergies.

It looks like an allergy.

I'd ditch the Aveenos because I know people who are allergic to that. I'd do bicarb baths. I have terrible allergies and it helps to take my rash down. 2 tbs in a warm bath. Pat dry dont rub.

My nephew had CMPA. He had a terrible rash. He was wheezing as well and his farts were foul. Unfortunately, because he was gaining weight the GP was very dismissive and SIL had to really fight to get milk prescribed. It took a fair while gor him to improve. At least 3 or 4 weeks once on the prescription milk. He had an upset tummy to start but it settled. On the plus side he can now tolerate dairy. It was introduced slowly and he can eat now without a reaction.

My son had eczema which looked like this as a baby. I stopped all detergents and washed his clothes and bedding in 'wash nuts'. I just bathed him in water, no shampoo or any products. He had a bath product called Balneum which was great, Aveeno and some strong steroid creams which kept it under control when it flared up.

I would stop using detergents in his clothes, any air fresheners in the house, fabric conditioners on your clothes which he is touching. I hope it is the milk thing and it clears up. My son's eczema got better by about 10 years old (I still use non bio) but he got asthma around 7 years old and that's not improved.

I hope the milk change will improve it soon but get a dermatology referral too just in case.

Okay thank you so much! I will definitely look into it. As I’m keeping the area super dry for so many days now but I haven’t seen any improvement at all. My baby does show CMPA symptoms however I don’t understand why his rash isn’t clearing away but getting worse after starting SMA althera yesterday.

Thank you so much for your help! And yes my baby is formula fed and I am giving him SMA althera since yesterday so only been 24 hours. Maybe I’m being impatient but if it’s CMPA then I want his rash to clear up asap because he just looks like he’s in so much pain. His nappies and farts are also quite foul smelling and his reflux is extremely bad and he ends up becoming really uncomfortable whilst feeding and absolutely hates lying on his back after his feeds too. I’m just so worried and constantly crying seeing him like this.

I have a feeling it’s the Milk OP aswel ..
I hope this gets sorted ASAP, so stressful for you with your lovely new baby X

I’ve just googled SMA Althera and it has milk in it. I would ask your doctor to prescribe you a dairy free formula but you’ll need a thickener too. I’ve heard it doesn’t taste nice but there are lots of posts on here with advice about how to change the taste. Good luck, doctors don’t really understand CMPA. X