Exzema or Milk Allergy

It could be a chemical sensitivity. My daughter's eczema was caused by chemical reactions. She's allergic to formaldehyde, chlorine, fluoride, preservative, and artificial colors.

What are you using for laundry? I had switched to free & clear detergents, tried elimination diets, blood allergy tests, etc.

What eliminated her eczema once and for all was getting all the chemicals out of our house, cleaning, diet, etc. We started shopping from Melaleuca (online) and within 3 weeks of converting our home (rewashing her clothes, sheets, towels, my clothes, etc.) her eczema was gone. That was 3.5 years ago and she's been eczema free ever since.

I was so impressed with the results I started telling friends about it and they started shopping from Melaleuca as well. I'm happy to help you with any questions you may have.

C.-WAHM of ~5 y/o virtual twins
Owner: http://www.BeHappierAtHome.com

1 mom found this helpful

Eczema can be caused by many things often involving immuno-suppression of some kind. Definitely look into the dietary issue as well as the chemicals you all are confronted with on a daily basis. Look into switching what you use on your laundry. Free & clear detergent is an option but still has many chemicals in it that can aggravate the problem. We use soap nuts which are a great natural alternative for washing clothes. Here's a link if you want to find out more about them: http://www.buysoapnuts.com/
Often, eczema can also be related to having too much acidity in the body. Diseases of all kinds flourish in an acidic environment and balancing the body's Ph level will help in many areas. What we have found great success with for our daughter's eczema is for her to wear a hazelwood necklace. Apparently hazelwood has the natural property of absorbing the body's excess acidity when it touches the skin. My friend told me it radically helped her baby's acid reflux to the point where she was able to take him off his Zantac, so we decided to give it a try with our daughter. Within 2 weeks of my little one wearing the necklace, her eczema had pretty much completely gone away, and it has stayed away since then. The crazy part: When I take off her necklace or if it stops working (the wood can only absorb so much acid before it needs to be replaced) her eczema comes right back! so, needless to say, we are sold! you can look into them at www.hazelaid.com
So I would look into making some of these changes and perhaps also go to cafemom or another forum like that; I know they have groups for kids with eczema & food allergies and they have tons of experience and helpful suggestions. Hopefully you can find some answers soon. Good luck.

Hi, my 3 month old son has also broken out into a dry rash that is sometimes very red around his neck and some random spots on his back, tummy and behind his legs. I am also trying to cut out dairy from my diet (last 2 days) and am waiting to see. However I am also trying to wash his clothes in detergent for sensitive skin. Are you putting anything on the rash? I would love to know what you are doing too!

milk allergy (along with other food allergies) can trigger eczema - so it could be both!

there is a type of allergy most have not heard of and it is somewhat new in the medical community too... it is what is called a cell-mediated allergy and the reaction occurs in the gut. You can google EGID (eosinophilic gastro-intestinal disorder) and find out a little about it. I belong to another group for parents of kids with this disorder (my 7 year old daughter is getting scoped today!) and severe eczema is common among these kids -esp. infants.

eliminating milk from you diet may be a first good step, though it takes 6-8 weeks for it to "clear" out of the body. Be very careful to read labels.. if it is truly an allergy it can be tricky as milk is in a LOT of things, some key words to look for are cassein and whey (milk proteins)

My first son was exactly the same way. Once dairy was completely eliminated from my diet his ezcema improved dramatically. Something else that helped for my 2nd son (his was more outside irritants to his skin) when his ezcema got really bad was mixing just a bit of triple antibiotic creme with some Aveeno and applying to the ezcema patches. That of course works more for outside irritants and doesn't do much for internal allergens.

In my experience (3 children w/allergies), eczema is a symptom of allergies. I think you're on the right track with eliminating milk from your diet. It usually takes a couple weeks for the reactions to be completely gone. If you have eliminated all milk products and he still has the rash, try something else. Also, make sure you are eliminating ALL milk products -- read labels for milk powder, butter, whey, casein, sodium caseinate. If you or your husband have any history of allergies, start with eliminating those allergens.

A great book for those with milk allergies is "The Milk-Free Kitchen" by Beth Kidder. Wonderful allergy background information; simple, delicious recipies for just about anything you can think of; easy to read.

Congratulations on being a great mom!

same problem. It took a few days off dairy, then he was fine, no more eczema. My doctor says that sometimes they can get over this allergy as they mature, especially after a year or 2.

Hello,
This may sound weird but my daughter had a horrible rash on her face at three months and it was cradle cap. The doc gave her a steroid cream and it went away in days. I would switch doc's. Some are just lazy and don't know as much as other's. If the rash is really red and kinda hard it is cradle cap. Good luck and I would like to know what it is.
L.

Does it look worse when he is nursing, upset or hot? My son had what appeared to be a rash only on his face last winter. Starting at about 3 weeks old for about 3 months. I originally thought it was a type of baby acne, and would pass. Then family thought it was exzema, and my doctor said it was neither it's just his skin getting used to the air and it was nothing to worry about. I do have some issues with allergies (mostly wheat) but even with cutting that out he still had a rash. Then I tried Burts Bees - Baby Bee for sensitive skin soap and lotion. It was gone within a week. Maybe he out grew it, maybe he has sensitive and/or dry skin. I have been using Burts Bees soap ever since, but haven't needed the lotion while the weather has been nice.

If it were me I would still continue to omit milk for a few weeks, just in case. If he does have an allergy it could take a few weeks to get out of his system. It could just be that you were eating too much dairy, and it's not necessarly a full on allergy. It could also be an allergy to something else entirely. So keep trying there will be an answer eventually. If you are open to it you could try getting muscle tested or seeing a body talk practitioner.

My son is 4 months old and we have been dealing with a dairy allergy from the beginning. I have been off dairy now for about 3 1/2 months. After a month to see if it was really making a difference I tried dairy again. Immediately he threw up all he had eaten an broke out in rash. It is not easy giving up dairy but worth it.

One other thing that helped was not switching sides very often. Multiple feedings in a row per breast. It turned out my little one was getting too much foremilk that is full of sugar making him gassy and break out. Now he is able to empty the full breast and get the hindmilk that he needs full of nutritious fats. In that respect mine was so extreem that we usually nurse on one side during the day and one side during the night... but everyone is different. Good luck finding the best solution for you and your baby.

My daughter had the same thing. I eliminated all dairy and all wheat for about a year. After weaning, she moved to soy, which brought the rash right back so we switched to rice milk.

Gradually introduced dairy and wheat back in and by 3, she was good to go.

Good luck and I'll say that I've probably never eaten better or more thoughtfully since! :-)