1 Year Old Always Has Hives!!!

Rashes also come along with Juvenille Arthritis. My grandaughter has it & the rashes came all the time before they got it under control. There is also a type of childrens arthritis that comes only as a rash. If you get no solutions, look into that. It can be very hard to detect unless she sees a rheumatologist. Very frustrating when you dont have answers!!! Hope you find one soon, C.

i would recommend you use NAET (www.naet.com). i used for my son who had allergies/hives.
NAET is non-invasive -- i would have never done the scratch test.
NAET detects the allergies or cause of hives/skin issues and removes the allergy. his skin is clear of all issues now.
i went to a practitioner who is also an MD -- she is in Pacific Palisades and is amazing.
Dr. Van Nguyen (www.doctorvan.org)

Forget the pediatrician, go to an allergist. Just because he has never had a problem with breathing during an allergic episode doesn't mean he never will. Hives are certainly an allergic response to something. You need to find out what it is and eliminate it. Allergic responses can accelerate. He could suffer hives today and go into anaphylactic shock tomorrow. Don't mess around with allergies.

Keep a food journal and write down EVERYTHING, including anything that gets put on his skin (soap, lotion, sunscreen, etc..). Also if you suspect any particular food item, remove it and see if he doesn't break out in hives.

Best wishes,
M.

My son had red rash for several weeks before I finally figured out it was one of the lotions I was using after his bath that was irritating him. After I stopped using it the rash went away. Experiment by not using various products or not feeding him certain foods for several days to see if you notice a difference in the hives.

Hey A.,
I had the same issue quite a few years back. I went to an immunologist and had the full allergy panel done and found that I was allergic to dust, eucalypus, and mold, but I had no food allergies that they could tell. I was on put on Allegra D for over 4-5 years, as well as a nasal steroid, and had to dust proof my home. I don't recall any negative effects. I did get sick less often which was definitely a perk. However, I would notice that I would still have the occasional coughing fit and overproduction of phlegm as well as the hives. Eventually, I started to eliminate food from my diet one at a time for a few weeks and found that when I eliminated corn, wheat and dairy my hives and allergy symptoms went away. I now avoid these food products and no longer require any meds.
I share this because some food allergies are not easily tested by doctors. Sometimes you as a parent need to do the research to figure out what's causing the problem. You may also want to check his reaction to your laundry detergent. From what I have read, if you care for the food allergies first, the environmental allergies lessen or disappear.

I would go and see a Chinese Dr. (or homeopath/natural Dr.) who can address the cause of the problem and not just treat the symptoms.
Your skin is your largest organ and your son is clearly reacting to something and his body is trying to expel it.
Be careful with the Benadryl.
Referrals:
Dr. Lauren Feder - ###-###-####
Dr. Jane Demian - ###-###-#### (Don't know if she works with kids but could refer you to someone if not)
Wishing you all the best!

Push to get him skin/backscratch tested for EVERYTHING.

I am allergic to wheat, shellfish (my lips and tongue swell), apricots, almonds (I get bad hives), carrots, orange and lemon, chocolate,and somewhat to peanuts. But my bloodtest for ALL of these shows negative. Even the almonds and the shrimp (both of which landed me in the ER with severe reactions, although not anaphylactic...yet).

My 2 yo daughter had both the bloodtest and the backscratch test. They both showed different things. The bloodwork showed that she is very allergic to wheat, soy, eggs, peanuts, and walnuts. The back scratch test shows she is only allergic to cashews. The rest came back negative, even the environmental stuff. I also had them test for food dyes and preservatives. That came back negative on both tests.

Both my allergist and my daughters pediatric allergist explained it to me like this...the blood test only tests for a positive allergic reaction in the blood. But because our bodies try to adapt to it's surroundings, our body may have developed a way to tolerate an allergen, so you may not get an outward reaction even if you are technically allergic to it. They both also said that you can have an outward allergic reaction to something, and not be technically allergic to it. Strawberries are a good example of this. Most people are not allergic to strawberries, but if they eat too much of it, will get hives just because of the nature of strawberries. My daughter is one of these people. She can have a few strawberries, but if she eats a whole bowlful, she will get hives all over her body.

Now with me and the issue of ALL my food allergies not showing up on my blood test, they said it does happen more often than not. So the best course of action for me is to avoid anything I have a reaction to.

So my best advice for you, would be to eliminate all the major food allergens, add them back in one at a time, and record any reactions your son has. Usually hives develop immediately up to a couple hours after eating or touching the allergen. Also, track your sons reactions to the major environmental allergens.

We had to do all of this for my daughter. It was a pain, but we finally figured out that she gets eczema break outs from wheat and if she keeps eating it will get major diaper rash. She gets major itchy hives from strawberries and cashews and peanuts and walnuts. Eggs and soy, her body has figured out a way to tolerate it so she can still eat them.

There are still a few things we have not given her to eat yet, oranges and shellfish of any kind. Will do so after she turns 3. She will also be retested at age 3 for her current allergies and to see if she has reactions to anything else.

Oh, boy, does that bring back memories. I had two boys that would get hives together sometimes and one that had hives constantly in three week cycles for about two years and then it kind of slowed down over the next decade. By the time the older one was four, we had him SKIN tested during a time he did not have a hive outbreak. This might be a better indicator of allergies as blood tests results can be iffy. We found out he was allergic to just about all furry animals and wind blown pollen. My OTHER son that broke out in hives was tested and he was NEGATIVE to everything. Why were they breaking out in hives together? I never found out. But the older one we treated with oatmeal baths, calamine lotion, cortisone ointment, benedryl, and ALLERGY SHOTS. As a four year old this was hard, but we bribed him with donuts and then after a few months he didn't mind. We tried the elimination diet and had him down to rice and applesauce and he still broke out, so we figured it wasn't a food allergy. The younger son was sensitive to milk, soy and CAFFEINE. For the older one, the allergy shots really helped and today as an adult he just avoids cats and he is pretty good. The younger one avoids his food allergies and is fine. I think my second son had some issues with CHEMICALS. He would get hives everytime he would go skate boarding at a park if he wore shorts. He didn't touch any of the plants or roll in the grass, he just skateboarded. His legs would be covered in hives just as we left. The allergist thought that it might have been some chemical sprayed on the plants at the particular park or some plant emission. The other mother who recommended the journal is on the right track. Once you know what occasion, food, chemical, etc that is a trigger, you can avoid those items. This is a trial and error process. My daughter was sensitive to Ivory soap so we switched to Dove. I found laundry detergents, bleaches, etc that agreed with all my kids. Also, I only got cotton clothes for them or cotton blends to go next to their skin. Wool was a no no for all of them. Synthetics did not seem to bother any of my kids. Or leather. Our house was made as allergy friendly as possible with almost no curtains or carpets (except on the stairs). Miniblinds. Wood shutters. Shoes off at the front door. We adopted the custom of Japan for this. May I suggest a PEDIATRIC ALLERGIST consultation. One that really understands kids, not a regular pediatrician. Good luck. My kids are all grown now and doing fine. They survived.

Hey there, I am so sorry your going through this. It seems like Dr's are at a loss for skin sometimes, If I were you I'd see a homeopath or a pediatric acupuncturist.The great thing about these types of treatment is that you only have to go once or twice and it's solved forever. I know both so let me know if you'd like a referral. You can also search yourself at http://nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/about/...go to the resource section and scroll down to practitioners. Best Wishes...

Boy do I have experience in this! More then I care to know. It is probably an allergic reaction. It can be food or inhalent (air borne, dust, etc.) First, you need to know that just because a skin (scratch) test or blood test comes back negative, it does not mean your son is not allergic to the allergen being tested. Skin scratch tests are not very accurate and blood tests are worse, unless you have background info to give them something to narrow down what they are looking for on the blood test.

The BEST ADVICE I got was from our pediatrician who had some background in nutrition and allergies. KEEP A FOOD AND ACTIVITY JOURNAL! Not just when you son breaks out either but every day, all the time. Write down everything he eats, in detail and I chose to write down her activities like when we went to a public playground, etc.

Here is an example of what I mean detailed:
Don't put down Breakfast: oatmeal
Lunch: Hamburger, fries
Dinner: Mac n cheese

Instead write down:
Breakfast: Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal
Lunch: Cheeseburger, mayo, white bread, ketchup (home made)
Dinner: Mac n cheese (if needed put brand, we only eat 1 brand)

Do this especially in the beginning, until you get son's eating habits down, then you can shorten. Kids are pretty limited on their eating.

Write down every break out in detail, how much body covered with hives, time, if needed Benadryl.

Then you can go back and trace what makes him break out......take to your doctor and it will help them with your son's hive maintenance.

Also, you can figure out if it's something like corn, wheat or a preservative which is in everything.

Our daughter started lightly bleeding from her bowel area 1 day before her 4th birthday. We went through heck with it, 4 doctors, possible colonoscopy, UCLA visits, then allery route, 2 scratch tests and a total of 6 full blood tests (6 viles each test) between the ages 4 and 5 1/2 and approx 1 1/2 - 2 years of on and off jounaling and several different medicines to find out she is allergice to corn, corn syrup and all derivitives (including Xantham Gum) of corn. None of the tests gave us anything. The jounal is what gave us the information we needed to help our daughter.

You can even do trials by removing some foods from his diet along with jounaling, but remember, it might be simple like bananas or it might be difficult, like corn. Corn is the hardest thing to remove from the diet because it is in EVERYTHING as some form of ingredient.

sorry for the long response by I am passionate about not having other children and families go through what we did.

I went through a terrible time with my food allergies too. Both my daughter and I food allergies affects internally. I spent years being diagnosed as having GI problems. I had 3 upper GI tests, blood tests, and was on several different GI meds. almost 10 years later, found out I was just allergic to wheat and a few other things. No more stomach problems.

Just keep journaling! It will help you tons!

Good luck,
R.

Hi A., as you can see from all the other great responses your son could be allergic to a wide variety of things from food to mold to pollens to dust to environmental chemicals, etc. etc. etc. You need to see an allergist, one that is good with young children, to have the skin tests to determine just what he is allergic to. You can spend months and years trying to figure it out on your own. Why cut out foods ( or whatever) to then find out he's allergic to dust? Find out what he's reacting to and then you will know how to deal with it from there. The skin tests aren't fun, and for several weeks before the test you can NOT give him ANY kind of antihistimines, but it's worth it to know what allergens he's reacting to. When we moved to Cincinnati, I suffered for about three years before finally having the skin tests and discovering I was allergic to mold (which wasn't a big problem in UT or CA where I had lived before, but a major factor in Cinci). For me, I took Allegra, Zyrtec or Claritin D when symptoms were really bad, and also took allergy shots for about 6 years. Shots aren't a cure, but they made me much less sensitive and I was able to reduce the amount of antihistimines I had to take. I'm now living in NV -- mold is definitely not a problem here, but now I've discovered I'm allergic to the many mulberry and olive trees. Oh well. The "solutions" are dependent on just what you're allergic to. Find that out first and then deal with solution. Good luck.

I am only experienced in this from personal and one time experience with my daughter, but I am wondering if the doctor you mentioned is an allergy specialist. I only worry because you say he is only 1 and it seems you should quickly get to the bottom of the cause. Perhaps you can get a referral to a specialist. Also, did you change laundry soap or softener recently? Or bath soap or did you use Mr. Bubbles or something that could be causing a skin reaction? It might be something simple like that, but barring that I suggest seeing a specialist???

Change doctors! If you are open to it, try a naturopath.

Also, make sure you are using all-natural, fragrance-free products. Laundry detergent, soaps and lotions, even gentler, more natural cleaning products for the home.

you sould go to a food allergist, my son has allergies and i was told that blood test are not as accurate as a skin test

go to homeopath! if you are in LA are look up Mary Grace. she turned the life of my child around in just several visits. if you decide she is too far away from you - find homeopath who is CCH and not MD, ND, OD and chiro - they usually don't have time to properly use homeopathic remedies.
Good Luck
V.

have u tried changing detergent? or dryer sheets? maybe don't use dryer sheets..i would also recommend taking him to a skin doc..are u in the Pasadena area? i would take him to Dr. Seltzer ###-###-#### your son is allergic to something to be having hives..could he secretly be getting into something? i would get a 2nd opinion ..when i had hives Dr. Seltzer said if i had gone on one more day w/ them he would have sent me to ER ..i was taking meds that i was allergic to. maybe its some material your son is wearing..check w/ a skin doc..good luck sorry your little guy is going thru this.

Hi A.:

I would love to see you take your son to an NAET doctor. I have had many many allergies cured in this way. Testing is painless, treatment is non invasive, and no drugs are involved. I use Dr. David Karaba at East West Medical Center in Fullerton ###-###-####. I love him dearly and he has treated me, and two of my grandchildren. You can also find a certified practioner at naet.com.

Best wishes,

M.

Like the others ladies have mentioned have you tried taking the chemicals out of the house? We have seen a huge difference in our kids skin and allergies. You would be amazed at how bad some of the things we use on a daily bases is for our kids as well for example the shampoo and laundry detergent. I have tried many different brands and have found that the ecosense brand is the best and the most cost affective. If you have any questions on about my experience with them please contact me!

Hi A.,

One thing I would recommend is keep a journal. Write down each day what foods he ate, what products you cleaned with, what you put on his skin, etc. Write down what time his rashes started and when. The body always tells us in some form or another what went on during the day. When my daughter was a little girl she suffered horrible cancer sores. I started keeping a journal. Within 2 weeks i had figured out what was causing her problems. It was not just 1 thing BUT many things. I hope this helps. Good luck!