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[Catt75]

Good afternoon ladies. I don't really want to be here (meaning I wish this was not affecting my baby) and have put off typing this message because it would be like admitting there is a problem. My 11th month old baby is for sure allergic to dairy and I don't know what else. There must be something or somethings because she has eczema.
My poor girl scratches at her neck and I don't know what to do. It breaks my heart to see her like this. Now that I have gone through the denial stage, I am now basically feeling sorry for myself (my daughter) and I am angry. I know these feelings are not helpful but this is the way I feel. I feel so alone and often ask why this happened. I need to get to a place where I can be proactive and help her and myself instead of crying all day and arguing with God.

[mtn.mama]

You made it to the right place! Welcome!

Sorry you need to be here, but we'll all get through this together.

Lisa

[lil_miss_understood]

Although none of us wants to be here, you're welcomed.
I think we all go through the denial/arguing with God stage.
Then we check out the Allergies forum and find out that there's hope.
We will help you in any way we can.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by Catt75

Good afternoon ladies. I don't really want to be here (meaning I wish this was not affecting my baby) and have put off typing this message because it would be like admitting there is a problem. My 11th month old baby is for sure allergic to dairy and I don't know what else. There must be something or somethings because she has eczema.
My poor girl scratches at her neck and I don't know what to do. It breaks my heart to see her like this. Now that I have gone through the denial stage, I am now basically feeling sorry for myself (my daughter) and I am angry. I know these feelings are not helpful but this is the way I feel. I feel so alone and often ask why this happened. I need to get to a place where I can be proactive and help her and myself instead of crying all day and arguing with God.

Soooooo been there, done that. You're not alone. I'm having a pity party of my own right now and I've been dealing with this for over 2 yrs.

[K's Mom]

Hello and welcome! I think you just posted on my thread about my 1 yr old.

I've totally been there with the eczema thing. My son started with it at 3 months and for a while I had no idea what was wrong with him - we were out of town for a few weeks and away from his doctor. But the doc got him on a moisturizing & medication regiment which worked overnight! I don't know what you've tried, but the foam medication that we us is amazing! It's called Verdeso. I know it's just taking care of the symptoms of the eczema, but it was so much easier to move forward once I knew that my little guy wasn't feeling uncomfortable (and so that people didn't ask me what was wrong with my baby anytime they saw him).

I hope this is helpful and I hope you find some comfort in knowing that there's some support here for you!

[springmum]

We all are in the same place emotionally sometimes - you are not alone.

Sometimes channelling that energy into something positive really helps.

Give us some ideas of what foods you suspect, other symptoms (sleep, poops, behaviour etc) and we can hopefully help!

Are you keeping a food journal?
Any other information you feel might be relevant? (yeast issues, medications, supplements etc.)

Do you have any specific questions?

There is a lot of great info on this site, that can be hard to sort through - don't be afraid to ask!

[Catt75]

Thank you everyone for your responses. It is much appreciated.

Springmum....to be honest..I don't know what foods could be doing it. I keep track of what she eats but the eczema never seems to change. It got much better after I stopped eating dairy but now it has reached a place where it does not seem to change no matter what her or I eat. I know that she had a reaction to baby oatmeal cereal (hives). Not sure if it was contaminated with dairy or if her body was just hypersensitive because she had had a hive reaction to milk only two days prior to the reaction from the oat cereal. How long does it usually take for one to see a reaction. With milk products consumed directly she reacts within a couple hours with hives.
I don't know what happens if I consume it. We nursed for six months without any reactions (no eczema) and I ate whatever I wanted. We new she was allergic to milk because she couldn't tolerate milk based formula. She got hives from it but the doc said it should be fine if I had it.

I'm not sure about the yeast thing. We never got thrush while breast feeding. What other signs would indicate yeast?

I am a little concerned with the toxins from her vaccines. She has had her 2,4,6 month vaccines. The eczema showed up shortly after her 6 month vaccine....about 4 days after to be honest. I kick myself everyday for vaccinating her. I'm going to start reading on the detox stuff but am a little overwhelmed and don't know where to start.

Regarding her sleep, she sleeps fine. Wakes up once or twice to eat...we cosleep and she is breast fed. She goes right back to sleep without so much as a peep. The only thing that bothers her is when she starts scratching her neck and I have to put mitts on her.

Behaviour..again..an angel..except for when she is bathing or I'm changing her and she start scratching her neck, I take her hands away and she gets upset or she is trying to do something and then all of a sudden she starts scratching her neck and loses her balance.

Poops..nothing out of the ordinary. No green poops, I haven't really seen mucus since I stopped the milk in my diet. She poops every 4 days though..is that an issue?

I am currently giving her probiotics. SISU probiotics for babies because it is dairy free. She gets a bit of cod liver oil every morning..we just started that on recommendation of the natureopath we just started seeing.

I don't know what to put on her skin. Everything I try seems to not touch the eczema and dryness and nothing stops the itch on her neck.

Medications wise...she isn't on any and has never had antibiotics, hasn't had an ear infection yet..never had a diaper rash yet...in fact her butt is the only thing that is constantly smooth. She was born vaginally and with no drugs, no complications.

Anything else you need to know that would be helpful just ask as this is all so new to me and any help as to where I should start or what to read would be highly appreciated.

[springmum]

Well I'm still learning all of this too, but I'll do the best I can to help!

Some things that stood out.

Hives reactions to milk is a serious one - definitely want to watch for even trace amounts in foods and x-contamination issues. Are you still breastfeeding? You would definitely need to be avoiding all sources of dairy as well. Dairy can take a couple of weeks to be fully gone.

SISU is dairy free huh - the only dairy free one I could find when I was looking at the time was the Kirkman brand (some say they are diary free, but when reading the ingredients they list lactose, caesin etc.... very frustrating)

Hives reaction to the oats is also serious and sounds like gluten could be the issue? (oats are often x-contaminated with gluten) Has she reacted to other gluten sources? What other ingredients were in the baby cereal?

Yeast issues don't jump out at me in your case, so let's not worry about that for the moment.

If your not noticing a pattern with foods, have you looked into environmental triggers? molds, carpets, detergents?

For my DS's eczema I use a homeopathic cream by UNDA (Onguent 270 Zalf 270) I bath him everyday, put the cream on immediately after and it works wonders for us. Some other mama's use other creams, but I'm not sure what they are.


If you are just new to this, you may want to hold off just a little on reading the detox stuff just yet, b/c it's a lot of information to take in if you're just starting. (unless of course it doesn't confuse you as much as is does me )

Personally I would start with

-eliminate all dairy sources (yours and hers)
- note any environmental factors, try a different bath/cream routine
- read the stickies on gut healing (bone broths, nutrients, whole foods to help heal her body)

There are some really smart mama's on here, sharing their knowledge. Read at your own pace, and ask questions as you go - good luck!

[Catt75]

springmum...I've been off of dairy since December. I noticed a huge difference since being off dairy but no further improvement. she used to have it all over her tummy, back, cheeks, forehead and some patches on her legs, one inner elbow and wrists. Since cutting out dairy she only has it on her wrists, the one inner elbow and some slight pink patches on her back. She used to itch her tummy and legs. now she itches her neck area. There is nothing on her neck as far as rashes but she itches it. when she itches then it gets red.

She has had barley cereal and has not had a reaction. The oat cereal was heinz brand. After that I started purchasing organic cereals. The barley is an organic cereal that is dairy free.

Where do you get the unda? The natureopath we are seeing had us try this cream. It seems to dry up the spot on her inner elbow but doesn't do anything for the itching of her neck. The tube is so tiny. We have only been using it for a week though.

I will read up on the gut healing stuff. I've tried different detergents..tide free and clear, purex hypoallergenic with no change. I am trying an eco detergent. I don't know what other environmental triggers to suspect...It just baffles me because like I said there was no eczema for 6 months of her life and nothing really has changed. It is like all of a sudden she became sensitive.

Oh and yes we are still breastfeeding because I have no other alternatives for milk to give her. I go back to work in a week though and am stressed with what I am going to do.

[springmum]

Hmmm...it's definitely hard sometimes mama!

I hope some other mama's jump in with their eczema experience too.

I got the UNDA cream from my naturopath, but my local health food store also carries it. It's a gray and white tube, not very big, but a little goes a long way.

Where on the neck is the itching?

Is it under the chin, on the back? Does the shirt touch the area?

I wonder if something like clothing tags could be irritating it?

Keep trying a change in detergents to see if that helps, and definitely start some of the gut healing things.

Are you taking any omega supplements? Essential Fatty Acids? Making increasing your intake of that will help through your breastmilk.

[Catt75]

The itching is under her neck and the back of her neck. Usually happens when she is upset, hungry or tired. She will also do it in her sleep (usually when she is just waking).

I've started on CLO. I bought some coconut oil also.
Where do I start with the gut healing?

[meg-momto2]

i can completely relate to how you feel. i'm still struggling with guilt and motivation after 15 months. (((HUGS)))

by chance does she wear synthetic clothing? my DD has eczema on her neck and i noticed that her polyester sleeper made it so much worse. once we switched to cotton clothing she's been scratching less in her sleep.

[springmum]

I'm going to link to a thread that had some good ideas.
Specifically look at the post written by WuWei, there are some good suggestions there

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ht=gut+healing


and of course....http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=434071

[mcq108]

My daughter screamed with so-called colic as a baby and it broke my heart. Later I myself struggled with skin rashes. It took 15 years of terrible itching and dragging to doctors and dermatologists with my "eczema" or "Psoriasis"- whatever it was labeled at the time - and getting nowhere, for me to finally find (three years ago) Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride's book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome. Reading it and implementing the simple dietary guidelines brought relief in only a couple of weeks. My whole family follows her now and we are all stronger and healthier than ever before. She showed us that digestive problems, colic, skin rashes – and amazingly even autism, depression, ADHD, ADD and mental problems - all come from the same source: unbalanced flora and fauna in our systems. I saw the common cause for our seemingly unrelated health issues, colic and skin rashes. Now I know that if we know what to do and what not to do, we and our children can be super-healthy. I love Dr McBride for what she has done for our family and I've met hundreds of others who feel the same. You can look her book up on line. I hope this can spare many of you well-meaning mothers and fathers a lot of heart-ache.

[heatherdeg]

Mine screamed with "colic" for 5 months.     Removing dairy fixed it.  He seemed to be able to tolerate traces, but when he had developmental delays and we removed every trace of it--it was a huge help.  Later down that path, we removed soy.  Another huge improvement despite the fact that it never showed any obvious signs of problems.  A year later, we had a foster child that was hospitalized for her dairy and soy intolerance as a 1mo.  The gastro said that the coincidence rate of reacting to the two is 80-85%.  So look for soy.

It could be other things.  Gluten is processed by the same enzyme in the body as casein, so yeah--that would be a contender, too; but I'd look at soy first.