Baby Acne vs. Food Allergy/Eczema and already off dairy WWYD next?

[mamaheids]

I really need some help here mamas. DD2 is 4 1/2 weeks old. Her first week she was a mellow, happy newborn. Then started the fussing/screaming/gassiness and her poop was mucusy/stringy. So I eliminated dairy. (DD1 was sensitive so I had to eliminate it when nursing her- didn't need to eliminate anything else.) Poop got better, the screaming did not. Week 3 I eliminated obvious soy protein sources. (Like the soy milk I was using instead of cows.) No change. The baby acne showed up hard core in week 3 (around the time it is supposed to), so I wasn't suprised it was there, but DD2 has it much worse than DD1 did. I had her into our Fam Practice doc last friday with concerns about it an to ask about reflux. He said it looked like baby acne, but to keep an eye on it as it *could* end up being eczema- knowing that we are atopic. He also wanted me to go on an elimination diet for the gassy/fussy symptoms. I did a little more of my own research since I know I have overactive letdown/oversupply and decided to start block feeding before cutting anything else out of my diet. Baby acne turned horrid- progressed from pimply (with visible white sebum) and red to rough red (when hot from baby crying or irritated by contact) raised on her face and spread into her scalp, down her left arm, on her upper back and chest. (Her face is rough and raised, the arm, back and chest is still just pimply looking) Read in Dr. Sears Baby Book that baby acne is actually sebhorric (sp?) dermatitits and does get rough and sandpapery in its progression. The block feeding is helping with the burping a bit, but baby is still flatulant and crys like she is in pain. I wear her almost all day long, and we co-sleep so in terms of being "high needs" we are all over that. I'm just wondering if I need to go on a total elimination diet now, or if there are just too many factors to sort out. (Growth spurt at 4 weeks, baby acne time period, normal high-needs baby fussiness etc.) Help- I'm so confused and also having a hard time eating well as it is with 2 LOs. I was thinking of cutting wheat (gluten) next, but do you think I should cut eggs and corn too (at the same time as wheat I mean), or should I wait another week to see if acne starts clearing/block feeding starts working more? I am replacing milk with coconut milk- that isn't likely to be a problem is it?
(How long does block feeding take to see results?) Oh I'm confused, sleep deprived, sore (baby in arms all the time-post C-section), and HUNGRY.
Help, please. Any thoughts, experience, advice welcome.
ETA: Her butt looks great-no rashes

[ps4624]

I feel for you! I eliminated dairy, soy, nuts, wheat, gluten and eggs. The dairy helped with the acne/exzema, the soy with the projectile vomiting, but it was the eggs that helped the most - she had really bad gas until I stopped eating them. It makes me very, very sad because I love and crave them!

Basically, I don't eat anything out of a box or can. I eat a huge amount of vegetables, protein and occassional rice. I had a hard time with a food diary because some symptoms happened immediately (soy=vomit), but others took days to show up.

Good luck to you!

[ctrygirlatheart]

I could have written your exact post three weeks ago down to the smallest detail only my DD is now 8 weeks. I had already been doing the block feeding and then I cut out all the major allergens, dairy, peanuts, soy, eggs, corn and gluten (wheat). Tough two weeks but her rash is GONE!!! and her gas is much better as is the vomiting and fussiness. She also sleeps better too. I am adding wheat back in the week to see what happens and then next up are eggs. Good luck momma and let me know if you need meal ideas, it isn't easy. Also make sure to watch your weight, mine started to drop too fast and and I really needed to pay attention to make sure I was getting enough to eat to protect my milk supply.

[MangoMommy]

subbing...my 3 month old has terrible ezcema (sandpaper feeling on torso, back of neck and legs) and I'm trying to find a solution too.

[mamaheids]

Originally Posted by ctrygirlatheart

I could have written your exact post three weeks ago down to the smallest detail only my DD is now 8 weeks. I had already been doing the block feeding and then I cut out all the major allergens, dairy, peanuts, soy, eggs, corn and gluten (wheat). Tough two weeks but her rash is GONE!!! and her gas is much better as is the vomiting and fussiness. She also sleeps better too. I am adding wheat back in the week to see what happens and then next up are eggs. Good luck momma and let me know if you need meal ideas, it isn't easy. Also make sure to watch your weight, mine started to drop too fast and and I really needed to pay attention to make sure I was getting enough to eat to protect my milk supply.

Thanks so much for writing back. Some questions for you if you don't mind?
1.What are your blocks? Do you go by the hour, or by a certain number of feedings. Right now we are doing 2 feedings per side, not sure if it is helping, but I got SO engorged and uncomfortable just getting to this point, not sure if I want to increase the feedings/side.
2. Did your DD's baby acne look like "normal" baby acne at first and then progress to eczema-looking rash? And what do you use on her skin (wash/moisturize?)
3.How did you decide to add wheat back in first?
4.What the heck do you eat? LOL I started the day out with some certified gf steel cut oats, coconut milk, agave nectar and berries. I guess I'll do a salad with chicken for lunch, and meat/veg for dinner. I'm just at a complete loss for snacks (fruit?) and fat. (I think I'm going to stay away from nuts too for 2 weeks) The coconut milk helps with the fat I guess. I do have about 10 lbs extra on me, but I'll still be careful about the weight loss- how do you keep yours up?
5. Can I pm you?
Thanks so much, Heidi

[farmerjess]

My baby had really bad acne that I treated with elimination. It also was pimples which turned into red, rough cheeks. At one point, he was sensitive to dairy, soy, gluten, eggs, beef, lamb, and shrimp. I ate a ton of chicken during that time...roast a chicken make a gravy and serve over rice or potatoes. It helps to make sure that you are getting plenty of fat in order to feel full. I never messed around with eliminating nuts much....it just didn't seem to be an issue for us, and honestly, from my reading doesn't seem to be a common thing for babes to react to thru bm. You may want to think about keeping them in until later, they really help to fill that diary gap. So, I snack on a lot of almonds. Oh yeah, and keep trying things periodically, we were able to add back in beef, lamb, and shrimp but are still egg, gluten, dairy, soy free.

My advice would be to take out just one thing every week or two, and definitely start with gluten and eggs (after dairy and soy). It really takes a while to adjust to not eating one thing, much less 6 or 7 at once. Not being able to go out or pick up takeout was the hardest thing for us. Give yourself time and some slack. I went back to eating our allergens several times, but every time his rxns brought me back here.

Breakfast
I eat millet or amaranth for breakfast hot cereal for breakfast with coconut oil and honey. Or rice toast with almond butter or with coconut oil & nutritional yeast

Lunch
Often dinner LO's or salmon salad on salad. I use EVOO with almond meal as a pretty good mayo sub in the salmon salad.

Dinner (here are some of the things i've made in the last couple of weeks)
crockpot beef stew
fish and sweet potatoes with veggies
hamburgers with roasted potatoes and veggies
rice pasta or spaghetti squash with pesto or meaty red sauce
beans and rice with fish or chicken and peppers
ground beef or beans with quinoa stuffed in peppers

And also, however hard it seems right now (and I can surely remember that stress), it does get easier, really almost as easy as eating before (except the whole going out thing). I started at 2 wks pp, so I know how hard of a time it is to change your diet.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Both of my sons are allergic to dairy, but DS2 had baby acne way worse than DS1. I cut out dairy but it took a few weeks to really see improvement. On a whim one day I started covering his face with breastmilk. His skin cleared up almost overnight. It wasn't all the way gone, but I saw a very noticeable improvement. It might be something to try if you haven't already. It at least made his skin so much less "angry" looking. Breastmilk has magical powers.

[ctrygirlatheart]

Originally Posted by mamaheids

Thanks so much for writing back. Some questions for you if you don't mind?
1.What are your blocks? Do you go by the hour, or by a certain number of feedings. Right now we are doing 2 feedings per side, not sure if it is helping, but I got SO engorged and uncomfortable just getting to this point, not sure if I want to increase the feedings/side.
2. Did your DD's baby acne look like "normal" baby acne at first and then progress to eczema-looking rash? And what do you use on her skin (wash/moisturize?)
3.How did you decide to add wheat back in first?
4.What the heck do you eat? LOL I started the day out with some certified gf steel cut oats, coconut milk, agave nectar and berries. I guess I'll do a salad with chicken for lunch, and meat/veg for dinner. I'm just at a complete loss for snacks (fruit?) and fat. (I think I'm going to stay away from nuts too for 2 weeks) The coconut milk helps with the fat I guess. I do have about 10 lbs extra on me, but I'll still be careful about the weight loss- how do you keep yours up?
5. Can I pm you?
Thanks so much, Heidi

1) My LO's feedings are spaced about 2-3 hours apart right now, so I do one breast per feeding, if she wants to nurse sooner, I just put her back on the same breast. It seems to help us but I know some mommas have to go longer. Check out kellymom for more info on it if you haven't already.

2) It started out on the face looking like baby acne and then progressed to the scalp, back, neck, arms and chest. It got more red, irritated, raised and crusty as time went on. When it wasn't so bad, the ped had me put on Cortaid, which didn't seem to help. Then we tried the calendula cream that Weleda (sp?) makes, also no help. The ped then gave us Bactraban and a stronger hydrocortisone, both prescriptions. These seemed to help but by that time the rash was already on it's way out ( I had started the restrictions about three days prior). I only used them for two days and then stopped because it was clearly getting much better. We use the California Baby baby wash and lotion.

3) I started out with adding wheat mainly because I am planning on traveling a couple of times this month and it is difficult to get wheat substitutes sometimes not to mention a pain for my hosts to have to find and prepare them. I may have to cut it back out though as DD's rash seems to be coming back a bit as well as her gas.

4) I usually have a mix of amaranth, quinoa, and millet (hot or cold) for breakfast with some type of fruit (fresh or dried) and some type of seed or nut with some almond milk. Sometimes I add in a smoothie made with almond milk, fruit, hemp seeds, and green leafy things. Lunch is usually leftovers from dinner or some tuna, mixed with rice wine vinegar, olive oil and capers over the greens and maybe some of the same porridge from breakfast. Dinner is usually a meat, veggie and either potatoes or rice. I also make a lot of bean dishes, soups and pastas (with rice pasta). Snacks are usually fruit, hummus and veggies, rice cakes, almond butter or nuts. I also have a stash of fudgesicles made from coconut milk too. Very yummy. I just try to keep eating things when I am hungry, even if they don't sound the best. Try the allergy board for more ideas too. Eating out is hard sometimes, I usually try for salads and just ask them to hold the offending ingredient and Mexican is easy too. Feel free to PM me and good luck!!

[mamaheids]

ctrygirlatheart - sent you a pm!