Eczema in diaper area only?

[abigail_b]

My 8 month old baby girl had what I thought might be ringworm in her diaper area, but the ped said it is eczema, including a patch of nummular eczema (I had this once even though I've never had regular eczema- it is a coin shaped, itchy spot- looks like ringworm but isn't a fungus or yeast). It is not near her rectum at all, just red spots on her vulva and the ring is up above her vulva, very low on her pelvis). I use cloth wipes (same wipes solution since birth) and a mix of cloth diapers and chlorine free sposies.
Ped said she might have developed an allergy to the coconut oil based cleanser in her wipes solution (I am skeptical). Does this sound like it could be a food allergy, even though it isn't in the rectal area and is only in the diaper area? Initially there was one patch that cleared up (about 1 1/2 months ago) and now it is just within the past week that the new patch as well as the red dots all over her vulva showed up.
Ped recommended cetaphil cleanser (can be used without water) and cortaid 3 X per day. I did put one treatment of cortaid on to see if it will calm it down, but I am not comfortable using it 3 X day!! When I had nummular eczema (during pregnancy) I was finally able to heal it (after trying a million things) with pure shea butter. But the shea butter did nothing for my son when he got "winter eczema" last year.
Any advice, experience etc.?
Thanks so much for reading all of this!

[abigail_b]

bumping

[slimkins]

My son only gets his eczema in his diaper area. Well, sometimes the top of his thighs, lower belly and back if it is particularly bad. When it first developed, my PED immediately suggested that is was a food allergy because of the location and recommended cutting out dairy. I did, then I cut out soy and I also watch the amount of corn I eat. Sometimes a little is ok (of corn). I also notice that if he has a reaction to other foods it shows in his diaper area (more around his anus, though). I also found cutting out dairy to far easier than I ever imagined.
My opinion (which is not fact based) is that yes, it is initially because of the food allergy, but what seems to make it worse is the temp and humidity of the area. It's so hard to keep that area nice and moist, but not wet all the time. I also have a had time letting him go diaper (cloth) free because if he is soar, he will scratch himself raw. I have found that olive oil at every diaper change as well as tons before bed works the best.
And when I did cut out dairy, I noticed an immediate improvement within the first week, and it got consistently better once I cut out soy over the next several weeks. We still have outbreaks sometimes, but that is when we troubleshoot with other foods, too.
Also, neither my DH or I have any food allergies, so, I think he just has a really immature gut, and in time, will grow out of it *crosses fingers*!!!
HTHs and good luck

[Friendlee]

I would try emu oil, at least on the patch on her lower pelvis. That seems like an odd place for anything food allergy related, to end up. Emu oil is an anti-inflamatory. If you could put that on her and give her naked time 3x a day instead of the rx, that might help. I might follow it up though with the rx once a day and maybe some zinc oxide on top of the emu oil after the other diaper changes to try to keep it from becoming irritated by a wet diaper.

What if you use some gentle wipes during this time, too? Something safer like 7th generation...but not 7th generation because those are awful and always seem really dry. Maybe you could use them, though, if you spritz her bottom with pure water at each change and use the wipe to just sort of pat her dry?

I hate rashes!!! They're so confusing and they always seem to lurk in and out of existence just haunting the changing table.

[MommatoAandA]

My oldest struggled with Excema so much, mostly in the diaper area, but all over really until we got through her bajillion allergies. Excema in the diaper area can signify a manifestation of food allergy. Something in the Urine or Stool can irritate it too. For my daughter, as soon as she was off breastmilk and formula it got wayyyyy better, then when she hit about 18 months, ALL GONE. She gets it occasionally from scented detergents, too.

We used Eucerin. Good ole drug store Eucerin. The kind in the tub for the spots of Excema and the bottle lotion all over. I even use the tub stuff on my stretch marks. We tried Emily's Cream, Emu Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, any and every lotion we could find (Aveeno was FUN, she was allergic to Oatmeal so it made it open and bleed some lesions getting infected). If she was super itchy on a spot we used Cortizone 2 times a day.

Are you using wool by any chance? My girls both are allergic to Lanolin/Wool and we found out the hard way. Rashes, Itching, and on my oldest, Excema flairs.

[MommatoAandA]

Originally Posted by slimkins

And when I did cut out dairy, I noticed an immediate improvement within the first week, and it got consistently better once I cut out soy over the next several weeks. We still have outbreaks sometimes, but that is when we troubleshoot with other foods, too.

THIS TOTALLY!

We went to Formula for a few reasons and until she was on Neocate, she was a mess. We also had to delay solids until almost a year because she had anaphylactic episodes on a few occasions to random baby foods. Her excema was so bad on Nutramigen and Enfamil or Soy was a nightmare. It seemed to manifest in her diaper area though more often than not. I also found out later, the Lanolin I was slathering my nipples in was also not working with her. I wish someone would have told me about elimination diets before I weaned.

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by abigail_b

My 8 month old baby girl had what I thought might be ringworm in her diaper area, but the ped said it is eczema, including a patch of nummular eczema (I had this once even though I've never had regular eczema- it is a coin shaped, itchy spot- looks like ringworm but isn't a fungus or yeast). It is not near her rectum at all, just red spots on her vulva and the ring is up above her vulva, very low on her pelvis). I use cloth wipes (same wipes solution since birth) and a mix of cloth diapers and chlorine free sposies.
Ped said she might have developed an allergy to the coconut oil based cleanser in her wipes solution (I am skeptical). Does this sound like it could be a food allergy, even though it isn't in the rectal area and is only in the diaper area? Initially there was one patch that cleared up (about 1 1/2 months ago) and now it is just within the past week that the new patch as well as the red dots all over her vulva showed up.
Ped recommended cetaphil cleanser (can be used without water) and cortaid 3 X per day. I did put one treatment of cortaid on to see if it will calm it down, but I am not comfortable using it 3 X day!! When I had nummular eczema (during pregnancy) I was finally able to heal it (after trying a million things) with pure shea butter. But the shea butter did nothing for my son when he got "winter eczema" last year.
Any advice, experience etc.?
Thanks so much for reading all of this!

my 8 mo dd has nummular too. i can not use a wipes solution on her. just water. and just clean pfs with a cover. i use aveeno soap and that makes it better. i used aveeno lotion on her rash and it goes away. (the baby kind of lotion) i have also used aquaphor on her rash down there. i would not use the sposies personally. and make sure your dipes get real rinsed clean.

[abigail_b]

Thanks so much for the replies! We have been away for a couple of days so just saw this thread now. I also found a thread on diaper swappers related to this that was helpful. I haven't gone on an elimination diet yet, but think I am going to have to since we also have terrible night time issues with her. However, i have to say that right now the excema is 99% gone, and the fix was Earth Mama Angel Baby bottom balm. It was a wonderful case of something completely natural and organic actually working better than the rx and drugstore stuff! Still, I fear this may not be fixing the underlying issue, just addressing the symptom, so we'll see.
To the poster about the oatmeal allergy- that is horrible-- my ped shared a story about a case where a mom was bathing her excema prone ds in oatmeal baths and his skin was out of control- turns out he was also allergic to oatmeal- I didn't even know that was possible!
I do use wool, but she doesn't have any issues where the wool is touching her, so as of right now I don't think that is the issue.
I really appreciate all the advice!