Who wants to play, "Name That Rash!"?

[Juise]

So.. earlier this evening she looked like this:

And a few hours later she looks like this:

What I can tell you is this. She is EBF, and I ate pretty simply today and am positive nothing new, or that I haven't been eating pretty regularly, even. There are no discernible white splotches anywhere on her rash (the spot in the middle of her chin is her dimple ) and it doesn't look at all like any picture of hives I was able to find on the internet.

She is 4 1/2 months old and has gotten red cheeks and chin twice before, but not this bad. Both times before we'd been outside for an extended period of time and it was windy and chilly (apple orchard and trick-or-treating) and I put it down to that and her drooly fist chewing. Today, however it appeared fast and bright and she did not go outside, I took DD1 out while DD2 here was asleep. She was outside yesterday, but I find it a stretch for it to have no effect and then suddenly chap this evening from that.

Any ideas would be appreciated, thank you.

[ASusan]

Looks very much like what DS's food allergic face rash was like at that age through about 10 months, when he was tested via Rast (blood test for IgE allergies). He came up positive for egg, wheat, and peanut. I had already taken dairy out of my diet when he was 3-4 mos old, and once I removed the others, his cheeks cleared up a LOT. He never had it on his chin, but his cheeks would get just like your LO's, and then they would weep and crust over.

He was/is allergic/intolerant to other foods, but once we got those big ones out of my/his diet, his cheeks were much improved.

[bodhitree]

I can't help with the rash, but I did want to say that is a GORGEOUS baby.

[DevaMajka]

That looks like a worse version of the eczema ds2 gets on his cheeks. He gets eczema in his diaper area, on his cheeks, and more recently on his inner elbows and behind his knees. His cheeks seem to have more/different triggers than the rest. His cheeks are worsened by cold dry air (in airports, hospitals, outside on cold days), like your dd. Other times, it comes on suddenly without those triggers, and we think it's food. Also, his cheeks seem to respond to moisturizers more quickly than the others.

Do you have vaseline or other cream that won't sting/burn? (vaseline improves ds's cheeks within a day)
Did you use any new detergents, soaps, anything like that? Could she possibly have eaten a crumb of food? Do you have pets, and was she close to them today? Could it be related to her drooling? (though that seems like a stretch)

What I'd do, is moisturize really well. If it dramatically improves, and doesn't come back other than going outside, figure it was a fluke but keep it in the back of your mind. If it comes back, start a food journal, and focus on soaps, poducts, pets, etc.

[Juise]

Well, it looked better come this morning, and much, much better now. She had a little bit of snot this morning and it went away by the afternoon. Her poop, though, is all stretchy / mucousy, ick. I think it is most likely to be food related, last night was a long night! She's been a pretty sound sleeper and even when she's gone through wakeful periods she's simply woken, nursed, and gone back to sleep. Last night, however, she woke constantly and immediately started howling, sobbing, twisting, and arching her back every time. She wouldn't settle to nurse and fall back asleep until she'd thoroughly exhausted herself.

I find it very unlikely that she actually ate anything herself, she was down on a blanket on the kitchen floor for awhile, but I had just finished sweeping and scrubbing the floor. But she wouldn't have to, right? We haven't changed any of our products, we use the same homemade laundry soap as I have been since before she was born, I don't wear any sort of scent, not even deodorant. She did briefly push herself off her blanket onto the tile, I'd scrubbed it with Dr. Bronners and then mopped it with just water. I use diluted Bronners for much of my cleaning, though, including dishes, so I would think I may have noticed issues with it before. And it isn't like she was rubbing her face all over the floor.   We have 4 cats, but she's all over them every day, so I think she'd be having more of a problem if it were them. Man, that would suck. She wasn't on any new blankets, wearing new clothes, or playing with any new toys. I couldn't think of anything she'd interacted with that I would suspect of causing it. Plus, if it were a tactile reaction, she probably wouldn't have had all the issues she had last night, or the nasty poop, would she?

It still could possibly be drool, she chews on her fists all the time, but that's the thing. She does that all day every day, so why the sudden flare up? For now I think I will just be writing down everything I eat and keeping a close eye on her, hoping it was a fluke, but assuming it was probably food related. If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Here's a picture I just took of her. As you can see, it is much better, though still a little rashy.

Oh, and thank you, bodhitree, I think so, too, but she's mine, so I am a bit biased.

[changingseasons]

Huh. That doesn't look anything like an allergy rash or eczema that I've seen before- especially since it's nowhere near her mouth. Any chance of a virus or teething? Is there some other reason that you're suspecting an allergy?

[Juise]

Really? Hmm. Well, I was suspecting allergy most based on its sudden and extreme onset, I guess. I really don't know.  I starting thinking allergy more after she was up screaming and writhing all night followed by weird poop today. I don't suppose there is something else you think it may be?

[changingseasons]

It looks like an angry hot rash (was it hot?) that often appears with teething or a virus. Either could come on quickly I think and cause both sleep and poop issues too. But I would definitely keep an eye on it if it comes back.

[ASusan]

I still think allergy/food intolerance here, especially given the poop and disturbed sleep. Those are also things that happens to DS when he eats something he shouldn't. Esp, the thrashing and arching during sleep. He just lurches himself around the bed all night long (even now that he's 3 - it's clearer to see it now because he's not waking to nurse at night). He doesn't typically cry, but he does whine and moan in his sleep when it's particularly bad. Can you write down everything you ate? And if it happens again, look for a match,

FWIW, DS's cheeks also itched (we think) when they were getting red and then raw, as he would rub his face back and forth furiously against our shoulder or the bed if he was lying face down. He was also a hand chewer and drooled a lot, but we never correlated these things to teething. Someone here once said mouthing was related to a zinc deficiency, and possibly allergy as well? DS later developed (itchy) eczema on his hands, and he would scratch them once he could control his hands to do so. He wore socks to bed for about a year to prevent this.

[changingseasons]

I agree that it definitely *could* be allergy related, I just wouldn't automatically guess that by looking at the pictures, and from only 1 night of sleep/poop issues.