2 mo old with yeasty diaper rash and cradle cap

[inneedofgrace]

My son is 2 1/2 months now.  He was really gassy from the beginning.  He also has really bad baby acne that came and went.  That seems to be gone now, but he has the worst cradle cap and excema.  At about 4 weeks I cut out dairy.  That seemed to help a lot right away.  But it didn't help totally.  I kept accidentally eating dairy in things which didn't help.  I finally managed to get all the dairy out and he was still fussy and gassy.  Then I took wheat out (about 2 weeks ago).  That seemed like it did wonders at first.  Now he is fussy again--but then he has a cold so I think it is probably the cold.  He is on his third cold since birth.  It just seems like the poor little guy is never well and so unhappy most of the time.  He started getting the cradle cap about 3-4 weeks ago.  At first it was just "normal" cradle cap.  But then it started to spread.  By last week it covered his whole head and there was even some on his back, legs and arms.  Plus it was getting very red and inflamed and crusty and weepy.  The Dr. gave me nystatin and cortizone to keep the inflamation down.  they worked great, but when I stiop using them it comes back in a day or two.  Also he has had a bad yeasty diaper rash that just keeps coming back.  she gave me clor-something for that (I had tried yogurt but it only helped marginally.  I don't mind using these perscriptions a little, but I don't like using them continually.  Plus they are not really addressing the real problem.  Does anyone have any natural or herbal alternative?  Any idea as to the ubderlying problem?  I suspect he has not established good gut flora, but he is only breastfed (except fo a very few ounces of supplementation around week 2-3).  I am taking some acidophilous.  What else can I do? 

[deminc]

Hi,

I really sympathise. This is so horrible for both child and parents. The pain, the sleepless nights, the crankiness...I can't help much in terms of prescriptions, but you may find some of the advice ds2's doctor gave us for his secondary fungal infections which kept recurring. Many of them would sound counter-intuitive to eczema patients, but basically fungus thrive on moisture, and much of the management of eczema is centered on preserving moisture on the skin.

These are his management approach for fungal infections which we found helpful: 

- No emollients or moisturisers; the moisture feeds the fungus and it can spread with the cream. Before this doctor I had tried many natural remedies involving herbal oils or salves for fungal infections but they really did make things worse.

- Watch the humidity level of the room. The air should not be too dry or the skin will crack, especially since we have to leave moisturisers aside.

- No swimming, not even in the sea.  

- When drying the child, use a gentle patting movement, do not rub or slide as it can break fragile skin.

- Do not cover the inflamed areas to prevent moisture from gathering. If you have to use medicated creams, do not bandage. If you have to bandage, do not put the cream.

This doctor also advised against all fish and seafood products, including seaweed (carragean). He said in his years of treating eczema and fungal infections, he sees fish/seafood reactions as one of the common factors. According to him taking it out may not resolved the eczema, but it will definitely increase the level of itching. He does not have any other dietary advice.

For ds2, he gave us antibiotic creams for the open wounds for during the day, and mild steriods with anti fungal for nighttime use to prevent nighttime scratching. The steriods are not to be applied on open wounds. Once the skin closes up, we follow up with an antifungal wash to bring the level of fungus on the skin down. Following this doctor's management approach, his skin healed rapidly within a month. But it still recurred twice when he took some food that brings back the itching and he breaks the skin. The allergist's advice for ds2 was for eczema and bacterial infections (moisturiers and swimming three times a week), which brought back the fungal infection. We had to bring him back to this doctor who cleared it up again swiftly, thank goodness. So we have tried it both ways and all the different approach and medications.  

DS2 also gets bacterial infection, so we now have a regime of antiseptic and antifungals for him.

Good luck!

.

[riomidwife]

I feel you mama -- sounds a lot like my DS's symptoms when he was a newborn......It sounds like much more than cradle cap to me. Cradle cap doesn't get crusty and weepy. I would begin baby probiotics, like the ones made by Pharmax, ASAP, and up your intake of EFAs and probiotics too. Could be an underlying yeast issue and/or EFA deficiancy....It will probably take a lot of investigative work -- and trial and error with foods and supplements -- to determine what is really going on systemically, and what will help the symptoms. It will take a while for the gluten to clear your system, so hang in there and hopefully some of the skin/fussy/GI stuff will improve!