I think DS has eczema, not sure where to start ...

[HeckedyPeg]

My DS just turned 6mos ... no solids yet, EBF. He's had patches of dry skin from the beginning, and our doc just said it was dry. It's never been red or itchy, and I usually just moisturize him after baths. I also give him massages with lavander oil from time to time, but it never had any effect on his skin. Recently, within the last week or two, one patch on the front of his knee has gotten worse, and this morning it was red, bumpy, and just seemed irritated. A few nights ago he woke up with a red mark on his right cheek. I thought he had a teething rash, but it has stayed, it's scaly and kind of bumpy, and red. This morn his right eye was puffy and slightly swollen and RED, his whole face just looked kind of pink. DS does not seem to notice any of it, he is not scratching it or anything. At first I thought he was getting sick, I cleaned out his nose, wiped his face, and it's better, the redness has lessened, but his knee is really bad this morn. 

I don't really know where to start. I know that dairy is a big food allergen that should be cut, I don't eat large amounts of it, but I'll cut it out first. What else? We have a cat, he likes to pet kitty but I wash his hands afterward and he doesn't get red after touching her. I think it's food related because he's had really stinky farts, and I can tell he's kind of gassy in the middle of the night. He is also teething so very drooly.

My other question: if I start an ED now, what should I do with my stores of pumped milk? I am a full time student, I just went back to school yesterday, and I can't really dump all the pumped stuff as I would have nothing to feed him with when I'm gone ... 

eta: his next well-baby check up is on the 13th, is there anything specifically I should be asking the doc? If it IS eczema, I don't want steroid creams and all that nonsense.

[Brees_Mama]

Could you label it as pre-ED milk and freeze it?

Mention that hes nursing and keep a food log for yourself from now to the 13th. Take that to the dr w/you and keep a list of the products you use on baby (detergents/lotions/oils etc).

[riomidwife]

Sounds similar to my DS, who is now 3.5. He always had that kind of dry skin, with one or two small patches of extra-dry skin. It was so minimal I really didn't take much notice. When he began regularly consuming foods directly though, at about a year, the symptoms became more pronounced....  redder cheeks, puffier face, the dry skin morphed into red dots, then finally eczema patches. I realized some of these symptoms had been there all along but I only noticed them when they became more severe. It's great that you're figuring this out now. What I would have given to have known in that first year what I know now!

We began by eliminating dairy and gluten, and I think that is a good place to start. If gluten feels overwhelming you could just begin with dairy and then remove wheat products. Having to rely on your stored milk seems hard, I don't know how you could get out of tha unless you found a milk donor or supplemented with something else, which might be worse for you LO. I guess if it were me I would be inclined to use the milk stash I had on-hand, removing dairy and gluten, and knowing I was doing the best I could for my baby under the circumstances. YOu might see a noticeable difference even while using up your stored milk.

I don't know what you could ask your doc. Most allopathic physicians are really in the dark about food intolerance particularly with children.They tend to treat symptoms so yah, you'd likely end up with an Rx for lotion. Some people find NDs and kinesiology (muscled testing) to be helpful, as well as myriad other biomedical treatments you can read about here.