Could this be allergies?

[StephandOwen]

My younger ds is almost 4 months old. Breastfed only at this point.

He's had mucous poops for almost his whole life, but we thought it was just from a stuffy nose that he gets on and off (he's never been sick other than this stuffy nose that pops up here and there).

He gets a rash on his head (forehead down his temples and onto his cheeks when really bad). It's not all the time, it seems to pop up at random times.

Last night his head was totally clear (other than his cradle cap, but no rash). He was fussy most of the night, nursing on and off. When he woke up this morning he had a rash all over his forehead, down both his temples and onto one cheek. It was obviously bothering him as he kept trying to scratch at it. The only thing I can think that I ate different than I usually do is chocolate- I ate quite a bit of chocolate yesterday evening.

Does this sound like an allergy? My older ds had the same rashy stuff on his forehead when he was a baby but I didn't connect that to allergies until he started eating solids (and then we discovered he was allergic to eggs, dairy, corn and strawberries.... but he outgrew all of those allergies). He has an unidentified allergy now and carries an epi pen (we think it might be mango).

Should I just cut out chocolate and see if that helps?

[scsigrl]

I would cut the chocolate now.  I would also start a food log and see if you can fine a correlation between what you eat and his issues.  My 4 mo DS reacts to dairy and egg.  He had TERRIBLE cradle cap and an awful face rash before taking out dairy.  Egg was more tummy issues.  Diapers much like you describe.  He's doing great (so far) with me just being off dairy and egg.  We are also a peanut and tree nut free home d/t other allergy issues in the house.

[AllyRae]

If he's had the mucous BMs all his life, then it wasn't the chocolate you ate last night.  But it might be dairy (his cousins--my kids-- are all allergic to dairy via FPIES or confirmed blood test, so it wouldn't surprise me. LOL!)  You eating extra chocolate would have increased the level of dairy over the normal amount you usually eat.  

[StephandOwen]

The mucousy poops started around 3 weeks old, the same time the rash on his head started. I remember because we originally thought the rash on his head was caused by the soap we had used on him the first time he had a bath tub bath (after his cord fell off). We switched soap and it happened again. We used no soap and it continued to happen. And then there were times when we used the first soap and the rash didn't happen. So we eliminated the soap as the suspect. Right around that same time we noticed he had mucous in his poop, but he also had a snotty nose (that was right around the same time Owen had the flu so we just assumed Kai had caught some sort of bug as well). We thought the mucous in the poop was just because it was his body's way of getting rid of the snot in his nose (which we assumed was just a cold). But the snotty nose/mucous poop has been coming and going for the last few months.

I thought about dairy, but I've eaten dairy consistently his whole life and the rash is not a consistent thing- it comes and goes. And, actually, I haven't been eating much dairy at all these past few days (except the chocolate ). Our milk spoiled and I'm too lazy to go to the store to get it just for me. LOL!

I think I'll just cut out chocolate for a couple weeks (NOOOOO!!!! LOL!) and see how he's doing. If he's still getting the rash then I'll likely cut dairy and see what happens. If it's not chocolate or dairy then I suspect it might be seafood. That's another one I've eaten recently but don't eat all the time (so would explain the rash clearing up then starting again suddenly).

[scsigrl]

Mucous in a diaper is not normal.  So while I would start with dairy (like now), it's up to you. A food log is really the first place I start with these things if there isn't an obvious correlation. 

[StephandOwen]

UPDATE!

I ended up taking out chocolate and it helped a little, but not completely. His rash was still covering his head and there was on and off mucous in his poop. So I decided to take out all dairy next. Today was day 10 of no dairy and his rash is almost completely cleared up! He has a new rash, under his chin on his neck and to the top part of his chest, but I think that is because of his excess drool (tons and tons of drool lately) and not allergy related. Almost all of the other scaly rash on his cheeks and forehead are completely gone. His last mucous poop was 4 days ago. 6 days ago I also took out all tree nuts because it looked like that might be causing issues as well (I've been keeping a food/reaction log for 11 days). So hopefully we're good now and the rash doesn't come back! So for now we are tree nut, chocolate and dairy free.

Thanks for all your thoughts!!

Also, if anyone knows a dairy free cheese that actually tastes good, I'm all ears. That's the one major thing I'm missing (I looooove cheese and it was a huge staple in my diet ).

[AllyRae]

As you know, we're dairy free.  Honestly, cheese is out if you really really like it.  Almost all of it stinks.  We use daiya cheese, and it's fantastic for cheese, mac & cheese, nachos, etc.  But, if you don't use it to melt, it tastes pretty bad...especially if you're used to cheese).  I've been dairy free for 4 years and gluten free for 8.  Cheese as a snack food is just something that will really not be replacable.  Most of the vegan cheeses are squishy or just odd tasting.  Like I said, daiya cheese is great for foods that require melted cheese though. :)