9 month old with severe eczema..Please Help!!

[Jules08]

My son's eczema started around 6 months of age. His skin was flawless until that point. I exclusively breast fed him up until that point. I started supplementing him with formula. About a month ago he had gotten impetigo on his face and that is also when his eczema  became quite severe all over his body. We had him allergy skin tested last week. Came back positive for peanut, tree nut and egg. I have not given him those things directly so I was told to eliminate them out of my diet. Well, no difference has been made at all- yet anyway. I was giving him an organic milk-based formula ( Earths Best) but I stopped that because I noticed that was making him have puffy eyelids and rash. He is currently on Baby's Only soy milk formula, as I know they are a bit better of a formula for various reasons. Could he still have an allergy to soy even though his skin test showed negative? I am thinking this has to be the main culprit still for him. What else could it obviously be?! He hardly even eats solids. He will take only about a table spoon or two a few times a day and then he's done. If he is allergic to soy also, then what can I give him for formula?

I can't tell you how upset I am starting to become over this. He looks like he has plaque psoriasis. It is quite severe, mainly on his face and behind the knees. I have no idea what to do for him. Our family doctor is of no help. The pediatrician is really of no help. I can only hope our follow-up allergist appt. will help. Otherwise, they say prednisone is next. HECK NO!!!! That is not an answer! I really hope someone can help me. I have no idea where to go from here. I wish I would have never listened to anyone's suggestions about the formula. My supply was just fine for him, but it was draining me so bad. I felt like I was not able to keep up. Well, I can tell you, I would give him only breastmilk again if that would help him and take away this misery from him.

(He was on an antibiotic for almost a month for the impetigo. I am currently giving him flora-gen probiotics to build his system back up. Not sure if this would make a difference or not in his skin right now)

Today I bought him some pure shea butter cream hoping this will help his dry skin and eczema topically anyway.

[journeymom]

You don't need to be specific, but what part of the world do you live in?

[SharonUK]

I feel horrible for you and your baby! I have used a product called CapriClear.  It's a relatively new product that is made from coconut oil, which is great for everyone's skin.  It reduce's redness and takes the itch out of your skin and it's safe for babies to use.  Give it a try.  You can only get it on their website, you should check it out as it has a lot of information on there. 

[journeymom]

Your son is 8 months old? 

One less likely possibility is seasonal allergies. I'll try to keep this brief:  My son was born in summer.  He's 13 y.o. now. When he was 9 months old  -spring time-  he developed a light rash on his cheeks, behind his knees and on his ankles.  Nearly everywhere, actually. And red eyes and a runny nose.  I suggested to his ped that it looks like hay fever. Nooo, babies that age just haven't had enough time to develop seasonal allergies.   Never mind his dad is laid low by allergies every spring, into mid summer, and I get it to a lesser extent as well.  The boy was doomed.
 

Every spring time the rash, runny nose and itchy eyes got worse, and developed into asthma as well.  Over the counter meds worked for a time, but never completely.  It got worse and we tried prescription meds.  They helped, but he was still missing school and sports.  Finally his doc tried Singulair, which worked really well. What a relief!  Anyway, spring time 2 years ago we noticed his symptoms weren't near as bad as they had been, even without the meds.  And last spring he didn't need meds at all! YAY! Frankly I think his immune system grew up enough and got strong enough that he could cope on his own.  He's still systematic.  He needs the inhaler at school now and again.  But he's not perfectly miserable anymore. 

All that to say, maybe your son is suffering from something environmental, like mold or mildew? and eventually he's going to outgrow it.

[Bruebee]

I second what journeymom says about seasonal allergies. My dds doc said the same thing about her being too young for seasonal allergies. But now at four its very obvious she has them just like her parents. OP I hope you find relief for your poor baby.

[Jules08]

We live in the northern US, so lots of pine trees and such over here. We do live in an apartment, so who knows it is something in the carpet here? We saw his doctor today and she thinks it is probably still an allergy to the soy formula. She wrote him a prescription for Alimentum..so I guess we'll see. I did try the shea butter. Has been clearing up the eczema behind his knees, but gives him a severe rash on his back and face. I am going to look into the cream one poster suggested. Thank you!