Diaper Rash Evidence Of Food Allergy?

[my daughter's mom]

I started my 6 month old on solids 2 days ago. She had a very mild diaper rash on 1 cheek for 2 days prior 2 solids; the baby butt salve has always cleared up anything within 1 day.

I gave her homemade brown rice cereal and by the next morning both cheeks are broken out worse than they have ever been. Has only had diaper rash on 2 occasions in her life. It seemed like the rash was clearing up yesterday; fed her rice cereal again yesterday and by bedtime the rash was worse again.

Coincidence? Or possible allergy? I am going to make a food journal so I don't forget the possibility of this in the future.

I know about the 4-day-wait rule, however, I think I want to move on to a new food - squash or sweet potato - instead of giving her 2 more days of this.

P.S. I accidentally posted this in nutrition, but think this is more appropriate.

[txtarheel]

Our allergist claims that it's not. But I know the very few times that I ate peanuts while nursing (we didn't know we were dealing with allergies at all) my DS got a terrible and bizarre rash that cleared up within a day or two. Later, it was determined that he is allergic to peanuts through skin testing. So it could be coincidence or it could be an allergy.

Did she have any other symptoms? Face rash, general fussiness, black circles under her eyes, runny nose, sneezing?

[my daughter's mom]

No, she has no other symptoms. I had been eliminating grains from my diet - 1st wheat and corn and later rice cuz they seemed like they were making her gassy and rashy on her legs.

In the nutrition forum, where I first posted, the feedback was that it could indicate either an allergy or the fact that she is not ready for grains, possibly solids in general; that grains are not a good idea til 1 year or so because they can't digest well til then. So, I am going to wait till the rash goes away and try on squash or sweet potato.

I didn't intend to do grains at all for solids ever, but the Super Baby Food book made it sound like that was the best thing, and to start at 6 months. I think I should have followed my gut - cuz I know I don't do well on grains and think that veggies, fruit, beans and a little meat for good iron are sufficient.

So, I guess my lesson is to trust my own instincts and weigh the "experts" (although the author is not MD) a little more carefully.

[tallanvor]

I would just cut out the grains for now. Solids while a child is still breastfeeding (well, mostly breastfeeding, anyway) are not really nutritionally necessary. It is more for different textures and tastes, I believe. I know several kids who didn't start on solids at all until they were 9-10 months. My daughter is about 7 months and doesn't seem interested.

But I think the idea of it being an allergy is possible, though it might just be a sensitivity, in which case you would still want to avoid it.

Crystal

[emilysmama]

Originally Posted by my daughter's mom

I didn't intend to do grains at all for solids ever, but the Super Baby Food book made it sound like that was the best thing, and to start at 6 months. I think I should have followed my gut - cuz I know I don't do well on grains and think that veggies, fruit, beans and a little meat for good iron are sufficient.

So, I guess my lesson is to trust my own instincts and weigh the "experts" (although the author is not MD) a little more carefully.

I know. I read Super Baby Food book from cover to cover and followed a good deal of it. Sigh. Unfortunately, she is very far from being an expert. She's just a regular mother like us, except her children apparently never had to worry about allergies. (I'm not actually not certain if that is true, but when I carefully read the book it sure sounds like it.) Stupid me, I read in her book that all kinds of things would be good to start your kid on at certain ages, and I did not even think to cross-check it with other references until after the fact. For example, tahini, brewer's yeast, pumpkin, apples, manoges were just a few of the foods that in retrospect I introduced at a much earlier age than I should have, and boy was I sorry that I did it.

It is a very well-intentioned book, and for the most part I think it is a pretty good book because I think it is very good for the average person who turns out not to be allergic to any food. However, in my opinion, this book plays lip-service to food allergies. It mentions just the top few allergies. I really wish, for the sake of ignorant mothers like I was at the time, the book had mentioned that anything no matter how uncommon can be. But really, the author did what you are supposed to do, she wrote what she knew. It is unfortunate that she didn't learn more beyond her direct experience so that she could educate mothers who didn't know about food allergies like I once was.