Zoikes...I guess you're going vegan, then, huh? Well, if anyone can make it work, YOU can. You're the master chef!!

All the women in my family have super sensitive skin, especially on our faces. Makes it tough to find cleansers and stuff. Ummmm what else...I'm allergic to red food dye. It makes my face all red and hot. I used to eat red Skittles to get out of class because the teacher would think that I had fever.

Yeah, I was a con artist even when I was a young'un.

Yeah, I said young'un. :P

My niece carries the epi pen you speak of. Allergic to peanuts. Of course. That was annoying for my brother and his wife, for sure. They were frustrated and told that their son should avoid peanut butter until he is six.

She did not have a skin problem, so your daughter might not get allergies. Allergies suck, sure, but things can always get much much worse.

Three weeks ago, that same neice was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She will have diabetes for the rest of her life and will eventually have to wear a pump if she wants to avoid so many injections. She actually said the other day that she wish she didn't have parents because parents give her too many shots. She's three years old.

Sweet, Torrie, don't sweat stuff that hasn't happened yet. I know that's easier said than done and it's comical coming from me because I so don't practice what I just wrote. But relax, my friend. Try, at least.

:]

You deserve to relax.

Before you throw out all that breastmilk, take a week without dairy and breastfeed her and see if there is a significant change?

My son had raised red patches on his face and body too. I was scared that he has Eczema. The doctor suggested changing our laundry detergent. I did and it went away! It was just a mild allergy to the detergent that looked like Eczema! he had it on his face from rubbing his face on his mattress sheet.

I think with babies it's the elimination game. Try eliminating dairy and changing your detergent? Might work?

My cousin had to stop eating dairy AND gluten for her son that had bad eczema. But it was only for the breastfeeding first year. But he now he's dairy and wheat free. It's a big bummer but her DR said to just give it another year and then start gradually adding back the foods. Many children grow out of it.
I have pretty bad eczema and it gets bad this time of year too. I'm always lots better when I get outside and a little bit of sunshine.
On the plus side it's so easy to buy dairy and gluten free products at the grocery...it's just a big toll on the pocket book. But our kidlets are worth it!!
Poor baby, eczema is itchy!

My daughter was breastfed until 19 months, with food introduced just before six months. She has very mild seasonal allergies (nonspecific, for which she takes Zyrtec once in a blue moon). No food allergies. She does, however, have eczema. Her father had it when he was little, and we've looked no further than that for its source. Since she was about Willa's age, her pediatrician has cautioned against excessive bathing (i.e., every day is too much for a baby with eczema) especially in the colder weather, and recommended Eucerin lotion. As she has gotten older, we've discovered that nickel seems to aggravate the eczema on her tummy, so now we paint jean snaps and buttons with clear nail polish, and that helps. Also, nickel-free jewelry.
If you're going to look for or consider food allergies, you have to try eliminating just one thing at a time. Arduous, but otherwise you'll make yourself nuts. And everyone will be allergic to you. (There are Rx meds for eczema, but the side effects sound worse than the condition.)

My son had eczema too when he was an infant. It was horrible, it was all over his little body, especially on his face. I was so worried he would have the food allergies or asthma that is usually associated with it, just as you are. After trying few topical treatments from the Pediatrician, we found that 2% hydrocortisone cream( a minute amount)does the trick! I am happy to report he is a happy 4 year old little boy with not a single allergy -food or other - and he has beautiful skin (most of the time). If we see a little patch develop (maybe 2 or 3 times per year, mostly in the colder months) we just rub a little prescription 2% hydrocortisone cream on it and he is perfect within a few hours!
Just thought maybe you would need to hear that!

Have you discovered Aquaphor ointment. My daughter (10 months old) gets some reddish patches now and again, dr says its Eczema, and I put a little bit of Aquaphor on it and it is gone the next morning.

Aquaphor = bestest friend ever!!!

We thought our son had eczema as well. We took him to the doctor and we used the Eucerin cream and it actually cleared up after his first big teething experience. He is also very sensitive to detergents so we have to be careful which laundry soap we use. I wouldn't throw out all that breast milk until you are sure that it is the culprit! Good luck! My fingers are crossed that she just has sensitive skin! :(

I just want to let you know, I know what your going through! My son has a milk allergy and has eczema whenever I eat dairy(or caseinate). He is 11 months and I'm still breastfeeding and not eating anything really. My doctor told me to try eliminating dairy for 3 days to see if it helped. (he was VERY colicky too mostly because of the milk) It took over 2 weeks for the milk to get out of my system. To this day, if I eat milk a week later Finley gets eczema.
It's not that bad though! I've been doing it for 11 months and he shows no other signs of any other allergies. Everything I read though (and people I have spoken to) is that many milk allergies go away after a year. Good luck!!

I have a friend who went through this with her son, and she was able to figure out what was causing it by eliminating one thing at a time from her diet. She did no dairy for 2 weeks first, but there was no change, so then she did no gluten, and that worked. So just don't cut out too many things at once and you should be able to figure it out. Also, good advice on the detergent. That was the cause of a childhood rash that worried my mother, and to this day, if I don't use fragrance- and dye-free detergent (or I sleep too many nights on someone else's perfumey sheets) I get eczema.

I agree with Aimee—I had a friend who thought her baby had a dairy allergy, so she donated 200 ounces of frozen breastmilk to another family. Later, it turned out that the baby didn't. Maybe you want to go through your frozen breastmilk bags and label them as being "dairy" breastmilk, so you won't use them now, but might be able to use them later, when you get the allergy (if any) straightened out? Also, I have to second the recommendation for Aquaphor, it's amazing stuff.

I have to confess I haven't stopped thinking about your dog-walking/baby at night situation yet. My most recent idea is to see if there are any teenagers in the building who'd run the dog out for you. I know that the average NYC teenagers today is more sophisticated than I was ten years ago, but when I was a teen I'd have been happy to make ten bucks to run a dog around the block at night. And since it's only a few times a month, it's not like some all-consuming sport or drama club, so I'd think most parents wouldn't object to their kid doing it.

At any rate, I'm sorry you're having such a rough time of things. Here's hoping that 2008 is better.

It could be the colder air. There's a product called Aquafor; it's a great lotion that works well on Jem when she gets dry. You could try that before major dietary changes. Good luck!

p.s. If you've changed anything in laundering, it could be that, too. I use Tide and Downy separately, but Tide with Downy causes Jem to break out. WTF?

When I was little, I had an egg-white allergy. I don't remember it, but apparently I used to come up in hives.
(I haven't had my rubella vaccination because of the way they process it - somehow they use eggwhite/protein, but apart from that, it doesn't affect my adult life.)
I've always had hayfever (spring allergies) - runny nose, itchy eyes...
And when I was about 15 I broke out in severe discoid eczema.
I've read that hayfever, food allergies, asthma and eczema are related.
I notice that some white wines will bring on my eczema (not that this would be Willa's trigger, of course!), as does stress and overheating. I know you're heading into winter (tt's scorching hot here near Canberra, Aus), but cutting back on blankets could maybe help control the eczema; short, lukewarm baths are also better than the long, hot showers that I love (again - I can't imagine Willa partakes in long, hot showers!).

Oatmeal is good for eczema skin (in a laundry bag, in the tub), as is Manuka honey (mixed 1pt honey to 2pts sorbolene cream). A couple of drops of some essential oils in a tub also help (but this can be trial and error - lavender irritates my hayfever and does nothing for my skin. Teatree oil stinks, but works a treat).

Oily nuts and oily fish are good for eczema and allergy-prone people too - not sure how they go with breastfed babies though.

Allergies schmallergies! I don't have kids so I have no idea. I do know this. My sister is allergic to everything and has been since day zero and hers manifests as eczema too. She manages it fine as an adult now and loves that she's allergic to brussel sprouts. As for me, nothing wrong at all and for years I resented her allergies because my parents didn't have a lot of options and didn't know how to make food fun and it made both our childhoods miserable. I think that's called karma. I just turned 30 and my list of allergies includes eggs, dairy, anything very acidic, bananas and just about everything scented which totally sucks. I had to keep a food journal to figure those out. Other food allergies include colourings/preservatives (my ex), corn (his mother), onions, tomatoes, apple juice, citrus fruits...

Forgive my lack of helpful insight but I think that my point is, you just can never tell with allergies and can only manage diet (yours and hers) to the best of your ability. Did you start her on solid food already? Maybe that's the problem?

It's the cereal.

*The eczema started long before we started her on solids.

EEK! don't throw out that breastmilk yet! first do a weeks test without you and dairy, then go from there. You may just find that she is having a little hormonal breakout, happened with all three of mine. And even if it is the dairy surely there is somewhere you can donate/sell all that breast milk. Whatever you do don't let all that hard work of yours go down the sink.

Good friend of mine has a son who had VERY severe exzema as a baby, so much she went to a 'nationally renown' dermatologist and got some skin cream. He is 5 now and no signs of allergies or the rash. I had slight exzema as a kid but the only allergies I have now are of looking in the mirror at my pooch belly!

Don't throw the milk out until you are sure it is your dairy intake. I think one of my kids had that but it was baby 2 or 3 so at that point I was hardly concerned. You get that way with each kid. I used to do a baby oil massage after every bath and that help with the skin. Good luck!

1) Nice Deenie/Judy Blume reference

2) I am currently dealing with a nasty bout of eczema. Actually saw the derm yesterday about it - she gave me a steroid ointment (probably not so good for a baby) and told me that Eucerin is a great moisturizer. She also told me to knock off the long, hot showers. Unfortunately (I so hate to tell you this) I DO have a lot of different food allergies - which (I'm told) I didn't have as an infant. I would look at wheat and gluten after milk . . . those were the major culprits in my rash (I developed those allergies as a 24 yo!). Luckily (and this is small solace) there are lots of great products out there for those with intolerances!

I have had eczema for my entire life. I do also have food allergies, and I do carry an epipen--I was the kid who couldn't eat a lot of things at birthday parties. You know what? The worst part (for me) was having such a pernicious, visible rash in school. My parents never made a big deal to me about my allergies, so I never thought too much about them--I avoided certain things, and that was it. The milk allergies could be a cause--also egg allergies. You should also check into contact dermatitis (I am oddly allergic to a component in most leather dyes, although that may not be an issue for you depending on how thoroughly you avoid animal products), although that is more likely to develop when she is older, if at all. PLUS, certain components of fragrances such as balsam of peru and cinnamic aldehyde and even anti-fungal preservatives such as sorbic acid can cause hives which only add to skin problems, so be sure that you are only using fragrance-free or sensitive skin detergents, lotions and soaps. The mild allergy to detergents mentioned above is almost certainly hives related to fragrances. You don't even need to go fancy on the detergent--All Free & Clear works for me. One other thing: make sure that you are moisturizing her thoroughly. People with eczema tend to have dry skin, and any dryness or breach in the skin makes a further outbreak likely. Oh, and Phisoderm works well as a very gentle soap.

I am a really, really unusual case. Most people with eczema don't have too many other allergies, and they almost all get better once they are a little bit older. Don't worry too much.

Don't throw out the breat milk! My ped did a test on my daughter to see if she was allergic to milk I was ingesting, and it was negative. They just take a small stool sample and you know the results within minutes. Excema comes and goes on babies, my daughter is almost 4 months and unless we apply lotion religiously, she gets it. My doctor also said we could use a little bit of hydrocortizone cream on it. Good luck!

About taking Dexter out, why does it need to be so late? Can you try and alter his schedule to fit yours more?

My daughter has eczema also... i agree with the Eucerin & Aquaphor. Especially the face, behind ears, knees and inside all chubby folds of flesh. Right after the bath. As of right now, she is showing no food allergies whatsoever. And someone once told me she would grow out of it, and truthfully she has improved with each passing year. (she's 5 now)

I'll add my vote to PLEEEEASE don't throw out all your milk until you're sure!

Going dairy-free would not be such a drastic step for a carnivore, but for us veggos, going vegan is a BIG leap. You wouldn't want to deprive dear Willa of essential nutrients without thoroughly investigating this one. I'd strongly advise you to get medical help on this one. At the very least do a two week trial.

Patrick has eczema. We keep it in check by only giving him a bath every three or so days, and then we use sorbolene and glycerine instead of soap. Interestingly I have also developed some eczema on my arms at the same time- I think our hot weather has something to do with it. I have skin allergies to Nickel, Wool Alcohol and Thiomersal (a preservative). To be honest I don't really do all that much different- I still wear nickel jewellery- I just take it off inside the house- I still wear wool- I just wear ultra-fine New Zealand Merino (scratch-free- feels like silk!). I am able to avoid thiomersal easily by having vaccinations that are thio free. :) I probably have some lactose intolerance too- I have noted that every time I have a milkshake I get really gassy and bloated. Doesn't stop me, but!

Patrick has had an episode of bronchiolitis that ended up in ICU- scary as hell- so he may develop asthma. That would be my atopic genes. I feel bad about it.

if it makes you feel any better me and my son are both vegan and we both have eczema, so it might not be from the dairy ... don't fret, they make ointment :)

I don't have a baby but I am an eternal worrier so I can see where you're coming from! (I'm planning a trip to the US. The other day I spent a good few hours worrying because I didn't have suitable jeans. Bah!)

The only thing I hope might be of help - my sister had an outbreak of eczema when she was younger (under 12 months old) and it's never reoccurred and she has no problems with any allergies... I had an outbreak when I was older (between 7 and 9/10) and again, it's never come back and I only have slight food problems (which only emerged when I was an adult!) Some people have been mentioning about laundry detergent - that was a big factor for me. I'd been fine with one sort for YEARS and suddenly it made me itchy and rashy.

Hope things get sorted soon.

I'm writing only because I just read about this on another site, The Simple Family. She just wrote about her daughter and discovering food allergies that started with eczema. You should go to www.thesimplefamily.com and read her November 12 post.

I just wrote a post about this. And? In every case I have ever known, it is food allergies.

I will say this, though: It might not be dairy. People always want to jump on the dairy bandwagon, but it can really be any of the foods.

Does she do any solids yet? Start keeping a food log and eliminating things one by one to see....been there, done that. And, most likely, she won't need the epi, so you have that going for ya.

My stepson had eczema but it was not very bad at all - Elidel and bathing in oatmeal baths and things of that nature helped a lot. But if you really want some good advice on treating a child with eczema, ask Rockstarmommy - her poor child has dealt with that for a long time. There are several medications you can try, although I think you are on the right track with the diet. I wouldn't trash the milk right away, though - I would wait it out and see if reducing your dairy helps any. It might have nothing to do with what she is eating. So just try things little by little and be patient. It might be something that goes away quickly. I know it must be hard to see your little one itchy and miserable, but you'll find the cause! :-) Best of luck.

Take a deep breath.

As you can see loads of us have been through this. My son had eczema all over for a couple of weeks after he first started drinking cow's milk and every cream we tried made it much worse. Eventually we cut out dairy completely from his diet and it cleared. Couple of weeks later we reintroduced a little dairy and now at nearly 3 he has as much dairy as he likes but if he overindulges the patches appear on his back. Being careful with the amount of diary he eats for a week or two makes them go away on their own.

I, like you, envisaged a lifetime of food and other allergies for my otherwise very healthy and very robust child and it all came to nothing.

I have my fingers crossed for you that Willa will be just fine - she's so very cute.

I think you IM'd me and I was too late getting back to you and then, dumbass I am, forgot. I've learned that dairy and eggs are the biggest eczema culprits, although it's not always so for each person - everybody is different (obviously). There's all kinds of shit I can tell you about it. Email me, I swear I'll write back this time :P

I don't blame you for panicking. But I'm an eczema sufferer, and while I do have allergies as well, NONE are food or medicine allergies. Willa may end up able to eat all the cake and ice cream her heart desires. :)

Also, I don't mean to be snide, but if she does end up having more severe eczema, she will get plenty of comments from kids at school without her family saying that her "formerly perfect" face is now ugly. I'm sure you don't mean it that way...it's just that if she has it more severely, like I do, she will get plenty of that elsewhere without getting it at home.

Hey, Just writing from the point of view of former severe eczema kid who had lots of allergies and asthma and couldn't eat the cake, etc. 1. eucerin/aquaphor/ hydrocortisone really do help 2. switch to arm&hammer or other allergic friendly detergent and watch out for new soaps. On a different note, it kinda sucked at the time, but really its not that bad. That is, i don't really think i have long term emotional scars from eating carob at bday parties and having excema on my face from 2-7years old. Now i am a happy and cute grown up. Also, to agree with the previous post, i was made much more consious of the problem when at 5 or 6 years old, I heard my mom tell a friend that i looked like a "burn victim." I know willa is way too young for that now, but it is important to keep it in mind for the future. I loved your letter to willa from a few weeks ago, when you told her, that she is beautiful, but that you tell her that she is smart, not that she is beautiful, because that is not the measure you want her to hold herself too. She is smart AND beautiful, even with a few bumps or scabs. Take care!

If Willa's eczema was caused by you eating dairy then it probably would have shown up sooner. I don't think you need to give up your dairy at this point. My son has eczema (including milk allergy) and I was still able to eat dairy while breastfeeding. He just can't handle drinking/eating dairy products himself. Eczema is almost always caused by food allergies. While animals and other allergens can cause reactions, things other than food are usually linked to asthma or other conditions besides eczema. (I hope that sentence made sense!!) My advice would be to get her tested by a skin specialist ASAP. Since she just started solids recently it will probably be fairly simple to narrow down the things that could be causing it. One good thing is that they have really good medications now that can clear up even moderate to severe cases. By the way - it is completely natural to worry and I doubt anyone thinks you are over-reacting.

AB - I had it when I was a baby, and I'm fine, except I still have psoriasis on my arms, which I get pumped up with cortizone every 6 months. Lovely. I'm sure that's reallllllly healthy. I'll tell you more about all that later.

My daughter's eczema started around 3 mos. We thought it was horrible diaper rash (her skin would crack and bleed). It was downhill from there on. She started asthma treatments at 6 mos. She's now 4 and a half and has eczema, asthma, and is allergic to peanuts and legumes along with pets and a few other things. But she's doing well. The best thing to do for eczema is to not try to save $ on products. Wash with a mild cleanser like Cetaphil or Aquaphor or something that moisturizes (surprisingly, we've had success with Softsoap Pure Cashmere). After patting dry, immediately use Eucerin CREAM or Aquaphor. This is really just trial and error - I also have a niece with the same problems but she uses different products. Everyone is different. Hope you find some of this helpful.

My daughter's eczema started when she was about 3 months old (also before any solids had been introduced). After going through trial and error to no avail (trying to eliminate one food at a time, trying different lotions, prescription cortisone creams, unscented laundry detergent, etc.) our pediatrician FINALLY sent us to an allergist when she was 6 months old. They did skin testing (completely painless, she did not even notice they were doing it) after which we found out that she was allergic to both milk and eggs, which she was getting through my breast milk (I was breastfeeding exclusively). It's possible that your daughter doesn't even have food allergies, but the only way to know for sure is if she is tested. So save that precious breast milk - you still might be able to use it!! Also - my daughter is now 6 years old and has completely grown out of her food allergies. Good luck, and feel free to e-mail if you have any questions.

Hello! Just wandered over here via blog-hopping.
Your blog seems nice despite my reading only two or three entries and although I am anti-children, I do like your daughter's name.

As to the allergy problem: I had TERRIBLE eczema as a baby (so I've been told) and I grew up to be consistently out of school due to my many many allergies and very bad case of asthma--but, I grew out of the asthma, and none of my allergies are food related (thankfully!) and I only get very mild dry skin in the wintertime.
good luck!

This is Dave's wife. I had a very old-fashioned pediatrician for my son--in fact, he was my pediatrician. He insisted: no disposable diapers and no plastic pants. Reasons: The plastic surrounding the diaper allows the urine to be held next to the skin. And although lots of manufacturers say that their diapers "wick away" that nasty pee, the whole area is still going to be moist, because one of the things parents like about disposable diapers is that when the kid "wets" the rest of their clothes are not ruined. This means that busy parents might not check the diaper as often, so kid doesn't get changed as often, so the area is vulnerable to rashes, etc. So, I did the cloth diapers, washing them only with Ivory Snow in hot water, rinsing twice in cold water. Kid never had a rash of any kind. BUT I do realize this might be pretty impractical for busy moms. I like the suggestion from some of your readers about the allergist, although your pediatrician should be able to run some basic allergy tests, without using needles. Willa is so incredibly beautiful! more pictures of her with Dexter, please!

My father is a dermatologist and I happen to be his nurse. I haven't read all of the comments posted, so if I repeat something that someone has already said, forgive me. Eczema in children is very common. It sometimes is hereditary. A lot of the children that we see with this skin condition usually grow out of it. So this all may be temporary. I do have some advice that could ease the symptoms or even help the eczema go away. This first type of therapy is sometimes controversial with dermatologists, but we have found that when the eczema is severe and the itching it not tolerable, cortisone shots like Kenalog (it is a slow release cortisone that lasts much longer than Celestone) work very well. This type of therapy should only be used when its really bad. We only give children the shot just a few times a year because it can cause bone weakness. If used properly it is a great treatment. Topical ointments are also a great form of treatment. When the skin is only slightly irritated there are creams, ointments and lotions that do not contain any cortisone. When the irritation is more severe try prescription cortisone topical therapy. My favorite right now is a foam called Olux or another foam called Luxiq. A lot of kids hate the greasiness of creams and these foams are like a mousse and its easy to apply and it does not leave the skin sticky or greasy. The most important thing to do regardless of the therapy is to moisturize. We like to call it "soaking and sealing". Try and not use hot water when bathing, instead use luke warm water. Hot water tends to dry the skin out more. After your child bathes, pat the skin dry with a towel and leave the skin with a little water on it. Then immediately take skin cream and cover the the entire body with it. I recommend either
Cetaphil cream or a newer product called Cerave cream. They don't have a lot of ingredients that can irritate the skin, they aren't greasy and have no fragrance. Once both products are absorbed by skin the skin is left smooth and no greasiness. This should be done at least twice a day. We usually suggest in the mornings before you get dressed and then at night before bed. You can try to moisturize in the middle of the day too. This is so important to do especially if you are using prescription topical ointments or creams because it prepares the skin for the treatment. A majority of our patients that just simply do the "soaking and sealing" technique see major results in the texture of their skin in just a short period of time and in a lot of cases, cortisone creams and prescription therapy is no longer needed. I hope that I have given you some ideas to help out with the eczema. Hopefully she will grow out of it. Just know that there are treatments out there to help things not be so bad. Good luck!