food allergy?

[ocmama]

I need help. My DS has a rash under his chin and down his neck. It is bumpy and in some spots has red dry looking circles. I took him for his 9 mo check up Monday and the DR said it is just a drool rash and he has very sensitive skin. I believed her until the next day when it was worse. Could it be he just has sensitive skin and maybe his bib bothers him. I had just washed it. Maybe from the Tide? Or could this be a food allergy? When babies get a rash from an intolerance is it full body or just certain places? I'm so confused. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
ocmama

[blnony]

I doubt its a food allergy, only because everything I've read indicates that a reaction shows up in a different way, ie. stomach and digestion issues etc. and rarely a rash on the face. (I thought this too with Audrey when we started solids, and our Ped. ruled it out.)
If you haven't had a problem with Tide before, its probably not that. It might be a little combination of the drool and heat. Audrey has very sensitive skin, and when she first started drooling a lot, we had some rashes too. Try keeping the area as dry as you can, dressing in cotton and maybe put a little aquaphor on the area a couple times a day, esp. for a barrier to the moisture. Another product that may help, even if your baby doesn't have eczema, is the Gentle Naturals Eczema Cream at Target or Wal-Mart. Its very moisturizing and really helps those little rashes.

[Karenn]

This is just one person's experience, but Colin's food allergies/intollerances seem to manifest as diaper rash rather than face rash. The way that I finally concluded that it was food was by taking the most recently introduced food out of his diet (wheat) and seeing the rash disappear, only to reappear when I reintroduced the wheat.

HTH,

[etwahl]

Sometimes eczema and dairy allergies can be related, but if he is 9 months old and this is just showing up, I doubt that's the cause. It showed up for my DD at 3 weeks of age or so.

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[ocmama]

He has had this for awhile. Sometimes it flares up more, but usually always has it to some degree. We have just switched to the bottle for all feedings and the fromula is milk based. Maybe that is the problem.


January
(ocmama)

[etwahl]

you could try a soy formula...but remember it can take 2 wks for dairy to get out of the system. you might want to run it by your ped.

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[ocmama]

I think it might actually be a dairy thing. When I was BF I had to cut out dairy from my diet for the first 4-5 months and thereafter watch my intake. When I first gave DS a bottle about 6 mo, it was milk based and he did get this rash really bad just like he has now also, really gassy (waking up in the night from gas) . We ended the bottle for awhile and at about 8 mo introduced it again only with lactose-free formula. He seemed to tolerate it better and still had a mild rash, but I thought the rash he had was heat related. This week I actually started the reg. milk based formula again and the rash has gotten bad again. Hmmmmmmmmmmm interesting. I'll have to talk to the ped and give soy a try. Thanks for helping me make the connection. Hopefully this will be what it is.

Thanks,
January

[etwahl]

thought about one more thing, be careful about the solids you are giving him also...make sure none of them have whey or casein or sodium caseinate in them. They are all dairy. I would be really strict for 2 weeks with the formula and ALL solids to see if that works. The rash might actually clear up faster than 2 weeks if it's dairy, but you should try it for at least two weeks anyway. good luck!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[ocmama]

thanks for your advice. I only question the drool rash theory because he really isn't drooling much right now. I will give the cream a try.
thanks, ocmama

[ocmama]

DS only eats fruits, veggies and cheerios. I'll watch out when I try other foods.

thanks,
ocmama

[nitaghei]

Hi!
My DS had something similar recently - bumpy red rash on his neck. According to the pediatrician, detergent and chemicals could be a cause. I use fragrance free products and wash and extra rinse everything before DS wears it, so his pediatrician ruled that out. She thought it was a combination of sensitive skin and dampness. It suddenly got warm, and sweat and drool together probably caused the rash. Her initial suggestion was to use hydrocortizone. When that didn't work, she gave me some prescription steriod cream that cleared the rash with 2 applications.

I would really try washing his clothes in hypo allergenic detergent. It's at least relatively simple to do - and can't hurt!

HTH

Nita

[ocmama]

thanks for the info. My ped. told me to try hydrocortizone too. I haven't yet. As you can tell from my posts, I'll try everything and see what helps. What type of hypo allergenic detergent do you use? ( ivory or dreft?)

ocmama

[cara1]

ivory is not best.
try tide-free
all-free
or something-free

[mom2kandj]

My DS had the bumpy red rash on his neck for weeks! His sister has allergies, eczema, and asthma, so we know what all that looks like. It turned out the the little chubby boy had bad heat rash and baby fat was keeping in all the moisture. Keep the bibs dry and fan/air out his neck often, kind of like how you would treat a diaper rash. Hydrocortizone works, too. We also like Aveeno lotion which does not leave any greasy residue to trap moisture under his chin. If he gets a rash around his mouth, that might signal an allergy. DD is allergic to blue dye and we only learned about it after she ate a ton of Fourth of July cookies with blue icing at Grandma's house last year! Remember, in just a few months he'll hit a growth spurt and you might be able to see his neck again! HTH~

Rose
mom 2 Katie(30 months)
and Jack (14 months)

[nitaghei]

I use Cheer Free. It's the one detergent that doesn't trigger rashes or migraines.

Nita