Is this an allergic reaction?

[HIU8]

Yesterday I gave DD lunch and afterwards she had 4 small red splotches around her mouth (2 on each corner, one above and one below). It looked like excema (which she does have). It wasn't raised or rough and it went away by dinner. This has happened before when she was eating something different ( a gerber graduates meal that DH fed her). DD takes a nap right after lunch. When I was changing her diaper for nap I did notice she had diaper rash. I'm assuming this is an allergic reaction to something she ate? How do I go about figuring that out? DD doesn't really eat single foods anymore. She likes soups, stews etc... so there are a multitude of ingredients in them. Do I just start eliminating single foods and see what happens? This has only happened about 3 or 4 times and I've noticed it more recently only.

Any advice appreciated. I don't know whether I should take her to the doctor yet for this or not.

[MamaKath]

Sounds like it. Can you try each ingredient separately to see what brings a reaction? You probably will have to track what foods are being eaten to watch for the delayed reaction of rash or mucusy poop.

[LarsMal]

Rash around the mouth like that, especially after eating something, is most likely a reaction- allergy or sensitivity.

What did she have for lunch?

[skygoddess]

Yup, I would agree with the PPs that this sounds like an allergic reaction. Personally, I would call the advice nurse with your pedi and see what they recommend rather than try to figure this out by yourself.

[HIU8]

A beachnut beef stew for toddlers. I buy the ready made stuff for DH to feed her otherwise he is at a loss. Not the best, but at least I know she is getting fed something more balanced than just shredded cheese for lunch. We had meatloaf for dinner and no reaction from that. a rash around the mouth and diaper rash is the worst it has been so far. Do you think this warrents a trip to the doctor or should I wait until her 18 month checkup in December?

[LarsMal]

A beachnut beef stew for toddlers. I buy the ready made stuff for DH to feed her otherwise he is at a loss. Not the best, but at least I know she is getting fed something more balanced than just shredded cheese for lunch. We had meatloaf for dinner and no reaction from that. a rash around the mouth and diaper rash is the worst it has been so far. Do you think this warrents a trip to the doctor or should I wait until her 18 month checkup in December?

You could drive yourself crazy trying to figure out which ingredient it is if there are a lot of them! I would look at the label and see if anything jumps out at you as far as other times she's had the reaction. Did it have tomato in it? The acid from tomato can cause a rash around the mouth, but not necessarily an "allergy". That wouldn't explain a diaper rash, though.

I would call your ped to let them know what's going on. You'd want to see a ped. allergist. Your ped might want to see her first to rule something else out, but they aren't going to be able to do much more than refer you to a ped. allergist for testing.

Start keeping track of what she's eating and making notes of reactions/foods/ingredients. Did the diaper rash clear up as quickly as the mouth rash or did that linger? Could that have just been a coincidence? Did you give her any Benedryl?

[HIU8]

I didn't even think to give her Benedryl to be honest. But I do have some and will use it the next time I see this. I called the ped and had to leave a message on the nurse line. I'm waiting for a call back.

[o_mom]

Did it have tomato in it? The acid from tomato can cause a rash around the mouth, but not necessarily an "allergy". That wouldn't explain a diaper rash, though.


We have had this, including a wicked "burning" diaper rash from tomato products. It was not an allergy in our case, but you should rule that out.

[DrSally]

Could be? This is how DS's allergic reactions have started, and then each subsequent exposure the rash gets bigger and more like hives (happened with milk and mustard). Those gerber graduate meals often have many ingred, incl eggs. I never gave them b/c they have a lot of allergens.

ETA: I also agree it could be the tomatoes. Check the label of the meal you gave and see if it contains eggs, so many of those graduate meals do. Also, if you need something quick and easy for DH to make, I made plain meatballs (just turkey or chicken or beef, no binders) ahead of time and freeze them. I can pop one or two in the microwave with some fruit, veg, or pasta, and that's a meal.

[LarsMal]

We have had this, including a wicked "burning" diaper rash from tomato products. It was not an allergy in our case, but you should rule that out.

Yikes! That sounds awful. I had never heard of it spreading to the diaper area like that, but nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to reactions!!

[o_mom]

Yikes! That sounds awful. I had never heard of it spreading to the diaper area like that, but nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to reactions!!

Yep - it looked like he had sunburn on his bottom. :( My friend is a PA and she looked at it and said that it was definately an acidic cause. We figured out it was the tomato based soup he had both times.

[HIU8]

I have a feeling it was from the tomato base in the stew. Not sure since I think each time she had pasta with sauce, but I can't fully remember. the advice nurse told me to cut out known allergens like eggs, tomatoes, strawberries etc... I didn't know that a food that DD had not shown a reaction to so far could now cause a reaction. ie--she loves strawberries and has been eating them since she was about 11 months old and nothing. I don't believe the reaction was caused by fruit unless it could be from bananas. She is on a banana kick lately and eats them like their going out of style. I'm looking up a list of foods that cause allergies in babies/toddlers. If anyone has such a list, could you share it?

Thanks.

[o_mom]

It could be the tomato, even without reacting to pasta sauce. DS3 doesn't react at all to spaghetti sauce or pizza, but something about the way that soup was made did it to him - it used a couple cans of diced tomatoes.

[HIU8]

DD eats a lot of pizza as well and I don't remember ever seeing a reaction like this. I'm not used to having to be this careful because we have never had an issue, so I'm going to start from scratch and really watch what she is being given and see if any reaction occurs. (of course, I was very careful when foods were first introduced until I was comfortable that she wasn't having a reaction). I should be used to this since DS had a milk protein sensitivity and only had soy milk from age 1 - 2 along with sensitivities to other dairy foods. I don't know why I feel this is all new territory for me. I think allergies to foods other than dairy scare me a bit to be honest.

[mecawa]

We have had this, including a wicked "burning" diaper rash from tomato products. It was not an allergy in our case, but you should rule that out.

I was just going to say the same thing!!!! When DD was about 18 months old. She wasn't allergic but she had a sensitivity to tomato products (including if it was just a little bit in stews, and soups). Diaper rash and red blotches around her mouth.

I would call the ped., explain the situation, and see if they think she should be seen now or if she can wait to the next appt.

[HIU8]

They told me to wait and try to figure out what it might have been. We go again in the beginning of December. Meanwhile I'm going to watch DD very closely to see when it happens and make sure to record it for our next appointment.

[LarsMal]

I have a feeling it was from the tomato base in the stew. Not sure since I think each time she had pasta with sauce, but I can't fully remember. the advice nurse told me to cut out known allergens like eggs, tomatoes, strawberries etc... I didn't know that a food that DD had not shown a reaction to so far could now cause a reaction. ie--she loves strawberries and has been eating them since she was about 11 months old and nothing. I don't believe the reaction was caused by fruit unless it could be from bananas. She is on a banana kick lately and eats them like their going out of style. I'm looking up a list of foods that cause allergies in babies/toddlers. If anyone has such a list, could you share it?

Thanks.

FWIW, our ped allergist told me that the "normal" reaction to an egg allergy is vomiting and dairy is a rash. That has been true for DS, but maybe others have had a different experience.

Also, DS had eaten strawberries for quite some time before he had a reaction to them. He was tested for an allergy, but it was negative. That's when the nurse and allergist told me that most of the time those tests come up negative b/c it's the acid in the fruit that's causing the reaction, not a true allergy to the fruit itself. For a while it was hit or miss whether he'd break out from strawberries or not, so I finally just stopped giving them to him. I figure we'll try again in the spring!

DS is also fine with tomato sauce, but gets a red blotchy rash around his mouth if he eats fresh tomato.

It's such a fun game...grrr...!!

[HIU8]

I'm slow, so it just occurred to me that since DD has a sensitivity to milk. I'm reluctant to call it an allergy as she can eat some cheese and some yogurts, that she could be reacting to all the soy she gets. She drinks soy milk and has had a runny/stuffy nose for about 6 weeks now in addition to this new development of a rash. This weekend she did have pizza twice though. But, just to see what would happen, I switched her to rice milk as of tonight. I thought I would give it a week to see if the runny/stuffy nose goes away. She hasn't had anything except dried strawberries lately and the last time was about 5 days ago, so I don't know if those are causing anything unless I let her eat a few again. I guess I just backtrack and let her try each individual item again and watch to see if a rash develops.

[MamaKath]

Yep - it looked like he had sunburn on his bottom. :( My friend is a PA and she looked at it and said that it was definately an acidic cause.

DD had a rash like that. It turned out to be the diaper service had not calibrated the machinery properly when washing the diapers. She got an acid burn from her urine hitting the diapers. If you use cloth diapers (service or home done) and the ph is off it will cause this type of reaction also.

[o_mom]

DD had a rash like that. It turned out to be the diaper service had not calibrated the machinery properly when washing the diapers. She got an acid burn from her urine hitting the diapers. If you use cloth diapers (service or home done) and the ph is off it will cause this type of reaction also.

He was actually in sposies - the same ones we have always used from Sam's club and we were at least halfway through the box, so not a new design/batch or anything. This actually got me off my rear to unpack all the cloth diapers that have been sitting in boxes since our move. Much easier to air things out in a cloth diaper with no cover. :) It was also clear what meal it was that caused it both times ** TMI warning ** there were quite a few identifiable vegetable pieces that came through.

[bubbaray]

Both DDs reacted to tomato, DD#2 worse than DD#1. DD#2's ped. allergist said not to worry about it and to keep feeding her tomato and eventually it would go away. It is definitely less problematic now than it was a year ago.

FWIW, we were told that when we were feeding DD#2 rice milk, it d/n have enough fat in it and to add canola oil to it.

[MamaKath]

:) It was also clear what meal it was that caused it both times ** TMI warning ** there were quite a few identifiable vegetable pieces that came through.

:ROTFLMAO::ROTFLMAO::ROTFLMAO: Lol! I figured you had "proof", lol.