Latex allergy?

[TonFirst]

My 20-month-old daughter has had mild eczema on her face in the past, but nothing that coundn't be taken care of with a little Aquaphor or, once, a few days of Elidel. However, for the past few days, she's woken up from her naps with red blotchy patches on her cheeks and pimply-looking spots on her nose and around her mouth, and the Aquaphor and the Elidel aren't making any impact.

I am probably overthinking this, but I'm concerned that she might have a latex allergy - she's had no new foods in the last week or so, and no new detergents or lotions. The only new thing she's had is two new MAM pacifiers. All of her pacifiers were silicone MAM pacifiers, and since I'd like to get rid of the paci sooner than later, I hadn't planned on buying any new ones to replace the ones we've lost. A week or so ago, though, I noticed that on a couple of her pacis, the nipple was starting to tear away from the plastic part, so I inspected all the remaining pacis and picked up a pack of new ones at Big Lots (I know, I know...) on Thursday. When I opened the package, I saw that unlike the rest of our pacis, these were latex, but I didn't think my daughter had any kind of latex allergy - surely, she's been in contact with latex by now, right? So I figured if there were a latex allergy, we'd know.

Now I'm rethinking my cavalier attitude towards the latex pacis. After she woke up from her nap about an hour ago, blotchierthan ever, we gave her 5 ml of benadryl. I'm going to call the ped tomorrow, but is there anything else I should look for? Does this sound like an allergy, and if so, am I off-base to think it might be latex?

[michellerw]

Sounds like it might be. Has she been fussy following using those pacis? You might want to check inside her mouth for irritation and sores as well. Has she reacted to any foods related to latex (http://allergies.about.com/od/medicationallergies/a/latexfood.htm)? This isn't a fail safe diagnosis but if she has problems with bananas, kiwis, or any of the other items on that list it's more data. (I have latex allergy and have issues with underripe bananas, kiwis, most melons, uncooked potatoes -- I know, yuck -- and a bunch of items on that list.) There's a better list here and it describes my food allergies beautifully (http://www.latexallergylinks.org/GreerLabs.html).

When I spoke with my allergist about this some years ago, the advice was to avoid latex altogether because overexposure would result in full out anaphalaxis at some point, so talking to her ped is the best bet but I would avoid the latex paci in the meantime.

[hellokitty]

Latex allergies are from repeated exposure to latex, your body builds up a sensitivity to it. So, yes I think you have a valid concern that your child might have a latex allergy. I'd pitch the latex pacis and pay attn to see if it happens again. You also need to be deligent if she goes for any medical care, since most places still use latex gloves and things like foley catheters are usually latex too, so be careful of any medical equipment as well. Also birthday parties or anywhere with latex balloons are a big issue. I have latex allergies, I developed them while I was still in nursing school. I have to tell EVERYONE when I am getting medical care about my latex allergy, b/c they always forget.

Edited to add that yes, Michelle's advice about avoiding foods that are related to latex allergies. I have the same issues with certain foods. I can't remember the technical term for it.