Possible dairy sensitivity, reflux, excema. Opinions?

[JTsMom]

Cross posting from diaper post.

DS2 is having some issues with rash/redness, and spitting up quite a bit. I think it could be a dairy sensitivity. Here's everything I can think of that could be relevant, since I'm not sure what's going on:

-He gets a strange rash, every now and then, all over his diaper area. It looks like little bright red dots, plus a more general redness, and it looks pretty awful when it shows up. I can't seem to tie it to anything- it just pops up, lasts a while, then goes away. I've tried .5% hydrocortisone, and Triple Paste on the advice of his ped. I'm not sure if they do anything or not. It will go away after I use them for a few changes, but it also goes away if I don't. Maybe I'll try to get a pic of it and post it.

-In addition to the redness, he also has several dry patches, but they aren't red. Those are the ones that were in the folds of his skin- that's gone now, but there are still patches on his legs and arms, and behind his knees.

-He's been dealing with serious cradle cap. It's getting better, but it's still there.

-He's EBF, on demand.

-He spits up a lot. It happens many times a day- I'd guess he averages 7-10 times. Sometimes it's quite a bit, other times just a little. A few times, it's been projectile spitting.

-I'm probably drinking too much coffee, and I consume a fair amount of dairy, so it could be tied to either of those things.

-He prefers being upright. He'll only nap in his swing, or in arms. He wakes up instantly if I try to put him in the crib. We co-sleep, and he'll only sleep on his side or belly. (I know that's terrible, but he literally won't sleep on his back at all).

-He occasionally wakes up screaming.

-He nurses pretty frequently, and needs to be burped a lot. I might have a little bit of an overactive letdown, b/c he does sometimes choke a little at first- not every time.

-When I first posted this, he had a lot of redness/rashiness on his face. I thought it was just typical baby acne, but the ped said it was excema. It coincided with the cradle cap, and has cleared up. I did put a little of the hydrocortisone on it, just in case.

-I haven't done anything differently with the diapers except to try to change him more frequently, and I've stopped using the Flip with the microfiber insert, b/c that does seem to result in a rash every time. Fleece vs. organic cotton with a Pul cover seem to both have the same 50/50, sporadic rash results.

-I use Charlie's on all of our laundry. Diapers get a long rinse cycle, a hot wash, and an extra rinse. We use organic cotton prefolds with Pul covers, and a little fleece with microfiber inserts.

-He's a BIG baby, and actually jumps up percentile-wise at every check up.

-He seems pretty happy most of the time. He's WAY easier than Jason was as a baby.

ETA: I bathe him infrequently- probably once a week on average. I use California Baby on him.

[brittone2]

any chance the diaper rash is yeasty? DD had yeast around that age. (she had thrush at the same time so it was easy to link the diaper rash to the thrush in our case). With the heat this time of the year, that might be a possibility?

I'm not an expert on reflux at all. With overactive letdown/oversupply, the spitting up IME can go along with that. DS1 was notorious for overeating (wanted to keep comfort sucking but the milk kept coming...) so he spit up and or projectiled all over pretty often. It did get better 3-4 months in though I think. He would only nurse in sidelying because the flow was slower. I mean, he literally would NOT nurse in any other position after a while. That went on for months.

DS1 was also diagnosed with eczema by our first ped but we had switched shampoos (tried something for the cradle cap) and I know in our case it was linked to that. All of my babies had pimply rashy faces that coincided with the cradle cap thing. DS1's was bad around 2-3 months. DS2 got his early...like 3-4 weeks of age. Their faces had more of the pimply thing going on. Dandruffy flaky eyebrows with the cradle cap/pimply face thing. FWIW, DS1 never had eczema but the doc refused to believe it was from the shampoo change. It was. Never came back after that single bout with the shampoo change.

DS1 did have a dairy sensitivity and was much happier when I wasn't on dairy at all. Never had the eczema thing though, but I know that is pretty common.

If he's pretty happy most of the time, that sounds positive :) I think some kids are just bigger spitters. Even the occasional projectile doesn't sound totally abnormal to me. Maybe the mamas here that are reflux experts can say more about that. The rash part (on the body and maybe face) is tougher to figure out. It is definitely dry right? Just wondering if he has any yeasty stuff going on in his little creases, but that wouldn't look dry I don't think.

I'm not particularly helpful with the reflux/eczema and of things, but that's what our experiences were. Just tossing that out there in the off chance any of those points fit with what you are seeing.

[egoldber]

Well, all babies have reflux to some degree. It becomes a problem when they are not able to sleep and/or stop gaining weight.

If you think it is dairy related, then you could try cutting out dairy. They say you have to do it for 2 full weeks, but I saw results within a few days in terms of decreased spitting up and fussiness. With younger DD I was fortunate that just by cutting out major dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese and ice cream) we saw tremendous improvement and I was never motivated to do more than that, :p

She had other triggers as well: tomatoes, citrus, chocolate and red wine.

[JTsMom]

What signs would there be if it is yeast? I had a TON of antibiotics in labor b/c I was GBS+, and my water had been broken for so long. It was some insane amount of dosages- I want to say 16 doses.

The whole rashy area isn't dry- just certain parts. I'm going to go take a pic and photoshop out parts. I'll be back.

[bubbaray]

Eczema is not typically found in the diaper area. I would suspect it could be the diapers you are using. Try switching brands and see if that helps. For example, Kirkland diapers gave both my girls horrible burn-like rashes.

I would also ditch the California Baby and try Cetaphil cleanser. I would also try bathing MORE frequently and see if that helps. Make sure to put a moisture barrier on right away after bathing, when the skin is moist. If he ends up being diagnosed with eczema, post back and I have many tips. It sounds like it is pretty isolated right now.

I'm not a fan of diet elimination when BFg. It d/n help my DD#2 at all. Her ped. allergist is opposed to it too. I know others here swear by it, but it wasn't helpful to us and just made mommy really cranky.

I'm no help with reflux, I don't think my girls spit up ever.

[JBaxter]

IF I have a rash that doesnt respond in a couple days a assume its yeast. 24-48 hrs of Miconazole I would usually see a big improvement.

** edit to agree with Melissa on changing diapers. Nathan was sensitive to almost all disposables give 7th generation a try

[JTsMom]

This isn't too bad, believe it or not. You can see a little bit of the red dots at the top- usually that element is worse.

[egoldber]

That looks a lot more like yeast to me. An allergy/sensitivity rash is generally more right around the anus.

[JTsMom]

We're CDing, but I'll try 7th Gen and see if it helps. Any moisturizer recs?

[bubbaray]

I would change to disposables. I have heard of yeast being from CDs. Not sure what you do to get rid of yeast in the CDs, maybe someone else here knows?

ITA with Beth, it looks like yeast to me. We used a yeast cream and that did the trick.

We use Vaseline or Aquaphor as post-bath moisturizers.

[Roni]

I'm no help with the rash, but the spitting up and sleep issues sound like what my daughter went through with reflux. She could only sleep on her side (nursing) or in a swing or car seat for a while.

[JTsMom]

Just looked at some yeast pics- I think you guys are on to something. Would it be normal for it to come and go?

[MSWR0319]

The rash you described on his legs, backs of knees sounds like it could be eczema, which can be caused by a dairy sensitivity. And the sleep problems are exactly what we went through. DS also had silent reflux though. Oh, and he also had "cradle cap" but when we went to another ped we were told it was eczema and not cradle cap. When we treated it it went away. If you think it may be dairy, I would cut it out totally and see if it gets better. DS is now 22 months old and we are just now finding out he has a dairy allergy. I wish I had listened to my gut when he was little because they told me I didn't need to eliminate dairy, that wasn't the cause of his sleep problems/reflux/etc. He still doesn't sleep well and wakes up with screams at night. He also burps a lot, etc and just seems to have an unsettled stomach. He couldn't sleep in his bed until 6 months when he could roll on his tummy and even then he slept best in his swing/car seat, etc. We see an allergist soon so hopefully they can confirm my suspicions that all of his problems as an infant were from the dairy and I wasn't crazy : )I also had a pretty strong let down which I blamed on my problems for awhile but they didn't go away when I solved that problem. I think you could be right with the dairy, but then again it could just be the let down or something else. Have you talked to your doctor at all? They may be more helpful than mine was.

[JBaxter]

What CD's are you using. We battled recurrent yeasties with Jack. I did HOT wash and added a stock pot full of boiling water w/ a 1/2 cup of bleach. then dryed them on HOT for a full cycle and then 30 minutes.

It can also be your detergent. try stripping them with Dawn then switch detergents.

I did 7th generation diapers for a week while I stripped washed and dried every diaper

[daisymommy]

I would also give him some probiotics.

[KpbS]

Dairy sensitivity and allergy can definitely aggravate and even cause reflux and eczema. To me it sounds like it would be worth a shot to eliminate dairy for a bit (a couple of weeks at a minimum) and see if those symptoms--discomfort lying down, spitting, etc. are improved. Both of mine were extremely allergic to various foods and had terrible reflux that was manageable with meds :(

I have no experience with yeast--we didn't CD but I know some kids can't tolerate CD b/c of recurrent yeast. Hope he is more comfortable soon, poor guy!

[JTsMom]

I would also give him some probiotics.
Any recs?

[JTsMom]

The diaper thing should work out well. He's busting out of the smalls we're currently using, so the timing couldn't be better. I'll switch over to the disposables, at least for now, see how that goes, then re-evaluate before I order anything new.

I'm going to run over to Target later today and pick up my arsenal. I'm thinking I'll try something like Lotrimin, mixed in with the Triple Paste, then some Aquaphor on top. Now I have to figure out the wipes situation. We use plain water on cloth wipes, but I guess those will have to be sanitized/stripped/etc. I hate to switch to something that might sting though- maybe I'll do soft paper towels with water temporarily. Any other ideas?


As far as the dairy stuff goes, if the rash isn't related, the only red flag there is the reflux symptoms. Any possible excema is really limited. Maybe I'll try to get some pics of that too. Stupid call by the ped on the diaper area I'm betting.

[brittone2]

nak-
w/ dd we switched to sposies temporarily. Used Nyastin with her, but I know that doesn't work well for lots of people. Did probiotics (I think I used Jarrow but if you are worried about dairy maybe look for something dairy free).

I did salvage my dipes. Sun helps kill some forms of yeast too. Hot washes. I might have used a little bleach. Can't recall now.

If you can put him outside naked in the sun for a short stint a few times a day that might even be helpful if it is yeast.

You can still have yeast even with sposies. I know DD had her big flare up after a particularly hot day outside, which I don't think helped (sweat, etc. on top of everything else). She was in cloth but I know of several friends who have had kids with yeast rashes w/ sposies.

[JTsMom]

nak-
w/ dd we switched to sposies temporarily. Used Nyastin with her, but I know that doesn't work well for lots of people. Did probiotics (I think I used Jarrow but if you are worried about dairy maybe look for something dairy free).

I did salvage my dipes. Sun helps kill some forms of yeast too. Hot washes. I might have used a little bleach. Can't recall now.

If you can put him outside naked in the sun for a short stint a few times a day that might even be helpful if it is yeast.

You can still have yeast even with sposies. I know DD had her big flare up after a particularly hot day outside, which I don't think helped (sweat, etc. on top of everything else). She was in cloth but I know of several friends who have had kids with yeast rashes w/ sposies.

I'm just thinking I have to clear him of it first, otherwise I'll have to continually bleach/sanitize/whatever the diapers until it's gone, right?

[JTsMom]

Here are the spots I think really are excema.


http://lh3.ggpht.com/_BaH9n_OFZF0/THAkxTnJYoI/AAAAAAAAF8M/x5hWc_5tD_8/s720/2010_08_21_IMG_9999_11.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_BaH9n_OFZF0/THAkyKOul3I/AAAAAAAAF8Q/6Cto9xRDVow/s720/2010_08_21_IMG_9999_12.JPG

His cheeks are a tiny bit dry too, but nothing extreme.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_BaH9n_OFZF0/THAky4NqFTI/AAAAAAAAF8U/H_-rMxs1p0c/s720/2010_08_21_IMG_9999_17.JPG

[bubbaray]

Could be eczema or could be yeast.

[JTsMom]

Could be eczema or could be yeast.

Oh wow, the yeast could move there too? I had no idea. Should I try some anti-fungal there too?

[bubbaray]

Yeah, yeast can be in the folds of the skin. So can eczema. I can tell the difference now, but its hard for me to tell from a photo.

I'd probably switch diapers asap and try the yeast cream there and in the folds. If its yeast, it should clear up pretty fast with the yeast cream. IIRC, I used Monistat, but pretty much any OTC antiyeast cream should be OK.

[WolfpackMom]

From the pictures it looks like eczema to me. DS has it in all the same places plus the dry skin patches in various spots. He has dairy sensitivity and reflux too. I would try cutting down on dairy and see if it helps. For the eczema, if Eucerin or Aquaphor ointment doesnt help my ped reccomends 1% hydorcortisone 3 x a day for 3 days to clear it and then regular use of a sensitive eczema cream like Aveeno baby afterward. I would also bathe a bit more since the moisture in the bath puts more moisture on the skin. We use the Aveeno soothing relief baby bath too.