Breastfeeding a very allergic baby

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Pekkie

Registered User
Hi, has anyone has the experience of breastfeeding a very allergic baby? My baby is 3 months now. From birth he has bouts of excema. It started with very very bad baby acne and it only cleared out around 2+ months. It was very bad and the acne is puss-like all over his face and scalp (no smooth spots on my baby's face!). Doc said it's normal and will clear up, which it did. After that, he had bouts of excema which comes and go and recently he had a very bad one on his face and scalp again and this time it was really itchy that he scratches himself so badly his scalp is all wounded and has the clear yellowish watery stuff all over him. Doc prescribe antiobiotic cream and it did heal. I have been keeping a journal on what i eat but have no clue which food causes such allergic reaction on him. He has terrible nights too (which also means no sleep for me!). Tried swaddling him and even hold him to sleep so he doesn't scratch himself! I'm contemplating to stop breastfeeding and change to a soy-based formula. Find it too stressful. Any comments welcome.
(My paed is out of town so just want to hear from someone who may have similar experience)
 
Oh, your poor little darling. I feel so sorry for him - and mom. Is there anything in his environment that may be causing these reactions? I was an allergic kid - to sooo many things. It could be a blanket, a pet, the temperature, cleaning detergents used in his bedding/clothing, bath cleaning products, your perfume (if used). Do you use an air purifier in his room and filters on the airconditioner? What is his breathing like? Is the excema coupled with wheezing? These are just things to consider if you have not already done so. Are you still in DB? Dr Oliver at Island Health is very good with little ones if you and bubs can not wait for your paed to come back. Goodluck! Isobel
 
Is your baby getting anything other than breast milk? It is much more likely that the baby has a reaction to something he has directly than via your milk.

For the baby to react to something in your milk it means that the allergen has to pass from your digestive system to your blood system and that it has to pass from his digestive system to his blood system. But although less likely it is possible.

The most likely things that a baby will react to via your milk are proteins; the top ones being dairy and soy. Have you tried cutting milk out of your diet?

A web site that I find helpful for explaining about working out what exactly is the problem is Dr sears page, Tracking Down Food Allergies, TRACKING DOWN FOOD ALLERGIES

Good luck,
SARAH
 
Hi Pekkie

My son has had excema but not as bad as what you describe. I made sure my son was only dressed in organic cotton clothing, his bedding and blankets were also organic cotton and everything was washed in organic/evironmental friendly washing powder/liquid. I only bathed him with water initially but then started using QV bath oil and smothering him in QV Intensive cream. I put this one morning and night and then everytime I changed his nappy on his legs. I've also used PAW PAW cream, its a bit stickier so I just use it on the more severe spots like in the creases behind his knees.

QV products are available in Mannings and Watsons but the PAW PAW cream I got in Australia.

I hope this helps...
 
Our family use:
Dr Adrian Wu.
Center for Allergy and Asthma Care
1428 Prince's Building
10 Chater Road
Central, Hong Kong

Phone: 28180180

My eldest son had quite bad skin from 3 months old, also requiring regular treatments with steroid and anti-biotic creams (when infected). He was also breast-fed. When he was 12 months old we discovered he was allergic to egg, dairy, nuts and peanuts. I hindsight I realised I'd been eating a lot of peanuts whilst breastfeeding. Once I cut all the allergens out of my diet, I continued breastfeeding and his skin improved.

With baby number two, I cut out all potential allergens from my diet until the baby was three months old, then slowly (one food group per month) re-introduced them back into my diet. As a precaution for introduction to solids, I also got him tested for allergies at six months and again at twelve months. Luckily my youngest is allergy free.

Re: dustmites. Try to dry babies clothing and bedding out in the sunshine if you can, otherwise wash at 60 degrees to kill them.

I'm also in DB. Send me a PM if you want a bit of face to face support.

Good luck, Jo.
 
Thanks for all your insightful comments..

Bumps : Yea, it could be anything really. I don't have an air purifier at home. Does it help? My friend is recommending me a Naturapathy. Will probably start another thread on this to get some comments/advice.

Sarah: I'm fully breastfeeding my baby and I don't drink milk (well, only occasionally with my cereal but I have not had it recently when he develops excema) The Dr Sears website is a good read.. thanks!

Karmah: I bath my baby with emulsifying ointment and use Physiogel as moisturizer on him. I also use Paw Paw cream but it didn't work well on him. It works wonders for us in the family though.

Jo: I'll probably go see Dr Adrian Wu as another friend is also recommending him. I just hope to nail down the allergen so I can cut it out from my diet. Thanks for the tips on dust mite, will sun his clothings and especially pillow. Good to know you're also in DB, hope to catch up then. Will PM someday.
 
Pekkie - My baby, who is 4 months old, has been getting on and off a very bad red rash on his cheeks. Last week he also developed a red rash on his neck. I took him to our pediatrician three weeks ago and was given some antibiotic/steriod cream that I have had to put on a few days each of the last three weeks as the rash keeps coming back. I completely understand how you are feeling because I got very frustrated and worried about the rash. I mostly breastfeed my baby and once in awhile give a bottle of formula if I am out and don't have EBM in the freezer. After the rash appeared, I changed the formula and also started avoiding the following foods: all forms of dairy, eggs, citrus fruits and to the best of my abilities wheat. But it's hard to cut out wheat.....I also don't eat peanuts - but that's also because I"m allergic to peanuts myself. His rash has gotten better this week (touch wood) and he has had good skin for the past 2 days.

Like you I also bathe my baby in an emulsifying ointment (Oilatum) and use PHysiogel as a moisturizer on his body. For his face, though, I use a moisturizer called Ezerra that was recommended by my pediatrician and it seems to be pretty good.

My pediatrician also recommended that I wash his sheets more often and iron them so as to kill the dustmites. So now I wash and have his sheets and all blankets/sleeping bags washed and ironed twice a week.

If you go to see Dr. Adrian Wu can you send me a PM to let me know if you thought Dr. Wu was helpful? Thank so much!
 
have you tried taking dairy-free probiotics. studies show that before baby turns 3 mths, if mommy takes dairy-free probiotics it actually helps with allergies.
 
Hi FutureHKmom, glad to hear your baby is doing better. Your suggestion on ironing his sheets to kill dust mites sounds like a good idea, will give it a try.

I'm still undecided whether to go for Dr Lim (Naturapathy) or Dr Adrian Wu. Should I go see Dr Wu, I'll give you a message

Hi JoanneK, would like to know more about dairy-free probiotics. Do you have any website link for that?
 
I take dairy free probiotics, brand is metagenics and they were prescribed by my OB here in HK so must be available.

My baby is BF but also takes an infant probiotic (dissolved into his one bottle of EBM/formula at night) called Udo's Choice - the ingredients do not list dairy, but it does say it may contain 'traces of milk powder' for some reason.
 
Hi FutureHKmom, I went to Dr Lynn Lim instead of Dr Adrian Wu. Another friend went to went to see Dr Adrian mentioned that babies could only do the allergy test at 6mths above, by then their digestive system is more matured.

Just to share, I'm now on a restricted diet of only pork, vege, pear and water. Just wanted to determine if it's my diet that's causing the excema. My baby's condition did improve but since this is only the second day, I'll watch and see.
 
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