After 14+ months of racking my brain to resolve my daughters pesky baby eczema we have finally won the battle! Olivia’s skin is finally as it should be. Perfectly smooth and clear. No more red scaly patches, sandpaper texture skin, bright red lines in her creases or irritating itch. {Sigh} It is a small issue in so many ways, but seeing it cured is such a big relief for me.
We first noticed the baby eczema when she was just 2 weeks old. I consulted my doctor 3 times over 14 months and each time Cortizone and medicated creams were suggested as the best way to cure the symptoms. I declined that option because of the toxins I would expose her to and the eczema still bothered me more than Olivia so it afforded me additional time to find a cure.
All the while, I kept thinking that a topical solution is not going to cure the eczema. It’s coming from the inside. I found out that many experts consider baby eczema to be related to food allergies, even foods in mother’s milk. Interesting enough, the largest patch of baby eczema was on her stomach, corresponding to her digestive system.
(if you are short on time – I highly recommend a very thorough e-book: Cure Child Eczema which will address EVERYTHING you need to know about baby & child eczema, including our special eczema cure: addressing the FOOD sensitivities!)
So How Did We Cure Her Baby Eczema?
After 14 months of exhausting every possible external irritant, we finally addressed food sensitivities as a possible cause.
I was hesitant to eliminate foods – but decided to begin with the #1 irritant first – dairy. I first made the switch from cow dairy to goat dairy, including cheese, milk and yogurt. Basically, we removed all cow dairy from our diet and switched over to all goats dairy. Goats milk has exactly the same fat content as cow dairy and it contains all the same nutritional qualities as the standard recommended whole cows milk. One interesting thing I learned is that growth hormones are not an issue with goats as they are not as “industrialized” as cows. We found a local farm nearby so I was able to discuss at length about hormones and synthetic fortification that occurs with conventional milk.
(The other thing to consider is the cow dairy present in almost all formula brands. This is also enough to trigger eczema in some children. I do NOT recommend Soy based infant formula and parents should consider if DHA and ARA are safe in infant formula. I was surprised to read that many parents are beginning to make their own formula. Here is a great recipe for homemade baby formula, plus, read how one mother nursed her “failure to thrive” son back to health and provides a goat milk formula recipe.
Although we did not introduce cows milk (the standard recommendation) at 12 months, I overlooked how my own dairy consumption could effect her through breastfeeding. I don’t drink milk myself, but I didn’t even consider the yogurt in my diet because I view yogurt as being a “good” dairy. I love yogurt!
I have to add here, that I do not recommend weaning your baby to cure baby eczema, a more likely solution is to simply reduce high risk foods from your diet while breastfeeding and monitor results.
When we switched to goats dairy, I did notice a significant improvement, but the baby eczema still remained… mostly as dry rough patches in all her creases and face occasionally flaring to bright red. I weaned her at 14 months when I became pregnant with our second child. I noticed, in hindsight that her symptoms improved again after weaning – however we were still experiencing flares.
My second child is born – and his perfect skin slowly becomes more baby eczema to deal with!
10 Months later – I gave birth to my son and his skin was perfect…never dry, never requiring cream…absolutely DREAMY SKIN!
My son’s skin was perfect until….6 months when I began to introduce food. He was however, slow to take to food and I continued to nurse him as his main nutritional supply. By 9 months, he began to eat a little more food and this was the time we introduced yogurt and some sprouted whole wheat toast in addition to fruits and veggies. I still nursed him 5-7 times a day!
When my son was around 9 months, my daughter (2 1/2) began to experience a lasting dry cough that would wake her at night. This dry cough went on for 3 months!
During this time both of their faces were red, blotchy, felt like sand paper and shiny.
I finally took her to our NaturalPath Doctor to treat the chronic cough, realizing that this was NOT a virus – and he gave my daughter a food sensitivities test.
The test confirmed that she is highly sensitive to cow dairy (goat fine) and also wheat, Kamut and Spelt and a few other things. It’s interesting because I reached this conclusion about cow milk while she was a baby but reintroduced dairy (raw milk) as a toddler again. I had also been baking quite a bit through the winter with the natural the “offending” flours. Needless to say, both Evan and Olivia’s skin look terrible during this winter.
The Naturopath placed all of us us on a wheat and dairy free diet.
What can I say – The results have been amazing and I am proud to say the eczema is cured as well as the chronic cough and dry red cheeks!
After 6 days her chronic cough disappeared completely. No lingering coughs at all. Gone. But that’s not all. Her skin went from being red and blotchy to BEAUTIFUL. (see pictures)
In addition, her moods (as a toddler) have also smoothed out. The tantrums are gone and she seems really comfortable in her skin. The change in her is remarkable and hard to describe. I have also been on this diet and feel excellent. So much so that I don’t want to eat any more wheat! In researching wheat free diets, many have reported the same benefits in mood and skin.
This is Olivia’s skin while she’s had the chronic cough and what I now call “her wheat & dairy face”
This is Olivia’s skin two weeks later. To date we have not seen any redness or blotches, unless she has dairy or wheat, kamut and spelt.
and finally here’s Olivia today, enjoying some RICE pasta – thank goodness for that!
More amazing “eczema cure” photos!
My son’s face (which was much more irritated than Olivia’s at 9 months) also cleared up withing 2 weeks!
Aren’t these picture worth a thousand words!
This is his red blotchy face before….no fun at all!
Here is he is again 2-4 weeks later…almost all gone.
and finally – this is how his face looks normally – unless we have dairy or wheat!!
I’m convinced food sensitivities are the cause for most baby & child eczema
If you are dealing with eczema I highly recommend taking a food sensitivities test or at the very least, eliminating wheat and dairy from your diet for minimum 2 weeks – if you go cold turkey you’ll see results right away. The Vega test does not hurt and is available through a Naturopathic Doctor. One way to tell food sensitivities is by “allergic shiners” which are basically dark circles under the eyes. You may not see them much on your baby, but as they grow they will show up if they have food sensitivities.
Now, here’s the tricky thing I’ve learned about baby eczema:
What works for us may not work for you – and I’ve found you kinda need a strategy to address ALL the multiple possibilities that may be causing it.
I am a resourceful natural mom – and if you’ve made it this far on my article, you are pretty resourceful as well.
I was not willing to accept that there was nothing I could do, and I was not willing to accept that cortizone was the only solution from doctors who have no idea about the body from a holistic perspective, and no nutritional background.
I used to have a list of things to consider on this page from soaps & creams to clothing and matresss, but I have found that there is so much to consider….from essential oils, to soaps, food, mites, vaccines, probiotics, immune system boosters etc etc…that it’s easy to get confused -and who has all that tie to browse the web for hours with small children!
Rather than spending countless hours on the internet researching every last suggestion and driving yourself crazy, you can read it all in one book – written by a natural mom like us!
I knew there was a solution that would not compromise my natural and healthy values as a mom.
But,
It takes time to go through the information….
I want you to have the same amazing results that I did!
I wanted to bring light to the food sensitivities and baby eczema – because I did not find anything on the internet that addressed the stomach, intestines, immune system and food the way I experience it in our home.
But I also know that you will have to explore each avenue and so I would like to highly recommend the following e-book. It’s the most natural and extensive book I have found that will walk you through each thing to consider with your baby’s eczema.
Cure Child Eczema is a step by step NATURAL guide of all the things you should consider to cure your baby’s eczema once and for all. This book covers everything, it will lead you through all your options. All the same things I looked at, until I finally found our solution with food sensitivities! It’s the only book I recommend for eczema at this time. It’s because it contains all the information I would include in a book PLUS so much MORE!
(Please note: I LOVE this e-book with ONE exception: I do NOT agree with the SKIN CARE recommendations for baby eczema. “Burt’s Bees” is not a product that I recommend because of their use of perfumes, which is not recommended at any time, especially with baby eczema. Other than the skincare recommended, I feel this book is the best on the market right now for Natural Moms who want to cure the eczema without drugs and from the ROOT cause. 
Baby Skin Care Products that Don’t Irritate Baby Eczema
The last thing that I’ll leave you with is suggestions for natural products you can trust. I have spend more money that I care to remember trying to find products that don’t irritate baby eczema and also help to cure, from the inside out.
You already know that very few skin care products are effective in not irritating the dry red cracks on the skin and keeping skin hydrated. On top of that, I have a major problem with nearly all products I come across because they contain ingredients that I don’t think should be on anybody’s skin, especially a baby’s. This article has been edited a few times because I am never satisfied. Here is the list of baby skin care products we are currently using at home:
- Dr Bronners Unscented Baby Mild Castile Soap – This is about the purest line of products you are going to find.
- Lafe’s Organic Foaming Shampoo and Wash – This is pure enough for a newborn. No scent at all. Very pure.
- Lafe’s Organic Baby Lotion – This is the one I use for daily use. A little goes a long way and it is very light and fresh.
- California Baby Super Sensitive Bubble Bath – No fragrance at all.
- Burt’s Bees Diaper Ointment – As I said, I’m not a fan of their other products but this one is good for Bum’s.
- California Baby SPF 30 Sunscreen Lotion – I wanted to the safest possible, even though it goes on a little white it works great.
Health Supplements To Support Baby Eczema
One thing I wanted to address with curing baby eczema is to have a look at the supplements you may be using for yourself and baby/toddler. Now that my daughter is a toddler, I have found that certain vitamins irritate her cheeks and make her skin dry. Although I am a very healthy mom, my philosophy around supplements is very simple.
When you address issues that do not seem to have a specific cure, it is best to focus on the immune system instead. Our immune system is directly related to the stomach and intestines so the first product I always consider is a probiotic. Then I add a Vitamin D, flax oil and an omega oil. The other products I have listed I also include in our diet with discretion, meaning that I will include for a time, and then take a break.
I am not a health “professional” but these are examples of products that have been recommended to me over and over by natural health professionals.
- Probiotic – This is a great brand because it is not from a diary source, rather it comes form the earth!
- Flax Oil – I use this flax oil in all our salad dressings mixed with olive oil as well as a bout 1 Tbs into their smoothie.
- Omega Oil – This is an excellent brand for DHA, I alternate days with this. I used their oils for pregnancy as well.
- Vitamin D - Carlson is a good brand. I also use “AOR” drops for kids which I love.
- Greens Powder – these green have an excellent blend of ingredients including chia seed. I use 1 Tbs into a shake each day that we all share. So good.
- Quality Multi-Vitamin – chick here to view the pure ingredients. This is a great choice for kids 4 and older, although I break in half for my toddler son. It is hard to find a multi that does not contain fructose, sucrose etc. and also has vitamin levels high enough to actually support health.
Curing baby eczema can be very complicated and no single cure works for every baby.
In my own experience a process of elimination was required to get to the root cause. I worked on the environmental factors first and then closely observed the internal factors, namely her diet. This is where we were finally rewarded with a lasting solution.
I hope these suggestions will lead YOU in the right direction.
Many Blessings – I wish you much success in curing your child’s eczema!
I’m confident that you will get to the bottom of it.
These are my thoughts on living a healthy and simple life. I'm a modern mom with some simple ideas, a little common sense and a natural philosophy. This is the sanest way I know how to navigate the 21 century.
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Adding to my comment posted 2/15/10 regarding yogurt helping my daughter’s eczema. This was a short lived benefit. And while the yogurt did seem to help—about 4 days later we were back to the same stage of discomfort, and honestly I think it got worse. Now as I wait for her upcoming Dr appt, I have taken her off all wheat related foods. Again I see immediate improvement. But still in the trial period. The more reading I have done about this, the more I blame myself. I see many articles suggesting eating peanut butter while pregnant can cause adverse effects on the unborn child—resulting in auto-immune and disgestive problems. I ATE TONS of PB–my whole pregnancy. Obviously I don’t know if this is related–but no one else in our family history has any allergy issues, so I can only assume something I ate while pregnant or nursing has contributed to her system problems. I hope I find out how to fix this soon before it drives me crazy!!!
I want to thank all of you for your comments!
I never imagined this article would be so popular and resonate with so many of you. I read every comment and I know how frustrating the journey with food allergies can be.
It is not possible for me to give advice about what to do because I am not a ND or doctor. Believe me, I’d love to cause I have a lot to say on the subject, but I simply cannot. I have, instead, shared my personal journey here so that it may be of some help.
My children are now nearly 4 and 2 – and except for the odd dry winter patch – their eczema is gone. The food allergies to milk and wheat remain and this year 2011 with be our second year almost totally eliminating them (dairy on occasion). We’re still going strong! It has been our secret recipe for curing eczema!
Much love and blessings – thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I truly appreciate it. If you would like to connect in person please meet me on FB at:
http://www.facebook.com/monifraser
Wow!! This article is amazing. My daughter, Brynley, is now 10 months old and we have been battling eczema since she was a bout 6 weeks old. So many trips to the Dr., and I kept hearng that it’s NOT eczema. Sadly, deep down inside I knew it was! So…eventually we switched her to a soy formula and BAM, he eczema was gone. Then the introduction to solid foods began and her eczema has return. I believe it’s a sensitivity to cow’s milk – so we are in the process of eliminating cow’s milk from her diet. The only problem is – I am having such a hard to finding foods for her – outside of fruit, veggies and meat! do you have any suggestions?
Hi, my son’s eczema also completely cleared up by eliminating all foods he was allergic to. It was a long journey and it certainly was not easy. However, it certainly was worth it. I just wanted to share with other parents that we followed the book Heal Your Baby’s Eczema by Lucie Nunez which was absolutely fantastic since it tackles food allergies in detail. My son’s allergies are much more numerous than that and that’s why this guide was our life saver since I found the other guides (and I bought many) reiterating similar information or not going into much detail. Wishing you all good luck!
Our 4 month-old daughter has been partially formula-fed since birth, yet never had any trouble with eczema till 2.5 months, perfect skin before then. We are wondering, could the vaccination she received at 2 months have had anything to do with the problem? In the meantime, we are trying with other formulas to see if that will help this situation…
We are also battling with eczema. My daughter is almost 3 years old and she has struggled with itchy dry skin since she was a newborn. We also found that she has food allergies. She is allergic to cow’s milk, eggs, wheat, soy, and nuts. So it is very difficult to find suitable foods for her. At this point she is eating ground turkey meat and rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is difficult to get her to try new foods. She will eat an occasional apple or grapes but she seems to be afraid to experiment with new foods. As stated in one of the previous posts I also ate PB while pregnant and also during my first few weeks of breastfeeding her. It is hard not to feel a little guilty but I was not aware that PB could cause this problem in the kids.
I have a 2month old now and so far I have not seen any signs of eczema at all (thank God!). I try to limit dairy and egg in my diet while I am breastfeeding this time around. Since reading this article I am considering also eliminating wheat and soy as well (definetly no PB or nut products). I pray that my efforts will pay off and she will not develop eczema.
I’m a father concerned for my wife and child. My daughter is 15 months old and she shreads herself to smitherines like a baby wolverine. I feel helpless when it happens especially at night my wife hasnt had a night of shut-eye for the pass year. The doctors gave us a whole bag of Cortizone creames of various percentages, upon application her face blew-up and she had to go hospital immediately.
and Ive suggested to her that she s our daughters main source of food [breastfeeding] so she needs to cut out these foods but I cant say she was all to enthusiastic about the idea which to me is really confusing. But any how, becuase this artical was so good and reassuring – i’ll definately return with results on how we get along…
We’ve never been found of NHS they haven’t a clue.
We’ve now started eliminating wheat from her food and we can see it has the potential to have good results – after reading this article I got so excited that I wanted to wake my wife and tell her – but I think shes now reached the stage of exhaustion and cant share my excitement. With the wheat cut out and some dairies – we got a refferal for Allergy testing
Take care
Another thing about goat’s milk — it has the same PH as human skin so it’s more digestible and great in skin care products. I’m a big fan of Dr. Bronner’s castile soap too. I use it on me, the dog, dishes, you name it. Glad everything worked out for your little one!
Hi, I have 3 kids and they all have been born some minor issues. My oldest now 8 has suffer from mild asthma since 2 years old. As he got a lil older we decided to do an allergy test and it came back positive to dust mite, dawn, dog hair. I also have notice dark circles under his eyes. I’m not sure of is cause of his allergies now.I have not yet test him for food allergies but I’m starting to wonder. Now my second child now 6 was born with eczema and later on nosebleeds. We did allergy test and came back positive on seasonal allergies. My poor babys nose is constanly congested and dry. I must admit thou his skin has gotten so much better as he’s getting older. Thank God cause I went thru a lot with his eczema. Now he don’t even itch. Now he’s main problem is his nose. As per my lil now , my lil princess is 7 months old and she too has eczema and it seens to be a lil more agressive than my second. She was born so nice and clean and 3 weeks later she started to break out. The doc did and allergy test for the solids she was eating and I think milk sensitivity and they came back negative. Now I notice her nose is constanly itchy and I say to myself here we go again part 2. I have control her face eczema by keeping her clean and using baby california products which have work wonders and vaseline on top. It works out great. As per the wet areas I’m still working on it. I butter her up with lots of vaseline to keep her from scraching her self so much. Sometimes i cry myself to sleep thinking what in the world I did wrong while I was pregnant for my kids to have been born with this. But at the same time I have to thank God because this are very minor compare to what other people have to deal with. I guess I just have to adjust and help them out as much as I can.
I loved your article. I went through a very similar journey and I can empathize with you. My problems started when I introduced cereals and normal cow milk. I then switched to soy. but it wasn’t enough. The process was difficult because I decided to be a detective and find all that was causing my son’s eczema.
I found that my son was not allergic to milk but very sensitive to wheat but NOT rye. I also know that food colorants do harm him and give him eczema. And another bad one is that every time he has orange juice he breaks out terribly. Interesting enough he can have the whole orange but the juice. It has to be something in the preservatives because I buy organic foods.
Eczema is a lifestyle change…no a steroids solution!
I’m so happy to find this article! My son is almost 7 months old and has been suffering on and off with eczema since he was about 2 months old. Its so frustrating because my pediatrician just kept telling me its weather related and to slather him up in ointment. Well the cold winter gave way to spring and the eczema is still here. I switched him to a hypoallergenic formula and cut out dairy in my diet (I’m breastfeeding but I have to supplement bc only one breast produces milk) 2 weeks later the eczema cleared up. His skin looked great. At the same time the weather had warmed up though and I let my pediatrician convince me that that was the reason for the clear up. So I switched to a formula that was only partially broken down and the eczema came back but not as bad. Out of curiousity I tried an organic formula (milk protein not broken down at all) and 5 minutes after he drank the bottle his mouth swelled up and got red and patchy!! So I became convinced he has a milk protein allergy. I immediately switched back to a hypoallergenic formula and cut dairy back out of my diet (I didn’t go back to dairy but I cheated a little here and there). I also stopped feeding him solids for a week (I started him on homemade pureed organic fruit at 6 months) One week of this and his skin cleared almost all the way up. Then bam! This past sunday I fed him pureed mango (which he has already tried and did fine with) and a couple ounces of fresh coconut water (first time trying) and 2 days later his eczema is back worse than ever! So frustrating, I really thought it was just dairy but now I have to investigate everything! Any advice on introducing solids to babies with eczema? Once baby eats something he’s allergic to and then it gets cut out of the diet, how long until the symptoms (the eczema) will clear up?
Dear all,
Although I am not a father and the problem in my case is not related to a child, I just wanna give this diary free diet a try. I have had eczema on both of my hands for almost 2 years. All this time the only thing that I could do was to use steroid creams and ointments, doctors are useless in this case. Now that I have read this article I will give diary-free diet a try and let you know about the results.
What beautiful babies! I have to say the eczema were nasty things to deal with. A lot of people are reporting complications with wheat and dairy. Industrialized milk have actually been proven to be dangerous because of the high levels of rBGH it contains. Wheat on the other hand is causing as much complications as allergens are. It is a great thing that you chose to try food elimination than those creams, as the babies skin can be really sensitive and exposing them to those toxins will not be fun at all. My family has also started with the wheat and dairy free diet as a precaution since most of us are lactose intolerant and we are staying away from the wheat because of the gluten content.
Dairy free mum
As I promised, I tried this diet but without any results in my case, I hope it will work for you.
Oh no – the website links to making your own formula and FAQ’s to making your own formula doesn’t work!!! Please help! I’m desperate! Nothing is helping my 6 month old’s severe eczema!
Hi Telani,
My baby girl has eczema from 2 weeks old. She was on hypoallergnic milk though after a skin prick test at 7 months old, we realised that it isn’t a milk allergy. You may want to get your child tested for common triggers for eczema first, so that you can focus on eliminating the triggers specific to your child.
My son is 4.5 months old. He’s been having eczema since he was 2 months old. His pediatrician told me cut dairy, soy, wheat, nut, peanuts, shellfish (bc I’m breastfeeding) for the first week. He also recommend us giving my son a bath twice daily with baby oil then apply cetaphil after bath and 30 minutes later apply steroid creme.
His skin was better after a week, he told me to still cut dairy and soy.
I haven’t had dairy in a couple months but the eczema never goes away. Some spots get better but sometimes new spots would come out.
We went to a dermatologist and was recommeded cetaphil restoraderm soap and lotion after bath. He also prescribed Desonate gel.
I also stopped using dryer sheets for his clothing.
I don’t see any improvement and I’m sad looking at my son having trouble sleeping at night because his whole body is itchy from head, back, arms, his nipple, and legs.
I want to introduce him formula if it works better for his skin but I’m not sure which kind.
What should I do?
If I get the food allergy test done, will they draw a lot of blood from my baby?
@Alana – I’m sorry to hear there is no improvement and how itchy he is. I would not recommend formula at all. Health wise, it is simply not a substitute for breast milk. Have you switched to all eco cleaners and detergents in your home. No scents, perfumes…etc. I recommend a good e-book in this article. It has a lot of suggestions to help find the cause. Are you giving him a good (the powder from) probiotic? I cannot recommend anything more than what i have in the article, but I would be sure you cover all bases before stopping to breastfeed. The food test, Vega, does not prick the skin. It does not hurt and is excellent for babies. Best of luck.
@eczemablues – Yes, you are right that a test for common triggers is an excellent suggestion. My article focuses on the cure I found when nothing else worked. My parents would not even consider food to be a cause for skin irritation. I went through every other possible cause before addressing dairy and wheat. Thank you for reminding readers how important it is to cover all bases.
This link has now been fixed!
I could not get the link for Vega food test to work? Any suggestions or a url? I too am dealing with very severe ecsema with my son. We know he is deathly allergic to milk – causes an anaphylactic reaction where he swells up and can stop breathing, so have gotten that out of the diet, mine and his, as I am nursing him still, at 18 mos of age. This has helped but his face still looks much like the red pictures of your children above on a bad day.
I completely sympathize with everyone here, especially English D. My son at 10 months sprouted allergies in the worst way and then came the full body excema and on came the chest infections which were monthly for 4 months. I only did steroids 3 times but was so frustrated that it was not working, only mildly clear the situation. So when he wasnt on antibiotic, nebulizer, cough medicine, steroids and cortizone creams; I ran to India and started homeopathy. I was rubbing down my son (#2) with coconut oil 5 times a day 3 times each time because his skin would just absorb it so fast and be as dry as it started off. We changed his diet and was only breastfeeding no dairy or wheat or tomatoes. I hadnt really started him on foods but knew to stay away form the stple – nuts.fish. egg. and dairy. I too avoided all of these and he seemed a little happier – though his excema and break outs were still there. No matter how much I eleminated. I kept a record of when he had strong outbreaks and there was really no common thing, which either meant it wasnt food or he was allergic to multiple things! Well. we did a food test because where we are living they refuse to anyone under 2. In India we tested him for 50 things and he was allergic to 18. This still dumbfounds me to the max because no way can someone be allergic to so many things and some things that he was allergic to cam negative on the test so add that and it is like 25 things! Ridiculous! I really want someone to do blood work and study what it is that we are dealing with – a deficiency, a genetic disorder in the genes, a misguided enzyme that breaks down a certain element in foods. BUT it AMAZES me how much doctors are just not interested – I mean isnt their practice about SCIENCE. Anyway, I found something about histamine intolerance and alot of which sounded like it could be it had things like citrus fruits, chicken, tomatoes (all of which he breaks out sometimes but registered as a non allergen) which can show symptoms like a food allergy but not show up in a food allergy test. Look it up, we did the diet and it helped alot. But I still want a biology scientific cure! this is just helping to maintain this issue which is great because it is a healthy way.
good luck to all and do the dairy free, wheat free, histamine free diet – it will help you get back to square one. oh and homeopathy, worked really well in helping him get back on track so that we could figure things out otherwise it was a vicious cycle of break out, then excema, the chest infection. Even when he was stressed he would break out so when we did homeopathy (it got worse but what it does is it pushed the toxins out ) but now we have been able to start anew by breaking that cycle.
This is fantastic and I’m not surprised one bit. I’m just saddened that this information is not more readily available. Thank you for sharing. I wanted to share another story of a woman who dealt with a similar situation and found relief by using Shea Butter. She found that nearly every other topical product had perfumes or petroleum products. You can read her story here: http://www.brownbagbotanicals.com/about/
Of course, you don’t need to buy her products, but I have made sure to look on the back of all products and am blown away that 99% of the time, they are impure.
Good luck!
@CC – thank you for the recommendation. I use shea butter my kids now – however I have found that it can sting with open sores & scrapes so I personally am still recerved on it being OK for eczema. But it is one of the best skin moisturizers, for sure.
@Shannon – a vega test can be sources through a local ND – simply call to find out. I would eliminate wheat…dairy and wheat = red patches in my kids. Best of luck. Let us know what happens!
Our daughter, now age 7, almost died at 13 months old. She had been exclusively breast-fed (no milk or formula, but veggies added at 8 months) and we decided to give her some of the milk we got through WIC. It took a week or more for her to develop “eczema” … a BAD case. The only thing different was the milk. We took her off it for 24 hours but there was no change, so we put her right back on it. Remember, however, that it took 7+ days for the symptoms to show up in the first place. Long story short: she started breathing strange at night while she slept. We put her in our bed to listen to her. She fell out (which was a God thing!) but did not wake sufficiently for my satisfaction (she’d cock and eye but go back to sleep) … so I took her to the ER. Very long story shirt: her oxygen saturation rate was only 69%. It’s supposed to be 100%. She was literally suffocating and the doctor plainly said if I had not brought her in, she would have died in her sleep and he would have ruled it a SIDS death. At 13 months of age. SIDS. She was in ICU for five days. Turns out she has a PASTEURIZED MILK PROTEIN ALLERGY and the “eczema” was really HIVES, the only external symptom. She was building up mucous in her lungs as her body fought against the allergy inside her body; we did not see that battle. She had no fever, was eating/drinking/peeing/ pooping fine. I researched SIDS and found out that a ***HUGE*** majority of babies who die from SIDS also have eczema — and almost all of them are formula-fed. Very few breastfed, and usually only those supplemented with formula. They tout soy-based formula as being closest to the milk-based formula protein. When they heat the milk in the pasteurization process, they chemically alter the casein protein … and my daughter is grossly allergic to that altered-protein. When they super-heat milk to “ultra-pasteurize” it, they alter that casein ever more — and she is MUCH more reactive to that milk. She has had raw milk with zero effect; we currently have goats. I invited every SIDS expert I could find to review my daughter’s medical records and even do some limited testing on her for the benefit of other children. But apparently the formula industry has deep pockets and don’t want this out. My daughter can have Organic Valley milk (even UHT) with virtually no reaction. She does okay on Mayfield. But with the store brands like Great Value (Wal-Mart), her reaction is immediate and severe. We had a source for raw milk from a “Grade A” dairy (sold their milk to Ingles stores) who gave it to me for free and invited us to do a field trip of the milking process. Their cows — at a Grade A dairy — were so diseased that the owner literally carried a shotgun to immediately cull any cow that could not walk to the milk stand. They had diarrhea running down their legs and open, pussy, infected wounds all over. I was terrified to drink their milk raw, much less give it to my children and I will NEVER buy store-bought milk again for that reason (excepting only OV and Mayfield brands). Pasteurization has only given producers a license to have sickly and diseased animals contaminate our feed supply, with the caveat that the pasteurization process will kill the unsanitary germs.
I should clarify … my daughter had raw COW’S milk from that dairy with no ill effect until we went on our field trip. She has, of course, had raw goat’s milk since then — but she has no adverse reaction to raw cow’s milk!
Last thought, we had our youngest two daughters tested for allergies and knew to ask for DELAYED-REACTION ALLERGIES, too. One was only allergic to ragweed (relative of watermelon and cantaloupe) … but had *delayed* allergies to corn, wheat, soy, MILK, eggs, peanuts, etc. She had been getting peanut butter several times a week as a snack: on crackers, celery, apples, etc. It’s a cheap protein. Apparently it was enough to keep her system sufficiently elevated and she was having those same random facial rashes. We kept a journal and there seemed to be no correlation to eating or any particular foods. But when we removed peanuts from her diet, it cleared up and never returned.
I know you’ve seen a bunch of this stuff on eczema, but I thought I’d just pass on what I find, too. Need to look up this Lucie Nunez.
Love, MOM
hi,
i’ve got a baby and physician stated he got milk allergy, the signs and symptoms is much like that which you told inside your above publish.
interesting information.
I also have a child that suffers from eczema since about 4 weeks old. It wasn’t so bad until he started eating solids. It was always there but more so when food was introduced. The more types of foods that were introduced to worse it got.
I read your article at the beginning of the week because his eczema has gotten so bad it is interupting his sleep.
Anyway I have eliminated all dairy and wheat and introduced wheat-free and dairy free foods.
It has started to clear up instantly. He still has sores because it was so bad but the doctor has giving him some more creams and antibiotics to get rid of it.
I’m hoping the new diet is working and not just a coincidence.
My only problem is getting my child to eat more healthily.
He used to eat easy-to-do frozen fish fingers and breaded chicken. Now I have to do it from sratch and he prefers the frozen to fresh. He ate a little bit of fresh chicken yesterday but isn’t willing to try the rest.
I guess it is a process. He’s just been eating toast and drinking rice milk and wheat free cereal so far and wheat and dairy free cakes. Any advice on how to get him to eat the fresh meat and veg I give him?
Thankyou for your article.
@Katrina – I certainly feel for you in wanting your son to eat better. It is a constant concern of mine and I have kids who eat really well. One thing is for sure, the entire immune system is supported by a healthy diet so it is important that he eats well. I would suggest slowly adding fresh foods, disguised…such as a hummus with veggies, or a chicken rice noodle soup with very small pieces of vegetables, try marinating chicken with a special sauce…but watch the sugar! Try making corn tortillas with small diced veggies and refried beans and rice…the list is endless for me, but a little research will help you choose 4-5 favorites…The best thing is to have him watch you enjoy your food and to discuss why you eat well…and what a big boy he is when he makes healthy choices. It’s a process, but bring fun and learning into it. Let him know he can have some rice ice cream when he shows you he is eating his healthy food…sometimes a bribe works….really cut out sweets and then explain the way sweets work….only on occasion for boys who eat their meals…etc…the trick as well with a wheat & dairy free diet is to not go for all the gluten free products out there…they are not necessarily any more healthy. I wish you luck, keep at it! Even from a health standpoint, a what & dairy free diet is better in the long term. Curing eczema is a major bonus
You might enjoy this article on the subject: http://healthygreenmoms.com/5-ways-we-teach-our-kids-to-be-picky-eaters-and-how-to-fix-it/
Dear Monica, thank yo soooo much for all the information. I have to say that you have gourgeous children and I applaud you for all you have done for their well being. I also have a 14 month old who is suffering from eczema since birth. She is actually severe case and I was losing my hope but not after i came to your website believe me its the most resourceful and straight to the point I ve seen so far. I already went to Whole Foods and purchased Goat Milk, gluten free snacks and flour and we are not going to waste another minute and start the diet right away. So do you give probiotic, Vitamin D, Flax Oil, Omega oil, Green powder and multivitamin all on the same day? Thank you Monica, I think you are amazing
@Dilnoza – Thank you very much for your kind words.I sincerely wish this diet will provide a solution for you. To answer your questions and comment on one thing: My suggestion is to avoid ALL milk, even goat to begin. Your little one is over 1 year, and provided her diet is good, ie foods containing calcium, magnesium etc to replace milk (although risks from milk, in my opinion, outweigh benefits) you will know within 2 weeks if milk is a direct cause. REgarding the supplements, I alternate or give on same day, spread through the day. Ie: oils & greens in a mid morning smoothie, multi after breakfast etc…Please keep me posted.
my husband and I have been buying local grown organic food. we have noticed a big differencein our energy levels.
I am very happy to find your site. I have 10 month baby and since she was 3 week old, we notice I lot of irritation on her skin especially on her diaper areas. We have tried pediatrician more so many times and the only thing they have gave us is CORTIZONA and said that she has a very delicate skin. Unfortunately I stop breastfeeding my baby because idiot of me I taught that my milk was giving her this reaction. I feel horrible and I feel so guilty. Well I haven’t used the cortizona as much because my dad and my family tent for natural medicine. I have been putting on her skin CUNDELA OIL and on her diaper areas I have tried everything but no luck at all. Well after so many visits to the doctor I told my daughter pediatrician that I was sure my daughter is allergic to certain food and I wanted her to be tested for food allergic. Finally on September 19, she order some blood test………….the result came that she is not allergic to anything. I am so frustrated and cry everyday because I want to help my daughter. This weekend she has a really bad flees up on her neck and arms. I am really sad because I had not being giving my daughter regular formula neither meat in order to find out what is she allergic to. I feel so bad because I really don’t know what to do. Two weeks ago I started giving my daughter probioticos which dairy free and luckily and I have been bless by founding your articles; we decided to try something new. We started to only giving her one type of solid for lunch and dinner and one type of fruit. We started with zucchini and bananas but we saw that her diaper area is horrible. We tried this for four days. Now we switch to carrots and pears. I have some questions if you can please help me:
1. – Do you know any Naturopath in South California (Orange County) that you can recommend?
2. – I don’t know if I should start giving my daughter the fish oil the aviating E etc the same week or should I start trying one per week?
3. – Do you know or anyone know anything that make work for my daughter BAD RASH ON her diaper areas. We are using disposable diapers and I am trying to move to cotton diapers but I don’t know if this will help her. My husband doesn’t want to use the cotton diaper because our daughter was doing very good for a while and beside we both work full time, but I will do anything to cure my daughter.
Thank you so much and I really hope you read my post and answer to it.
God bless you and
@Dear Sandy – Thank you for your response. I can feel your frustration and guilt. Please do not look at the past and feel bad. If we feel guilt, it can sometimes prevent us from seeing clearly what we need to see right now to help our children. It is cliche, but we are all doing our best for our children and we must keep learning along the way. Don’t feel guilty for another minute – you said yourself you would do anything to cure your daughter so you are amazing already!
I would recommend doing a search on Google for local ND that do the VEGA TEST I do not believe she is “not allergic to anything” The only other option is that she is having an imbalance of healthy flora in her system. This requires a different perspective and a ND will be able to provide you with the info and supplement info you require.
I am not a certified health professional, but what I have found is that BAD DIAPER RASH is almost always linked to FOOD and possibly the disposable diapers. Have you considered switching to ORGANIC disposable’s that do not use the chemicals found in regular diapers. Give your baby diaper free time as much as possible. If the bum, right where the opening is, is very RED, then I suspect FOOD.
The VEGA test has been amazing for our family. I will be writing another article on this soon. If you have not already – consider a different formula without cow whey…or consider using goats milk..since she is very close to 1 year…anything other than cow milk (no cheese, butter, yogurt etc). I would also make sure you stop giving her all creams, each cream adds to the problem when they contain irritants and ingredients that are unnatural. Then after a while, choose the right cream with a different perspective from a ND. I got a Vitamin D cream from my ND that was excellent.
Really consider the book I recommended in the article above…..it will walk you through eliminating the possible external things.
Lastly….how often do you bathe her….if it is everyday, like most parents do, BUY A FILTER that eliminates the chlorine and fluoride from the water. You can buy a shower filter and fill her bath that way, with a shower arm. It’s not perfect, but a whole house system is much more money. You can’t imagine how much nicer the tap water is once it has been filtered. You could likely find a shower filter for $75..and it will last about a year.
Good luck…keep me posted. Keep a food chart…wait 3 days before adding new foods…..start with brown rice..mashed and work from there…..
Hi Monica, hope everything is great with you. I did eliminate wheat, soy and all dairy from my babies diet and the results were astonishing. Both me and my husband cried at the outcome of the diet. She literally cleared up within 5 days. Not only was she eczema free but she was glowing!
Unfortunately just two days ago it returned, i am keeping a food diary so that I know exactly what she is eating and the day before yesterday my babysitter confused rice pasta with regular and ended up giving her wheat one. We dont know if that is the cause.
I just wanted to share a slightly related story. Although my son does not have eczema, we did notice when introducing regular cow’s milk, he would have a reaction on his bottom. A scald-like burn, angry red rash would appear anywhere his bottom skin came in contact with any poop. Luckily, the milk was the only thing different in his diet at the time so it was easy to target. I immediately switched him to Organic milk (and later on cheese & yogurt) and it went away. I always knew when my in-laws would try to “cheat” and give him regular, hormone filled milk because it would reappear. I posted this for those, like me, that KNOW hormone laced milk has health implications but can’t find much research to support it!!!
gathering all the great information from your post plus the experiences and opinions from others are very helpful! thanks so much for sharing!
Seems like most infants have an onset at 2 mos. old.
My baby developed eczema directly after recieving vaccines.
Next day really.There is definately a link there and the Dr.Also told us it was not due to the vaccines.What a bummer.It started on her thighs at the sigt and spread up to her bum.I have not given her any more vaccines since and my acupuncturist gave me a formula called dispel invasion that seemed to work for her.We still have occasional appearenses of eczema @ 9 mos..trying to cure it for good.
“I kept thinking that a topical solution is not going to cure the eczema. It’s coming from the inside…” I absolutely LOVE this statement! If we really realized where the root of our conditions come from, then we can actually fight them properly. Creams, lotions, etc. are like putting a band-aid on a sore and thinking the band-aid will cure the wound. It won’t. Every problem starts from within and what shows on the outside is merely a symptom of an internal problem. It’s so good to hear stories like yours. Enjoyed it quite a bit. Good Parenting!!
Hi Monica, hope you are doing well. I have great news the diet did work for my daughter! We finally convinced her doctor to have allergy test and she tested positive for wheat, oats, barley, dairy, nuts and soy. We are staying away from these and she has completely cleared up i believe about 6 weeks after the last time I posted on your webpage. From our entire family, thank you very much for your advices and earnest intentions to share your story with us. Email me your address so I can send you a gift
, also I can send you my daughter’s before and after pictures. God bless you!
Hi my baby is 3 months old and she develop eczema one month ago, i dont drink milk, wheat or any dairy I cut everything from my diet… but her eczema is really mild the doctor told us to put aquaphor during the night, and aveeno during the day but i bought an organic lotion… I really dont know what makes her face red because i dont eat or drink any dairy… She supplements from Gerber normal so im thinking it might be that but I dont know to what changed it because i dont produce that much breastmilk… her face is not really bad but i feel bad for her scratching she has some patches on her body too… sometimes i think is the weather if is really hot her skin gets worse.. but idk what to do i feel so bad and i hate it so bad, i wish i could have the eczema instead of her.
My little one developed eczema after one year.
It started on her thighs and hands at the sigt and spread up. We have not given her any more vaccines since. We use a solution and it seems to work.
@Karla Hi Karla hopefully your little one outgrows it soon. There are many changes that take place in babies’ bodies and her mild eczema could be a reaction to something. I would not rely so much on aquaphor, because it is a healing ointment, not a moisturizer and her eczema skin needs lots of moisturizing. Apply Aquafor first to lock in moisture and finish with a moisturizer I would recommend Eucerin Cream. Ideally its good to use organic or natural creams that contain Calendula but Eucerin worked pretty well for our daughter. Also try to eliminate oats, corn and soy and see if it works. My daughter’s eczema was really bad she was extremely severe, her entire body excluding her heels and palms were covered with eczema even her eyelids imagine that. But now that she is on diet, she looks and feels fabulous. We do get it occasionally around the cheeks though but its nothing compared to what she had to deal with… Good luck to you
Hi,
My baby has had eczema on and off since he was about 2 months old, i have tried many different creams including cortisone but nothing seems to really help clear it up. The Doctors say there is no way of saying why babies get it and most grow out of it during there childhood. I have wondered what is causing it, i am now convinced it is nothing to do with his diet which many people have told me can cause it. The times it has been worse is when i have gone from living in a hot country to the Uk during the winter, also where i was staying has extremely hard water and dried his skin terribly within hours. I am now living in a hot country again and within a few days his skin was fantastic, i hardly need to moisturise at all now. I am so happy for him not to be scratching his face all day and night and to have great looking skin again. I am certain it is activated due to hard water and cold weather now. I just hope on my next visit home it doesn”t flare up again or the creams will be coming out again!!
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