Any Ideas About An Elimination Diet For Breastfeeding My Baby Who Has Eczema?
December 11, 2009 by Guest Author
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
Hi. My dear 5 month old has bad eczema on the ‘creases’, in the diaper region, the thighs and chest region. I breastfeed exclusively. Has anyone ever tried a diet while breastfeeding that helped eliminate or at least improve the eczema of her child? I have tried to eliminate dairy, but so far not much has changed. Thank you.
If you are really desperate there is this elimination diet, it is pretty much the most extreme. However if you follow it for awhile and the eczema doesn’t go away you know it isn’t your diet, and if the eczema does go away you can slowly start adding foods back in.http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200…
Or you could start by eliminating only the top 9 allergens which are said to account for 90% of all allergens:
Cow Dairy (don’t forget casein and whey)
Soy (tonnes of names, look it up)
Wheat
Peanuts
Tree Nuts
Sesame Seeds
Fish (including shellfish)
Eggs (particularly the whites)
Sulphite
I am so sorry your baby has to deal with eczema. It is so very uncomfortable and especially for a little one so young. I suffered many years with this, and I’ve tried so many different diets and cremes and nothing seemed to work. My friend told me about “tea tree oil” in which I tried by rubbing it on the affected areas and it worked wonders! It gave me relief almost instantly and after a few weeks I noticed it going away. Along with Aveeno lotion (which does not contain alcohol)and oatmeal baths I am rid of it finally after 27 years. I hope that you will try this oil which can be found in a health food store, and Aveeno which can be found usually in any grocery or retail store. Good Luck with that sweet baby!!!! I hope this helps you!
So maybe he is allergic to the plastic in the diaper.
I babysit for a child who had that problem. It might not be diet related.
Hi. The most common allergens to eliminate are gluten (which includes wheat, rye, barley and oats), dairy, peanuts and soy. COrn is sometimes elimnated also.
Is the baby having any stomach issues or anything besides the eczema? Because there is a very specific type of rash called
“Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH) is an important associated disorder or complication of celiac disease which is manifested in the form of a skin rash.”
A dermatologist can biopsy the open rash and test it to see if it’s DH. If it is, then the child most definitely has Celiac Disease and you will need to be on a gluten free diet as long as you breastfeed and when you introduce foods other than breastmilk, the child will need to be gluten free. If the baby does have Celiac, you would need to get yourself and your spouse tested because CD is extermely genetic and it’s likely one of you has it, or at least carries the genes. Its nothing to be scared of though, its an autoimmune disease but very very common and when treated wtih the GF diet, the person lives a long and healthy and happy normal life.
Also, being as babies can get just about anything, it could be the detergent, it could be something you eat that is aggrivating the baby, it could be an actual allergy. I would suggest seeing a doc bc if u do any elimination diet, and u still dont have an answer, the doc is gonna need the baby to be getting exposed to the foods (via your breastmilk or eating them himself) to diagnose him right so you’ll have to reintrudoce the foods.
Celiac can be tested by genetic testing which doesnt involve seeing a doc, u just do an at home test, but docs dont really acknowledge that type of testing and frown on it (bc they arent making any money off it, and it doesnt tell them if u have an active case of CD, it only tells u if u carry the genes.)
Good luck and feel free to email me with any more questions.
The top 8 allergenic foods are milk, egg, peanut, tree nut (walnut, cashew, etc), fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. You could try doing a rotation diet and eliminating each one for a week or two, in different rotations, to see what he reacts to.
I included a couple of links on elimination diets. I would also check out the Mothering.com discussion forums (link in the Source). Many mamas there have done elimination diets to find out what they’re breastfed babies are allergic to. Try doing a search there for ‘elimination diet’ and browse through the Nutrition threads.
Good luck!