How We Found the Root Cause of Our Baby’s Eczema
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Are you or a loved one suffering from eczema? Here is our story about eczema and food allergies, and how I cured my baby’s eczema. Hopefully our story will be of help to you and will save you from unnecessary suffering.
Autism, food allergies, Asperger’s Syndrome, eczema, and chronic fatigue are health issues that my family has dealt with over the past 12 years.
And over the years, I’ve repeated a number of stories to friends to
- connect with others about our lives
- share what might help others as they battle similar issues.
This is one of them.
It’s the story of how our son’s eczema basically terrorized our family for the first year of our life with him.
And how we beat it with God’s help.
It was a very tough road, but I hope our trials and what we learned are a blessing to someone else.
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Signs of Health Problems Starting
My oldest son was born at home.
His birth was rough but amazing. Things started out well.
He nursed well, taking to breastfeeding like a champ.
I still remember our first nap together: mother and son. lying close, me sleepily drinking in the newness and bliss of motherhood.
But all of that changed about 3 months later.
We knew from the beginning that our son was “intense”, but he soon became an insomniac.
I wrote about sleep struggles in my post on Natural Sleep Help for Children (and Adults but this was a whole different level of bad.
Things became so terrible that my son wouldn’t sleep for more than half an hour at a time.
And at nighttime, he would only sleep for 10 of those half-hour stints at a time, which meant 5 hours of sleep disrupted 9 times.
Mom was a complete mess.
We tried:
- Tying his crib next to our bed in sidecar fashion
- Having him sleep in a bouncy seat with the motor turned on
- Putting him to sleep in his car seat so he’d be surrounded by tight cushions
I was even eyeing a gadget that you attach to the baby’s crib to make it feel like the baby was riding in a car.
But the reviews weren’t consistent enough to justify the price on our then $13,000 per year income, so I passed.
I was at the end of my rope. No sleep and a very irritable baby make for a rough life.
The Rash Begins
Then my son developed what we and his pediatrician thought was a cradle cap on his head and eyebrows.
We tried several natural treatments, but it just progressed all over his eyebrows and then down to his cheeks and beyond.
So we were referred to a dermatologist who told us that he had eczema and was itching terribly.
(After hearing this, my husband and I remembered that our son would lie on his back in his crib and rotate his arms around his face in a strange way. Now we knew that he was itching horribly and trying to scratch himself. Oh, the pain of knowing your child has been suffering and you didn’t even know it.
The prescription for topical steroid cream came, and we filled it.
And on went socks on his hands when he slept to prevent him from scratching himself.
Part of that was to prevent infections, and part is because eczema has an itch/scratch cycle that is important to beat. The more your itch, the more you scratch, and so on. If you stop the scratching, some of the itching goes away.
My son’s skin was gorgeous for a while, and he slept fabulously, but once we were done with the prescription, the rash rebounded and we were back where we started.
With itching and sleepless nights. And the warnings on the cream’s insert were pretty frightening.
I was basically losing my mind.
Eventually, my son had a rash all over his abdomen, back, and even his legs.
His cheeks were oozing a crusty, yellow goo, and he would stick to my arms when he nursed.
A Cry For Help
Finally, one day, in desperation, I called Chicago Children’s Hospital and asked for an appointment with their head allergist.
What I got was horrible news. They were booking out 3 months in advance. I fell apart on the phone and told her that I honestly didn’t think I would make it ’til then.
Somehow, she got the department head on the phone, and a few minutes later, I had an appointment.
I got a prescription during that appointment. This time, however, the prescription was not for another cream, but something that got to the root of the problem.
Finding the Root Cause
At the time of our appointment with Dr. Paller of Chicago Children’s Hospital, our son was basically covered with eczema from head to foot: baby eczema at its worst. Literally, it was so bad that his cheeks were oozing and stuck to my arm when he nursed.
Desperate and bleary-eyed, I trudged to downtown Chicago with my sweet son in tow, hoping beyond hope for some relief.
For him and for me.
What Our Doctor Recommended
During the appointment, Dr. Paller graciously told me about what eczema is and how doctors don’t know what causes it, but that it appears to be an allergic reaction of the skin. She told me that her preferred course of treatment was:
1. Topical hydrocortizone using the strongest over the counter strength, twice per day, or as needed, using the lowest prescription strength only when needed. (I don’t even want to think now of the strength of the cream that we first put on my vulnerable son’s body.) I found the ointment preferable to the cream as it was easier to cover a small area with the ointment. But it does cause the medicine to penetrate the skin, so consult with your doctor as to which is better for you.
2. Warm baths daily using a really gentle cleanser for only 3-5 minutes (any longer and she said that the skin would become susceptible to even more eczema), followed by a layer of steroid cream and a moisturizing lotion. She recommended Cetaphil. These days, I would use a pure organic cream like this Baby Body Lotion or Baby Bottom Cream. Another great idea is to put a little body oil under the cream for a moisturizing boost.
3. For times when intense relief is needed, a warm, damp cloth wrap, followed by more hydrocortisone cream.
I was concerned about the hydrocortisone use, especially for baby eczema, but Dr. Paller said something to the effect of “We’ve been using these creams for over 40 years. Yes, there is a slim chance of a negative effect on your son, but not getting sleep is for sure going to damage him and this is much less risky.”
Balanced and sage advice.
As a side note, allergies were definitely a problem genetically for my son. A little history:
I had been almost debilitated by seasonal allergies in my high school and college years.
In high school, I stayed home for 6 weeks out of the year, having school assignments brought to my home so that I could complete the work and stay on course. (The only thing that I did go in for was biology since that class was so demanding.)
Baby Eczema and Breastfeeding
I asked Dr. Paller about whether our son’s eczema could be related to food.
Her answer? About 30% of eczema seemed to be food-related.
So I asked my next question: how would I figure out if foods were the cause? I’d suspected we were dealing with food allergies from flares I’d seen my son have after I’d eaten certain foods, but how would I know?
Dr. Paller said that because our son was too young to try IgE allergy tests, we’d have to do an elimination test where I’d remove probable allergens from my diet and see how he responded.
There were 6 top food allergies that should be considered (NOTE: now there are 8 top food allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat).
Our Food Allergy Test
She recommended removing each potential allergen for 3 weeks to see how my son’s eczema responded and then add it back in and try the next one.
The next question that I had both changed our lives and brought us real hope.
“What if he’s allergic to more than one food?” I asked.
She said that was possible.
What I couldn’t afford was 18 more weeks of itching and 30-minute stretches of sleep. What if he was allergic to 2 or 3 things and just removing them individually out of his diet didn’t heal him and we ended up after 18 weeks just where we started?
So I asked her if it would be fine to remove all 6 potential allergens out of my diet for the recommended 3 weeks to see what happened.
She said that nutritionally, that would be fine.
Food Allergy Test Results
So that’s what I did.
Tough work.
But my son’s skin cleared up gradually as my elimination diet progressed.
We continued with the treatments of hydrocortisone and baths. They were tiring, but at least I was getting a little more sleep as my son felt some relief.
Basically, I eliminated all the obvious sources of the Top 6 allergens out of my diet, but noticed slight to fairly bad flares even from me just eating milk chocolate. So out went everything from my diet. I was scouring labels and making sure I ingested nothing that my son was allergic to.
Baby Eczema Healed
The result? His skin became almost perfect.
The next test was to add the foods back, one at a time.
It soon became pretty obvious that we were dealing with allergies to dairy, peanuts, and eggs.
At 5 months of age (the earliest age at which IgE blood tests are typically performed), my son ended up in the hospital with rotavirus (that’s another story as well) and since they were drawing blood anyway, we decided to try an IgE blood test.
The verdict?
Allergic to dairy, egg white, and peanut.
After all of these elimination tests and IgE test results, the question became:
Should I restrict my own diet and continue to breastfeed my son?
Or should I just go the “easy route” and put my son on soy-based formula?
My son’s wise pediatrician warned against the formula route. Given my son’s sensitive constitution, he cautioned that it was quite possible that he would develop an allergy to soy, and then we would be forced to either make our own homemade formula or go on a “pre-digested protein formula” that cost about $80 per week.
Again, wise advice.
I decided to go the “hard route”:
- eliminating everything containing anything on the allergen list
- reading tons of labels
- learning all the derivatives of dairy, egg, and peanuts. There are a LOT.
This was so hard for me. I really like eating (who doesn’t?) and I like having what I want when I want it.
But I really wanted to breastfeed my child, and my mother’s sense told me that while the nutritional aspect of nursing was important, the bonding aspect of nursing was crucial as well.
Later, true to our pediatrician’s advice, our son was also diagnosed with tree nut and sesame allergies, and even soy.
Later, he outgrew the soy allergy and eventually recovered from his egg and dairy allergies too.
Years later, we found out more about him, which made us glad I nursed him as long as I did.
It turned out that he had much more going on than just the food allergies and itchy skin.
Beneath the surface lay autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition that I (along with many experts) am convinced originates in the mind and gut.
I truly think that my choice to breastfeed my son may have kept him from either worsening Asperger’s or even full-blown autism.
I’ll never know, this side of heaven, but I’m glad I made the sacrifice to give up food in order to nourish our son’s body and soul.
Note: this is not meant to be a criticism of mothers who have chosen to opt for formulas instead of a restricted diet.
But it is meant to encourage those who are dealing with eczema to look at diet as a possible cause, and to also consider how important breastfeeding is for your child.
The benefits of breastfeeding for babies are great and there are many breastfeeding benefits for moms as well.
For more of our family’s health struggles and victories, you may want to read:
- Natural Autism Healing and the Best Treatment of All
- Natural Autism Healing (Monster Included!)
- Just Tired or Is it Something More?
- Could You Have Heavy Metal Poisoning and Not Know It?
- Just a Red Face – or Something More?
Has your family had to deal with eczema and/or food allergies?
Oh another thing I just remembered, as I child I remember my mom making a pasty natural remedy. Mix equal parts of Oatmeal or preferrably pure Maizena (which is a Mexican form of Oatmeal but make sure there are no additives like Vanilla etc) and add water, blend it for a minute or so. Although it was a temporary solution, I remember this helped the itch. You can put the paste form in the irritated area, in bath water, you can also strain the paste and pour the liquid in a spray bottle and spray in the irritated/itchy area. Do not cover the irritated area once you have sprayed or added the paste to the area, you want to expose the area to air so it can breathe.
I’ve had Eczema, pretty much my entire life. Now at 44 y/o, I started taking Probiotics about 2 years ago in the form of supplements and my Eczema is pretty much gone. I get flare-ups mostly in the summer, since the heat tends to irritate it. I don’t know how old you have to be to take Probiotics but that might be something you might look into. I know there’s also Probiotics you can eat naturally like Kimchi, Saurkraut, pickles, etc, but this might be somthing you can look into. I would try to go see a Naturpathic or someone who specializes in natural medicine, maybe in even particularly with children. I REGRET taking so many big pharma meds in my years growing up, that were temporary fixes from Steriods to everything under the sun for the itching. It’s such an uncomfortable itch. I would never wish it on anyone, much less a child. I see you taking serious steps to cure your baby (as I would) but try to go natural. Like I said, Probiotics have worked for me. However, I do use (on occasion) Aveeno anti-itch cream that helps but does not resolve the problem. I also know that food allergies have a lot to do with my Eczema flare-ups. MILK, gluten are my enemies and although it’s very hard to not eat or drink it, I do try to stay away from especially these two. Lot’s of luck to your beautiful baby boy and please keep us posted.
Message subject : eczema
i just read the article you have on line regarding a baby with eczema and food allergies.. i just wanted to put my personal experience in there – maybe it will help someone.
everything skin related is blood related (that’s what ayurveda preaches and also chinese medicine)- with me it’s definitely related to the gut poisoning the rest of my body as i ‘m a healthy eater. specifically- eczema sufferers need to try gluten free diet/dairy free diet and not so much raw veggies as they are hard to digest- ALSO probiotics !! and an evaluation of b vitamins.. (some people like myself have a common genetic blood disorder called MTHFR which makes absorption impossible- can occur with dysbosis and i think that messed up my skin.. now i’m on special vitamins) also vitamin D and fish oil! if a breast feeding mother wanted to help her baby i would up those plus alkaline green drinks.. i’m not a doctor just did a TON of research.. everything is connected to our gut. and the flora in our intestines get passed to the baby too. it’s crazy. especially since pregnancy increases candida problems. (acidity/toxins). also moms: remember your intestinal health is important in breast feeding- not only what you eat is important but what gets leaked out of your intestinal track into your blood stream (toxins) and your personal ability to absorb vitamins! all this effects your baby while you are pregnant and in treating your baby (breast feeding especially). your blood health is crucial! gene testing is now easy and no big deal but important for your baby’s health.. you need to know this as soon as you get pregnant!
best ! thanks for reading! and hope it helps
Sincerely,
sophia
Sophia, I have to agree with you 100% about taking Probiotics for Eczema because I’ve suffered Eczema since I was a child. Please read my comments below. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this story. I can not imagine what it was like going through that. My daughter has a few intolerances and it was a exhausting journey with just that (lack of sleep, scratching, cradle cap, ect.)
Thanks for linking up to Healthy 2Day Wednesday, hope to see you there Wednesday.
My son also suffered from terrible eczema as a baby. He is now 6 and still gets it occasionally. What I discovered was that he was allergic to dairy and was getting it through my breast milk. I eliminated ALL traces of dairy from my diet and sure enough his eczema disappeared. The doctor said he would outgrow it but I’m not so sure he did as he still gets eczema and has other digestive issues which I believe comes from dairy even though he now tests negative for that allergy. I have tried to wean him from dairy but he loves it and it’s been difficult to eliminate which is why I think he still gets the eczema from time to time. I’m sure dairy won’t be the answer to everyone’s problem but you might try eliminating it and see if it helps.
I think dairy is one of the most prevalent issues regarding eczema and dietary issues. From what I’ve seen and from what I’ve read. Thanks
I completely agree dairy is horrible for Eczema sufferers, I have Eczema and I try to stay away from dairy products, it’s hard not to eat dairy but I think about the consequences.
I CANNOT believe how close your eczema journey (as told so far) is to our second son’s!!! It’s been 5 years since the less than 30 minute bouts of sleep even after months. A new pediatrician finally diagnosed the eczema, but didn’t heal it, so we skipped ourselves to Dr. Ghali who lived a short drive from us. He is a world-renowned pediatric dermatologist, and our suffering was finally over! If you are a mom who is desperately searching the internet like I was night and day because I had a MISERABLE baby, figure out a way to see a pediatric dermatologist. Even if you don’t have insurance, tell them your situation. It is SO worth your baby’s healing.
I can’t wait to see your follow-up post.
So glad you are getting help. Blessings!!
Great article. My family has struggled with psoriasis and eczema for generations. My youngest daughter suffers from it terribly. I get calls with her crying because her skin looks so unsightly and the eczema hurts so bad. I am sharing this article with her in the hopes she will find an answer. She used steroid creams with no long-term results. I’ve counseled her to clean up her diet, exercise more and reduce stress in her life. She’s 23, though, and sometimes it’s hard to make changes like that. I’m looking forward to reading Part II.
Very interested in reading part two! I’m wondering how much might be the heavy metals that you mentioned in previous posts? I am starting the realize that heavy metals play a role in many skin conditions.
I think they’re related as well. But really there is so much we don’t understand. It’s exhausting sometimes. Well….often.
Very much looking forward to part two! We have food allergies at our house so I understand the lack of sleep, the itches and all the other fun that comes along with it! My son is itching more and more now, you can’t see a rash but he itches terrible. Ah, always something new! 🙁
If you have any stories or recipes that you’d like to link up at our Gluten Free Fridays linky party, we’d love to have you share something! 🙂
I’ll try to stop by your hop this Friday – thanks!!!!
im interested in reading part 2. My little sister, Charity, been on oral and topical steroids for the last 3 years to try to control her exczema. As of right now she is covered head toe with a red rash that is very itchy. In fact one of her first sentences was: can you scratcha my eczema please!! They took her to an allergist and she is about to get tested for food allergies to see if that’s the culpret because she has no environmetal allergies that could be aggrivating it.
When my youngest (now 3) was 6 weeks old he broke out in a rash that turned into the most awful raw, oozing, red, cracked infection all over his hands, legs and arms. It was eczema and it was horrible that first year. We had MRSA multiple times and regular Staph infections basically from about 4 months until he was a year. As soon as one infection cleared up another one arrived.
People just stared at us in public. Like I was not taking care of him. “What is wrong with his skin? Are you doing anything about it?”. It was devastating and incredibly painful for him.
We had a standing appointment with an awesome pediatric dermatologist at a local Dallas hospital. The situation was really severe.
He still has mild eczema, but at the age of one they finally tested him for allergies and he was highly allergic to peanuts and moderately to eggs.I had nursed him the first 10 months and ate peanut butter regularly. I had asked the doctors many times if I needed to remove pb from my diet and was repeatedly only told to remove eggs and milk from my diet. Another lesson where I have learned mommy’s intuition is valid!
After he turned one his eczema improved significantly. We still have issues especially when the weather changes. Everything for him is dye free and frag free, obviously.
If your little one suffers from eczema, and you nurse, I highly suggest having your diet evaluated. Go with your gut. Demand allergy testing as early as possible (they would not do it for us until he was 1) and hang in there. It will get better.
Oh, and baths with olive oil really help to moisturize the skin!
My son (our 3rd child) had eczema which was initially diagnosed as cradle cap, but as it began traveling from his scalp down to his cheeks and all of his limbs we knew it was not cradle cap. His skin especially his cheeks began ooze pussy goo and the doctor finally diagnosed him as having the worst eczema he had ever seen. He prescribed steroid cream and I filled the prescription, but couldn’t bare to put such harsh chemicals on my baby. So, after doing some research (Thanks Laura Klien @Organic Authority) I went the all natural route and literally doused his skin in organic coconut oil at every diaper change. We called him our little butter ball turkey! Coconut oil became his lotion and literally conquered his eczema. At almost 2 I still only use coconut oil on his entire body as lotion and even as diaper cream and his eczema has completely cleared up.
Vanessa,
I’m glad your little butter ball turkey is better. Lot’s of luck. I too have suffered with Eczema and Organic Coconut Oil helps me too. Please read my postings below. Lots of luck!
I am going to subscribe so I don’t miss part 2! My 3 yo daughter gets terrible eczema after she gets ant bits, and only the cream clears her up. I hate to use such strong medicine on little ones, though! Can’t wait to find out what you did to help your son.
Hello there. I just published this yesterday so come on back over and read. I hope to share more in the future but our struggles with other things go on still. Blessings.
Praise God that he led you to the right people to get your son the help he needed!
I can identify and know it was only God’s grace that kept me going during those years of sleep deprivation. I am so thankful we have found melatonin helps get him to sleep and 5HTP helps him stay asleep (took me 14 years before I’d give him melatonin as I’d gotten horrible headaches when I’d used it a few times years ago, but I didn’t know what strength or what else might have been in the doses I took back then). Most of Christopher’s eczema was on his face (except the 2 weeks he ate peanuts, then it was all over him!). For months at a time I’d not touch his face with a wash cloth as it was so raw. For him, it was apples. He’d have a fairly clear face each August for those years. Now, after doing without his beloved apples for more than 10 years, he can eat an occasional one or on rare occasions drink some juice that contains apple. We feel blessed! I look forward to hearing the rest of your story. We all learn from others. Thank you for sharing about this.
I’m looking forward to part two. Autism, food allergies, and eczema, are health issues that my family has dealt with over the past 3 years too. We adopted GFCF diet , also green up our lifestyle and my son’s eczema is getting much much better.
I’m looking forward to part two. My son has been dealing with Eczema for 9 years. He first got it when he was 5 months old. We have tried many things, creams and diets. He has some anxiety (stress is a trigger of eczema)So, I’m willing to try something new to help him. When it is really bad; we wrap his arms at night to prevent scratching or he will wake up with bloody patches. 🙁 I’ve been told to try a “bleach bath”, but we try to keep everything natural and non toxic at our house. I’m not sure what to think of that recommendation. We tried cutting out dairy, but that didn’t work either.
I hope to post tomorrow :-). Hang in there. Bless you.
Hi Terika. Oh my…I feel your pain (literally) because I suffered from Eczema as a child and on occasion as an adult. Please read my comments at the bottom of this blog on this subject. Instead of wrapping the area your son has a problem with, you might want to put some gloves and keep his nails short. Trim and file the nails because if you leave sharp edges, he wil bleed horribly. I don’t know if you know this or not but if you keep your son’s nails long and scratches the irritated area, he could potentially transport that bacteria from the area under his nails and scratch another area and transpose it, atleast this is what happened to me. Lots of luck, I know the suffering that goes behind this problem.
I’m anxious to hear the rest of your story! My 3-year-old daughter has had eczema patches over her bottom for over a year. I’ve tried all kinds of natural remedies and cutting out dairy, to no avail.
i am most anxious to read Part 2. My 10 month old has been suffering from eczema and rashes. I have modified my diet, as I am still nursing, but it is still rough. We are also battling sleepless nights–we sometimes get 45 minutes at a time–yes for 10 months. We recently realized that when he rubs his eyes, it is NOT typically a sign that he’s tired–his eyes are itching!!! Oh, how I felt horrible about that!! I, too, cried when the dr finally agreed to refer us to a pediatric dermatologist and allergist. I am anxiously awaiting that appointment in about 3 weeks. But, desperately want to hear what worked for you!
I should be able to post tomorrow. Hang in there. Bless you at this hard time. I feel so bad for you. It was a horrible time in my life. Look forward to hearing the outcome of your appointment.
Looking forward to part 2. Thanks for sharing your story. It helps others, like me!