INFANTS AND ALLERGIES

There have been some studies, although inconclusive, that suggest that breastfeeding mothers shouldn’t eat peanuts and other potentially highly allergic foods while breastfeeding. I hadn’t read any of this when I was nursing and ate peanuts along with most other foods. My son didn’t exhibit any intolerance to the breastmilk, and had no crying bouts, etc. after nursing. I therefore assumed everything I ate was acceptable.

Were I to have another chance at nursing, I would probably not eat the shellfish and nuts, especially in light of the allergies in the family. Some of you reading this might benefit from this after-the-fact knowledge!

An infant may have a reaction to breastmilk when the mother is ingesting milk products herself. One baby girl had what the doctor diagnosed as colic for months until her mother discovered her crying bouts coincided with the milk products she was eating. If allergies run in your family, be cautious of what you eat when breastfeeding. The likely foods to cause allergies: peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, soy, wheat, fish and seafood, can cause stomach upset and long term allergy problems in infants who are nursing. These are not the only products that can cause upset to little stomachs – the list is endless. The foods mentioned are the most likely culprits.

We have found some suggestions that might help in your quest to minimize your infant/child’s allergy:

1. Use a laundry detergent that uses no bleach or perfumes.

2. Use a dryer softener that uses no perfumes.

3. Use soap such as Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser that has no perfumes. There are some Cetaphil products that contain almond oil. If your child has tree nut allergies, make sure to read the label to ensure no almond oil is in the product you are purchasing.

4. Use lotion such as Eucerin paste that has no perfumes.

5. Have your child wear cotton clothes. Don’t allow your child to wear wool or lamb’s wool clothing. Some polyester bothers my son, as did flannel sheets when he was a baby.

6. Your child’s pillow should be hypoallergenic and certainly not filled with down or feathers.

7. Keep stuffed animals out of your child’s bed, and any other cloth toys. You might need to keep all stuffed animals out of your child’s room completely if they are exhibiting asthma symptoms.

8. Don’t spray chemicals in your child’s rooms, such as pledge furniture polish, carpet cleaners, or exterminating sprays.

9. Wash your child’s hands thoroughly after playing with art supplies, or after playing outside.

10. Bathe your child before bedtime to “wash off the day.”

11. Change your child’s clothes before naptime, and before bedtime if he/she has been outside.

12. Don’t smoke in your house, and don’t allow your child to be exposed to smoke.

13. Don’t allow pets in your child’s bedroom. Depending on the severity of your child’s allergy, you might need to remove the pet from the house entirely. In some cases, your child might not be able to even enter a house that has pets. 

14. If your child’s seasonal allergies occur at the same time the fresh pine Christmas tree is added to your house, suspect an allergy to the tree! Try an artificial tree for one year to determine if this is the cause of the allergic reaction.

Most of the other skin ailments my son has had can be traced back to one of the items from above. I followed directions when he was a baby and bought a special laundry detergent to launder his clothes. I later found out there was perfume in the detergent and bleach, which he reacted to by getting dermatitis! He sure did smell good, but felt awful.

INFANTS & ECZEMA

Since my son, Morgan, was a few months old he has suffered from eczema. I also had eczema as a child until I was almost 12 years old. As a kid, I remember itching terribly behind my knees, and having flare ups when it got hot. Moving to Phoenix, Arizona was terrible for my eczema!

Morgan’s eczema is helped by using Eucerin lotion in the paste form, and by sparingly using Elocon lotion (a steroid). The Eucerin is almost the consistency of lard. Wal-Mart sells a generic brand of this that costs about 1/3 the amount of Eucerin, and we’ve found it to be equally as good. We slathered it on him every night. When he was a baby, we applied it every time we changed his diaper. The Elocon lotion is a steroid cream, so we try to use it only when his eczema gets very severe. He got eczema everywhere – behind his knees, on his eyelids, where his earlobe attaches, his fingers and toes. It moved around as he grows older, but it has never entirely disappeared. He has one finger that regularly sports an eczema spot if he is eating any food with food dyes!

The use of heat in the winter time dries out his skin, as does swimming in chlorinated water in the summertime. So, there isn’t a season where he gets a break! If we forget to use the Eucerin paste, his eczema will crack and fissures will form. He has been put on antibiotics for other infections, which ended up curing the fissures. However, we try to not allow the eczema to get this out of control. The Elocon lotion will sting if put on eczema with fissures. His cries of pain hurt me almost as much as him – which makes me more aware of staying ahead of his skin problems.

Morgan’s eczema gets worse when certain foods are added to his diet. We notice that processed foods with yellow and red dyes made his skin much worse, so we removed these from his diet entirely. When he was a baby he was severely allergic to eggs; when his allergy disappeared, we started feeding him foods containing eggs, only to find that his eczema flared up. He tested a zero on a skin prick test to eggs, yet still showed symptoms of eczema.

Like me, Morgan also has flare ups when he gets hot. We live in Colorado Springs, which has hot, dry air in the summer. However, combining the heat with sun lotions is a recipe for disaster. We use titanium dioxide sun lotions since they seem to be kinder to his skin. Certain fabrics such as nylon bother his skin, creating eczema-like blotches. Long ago, I began using laundry soap that is free of all dyes and perfumes. 

There is a relatively new prescription drug called Protopic that is for severe eczema sufferers. Our allergist didn’t think that Morgan’s eczema was severe enough to warrant such a treatment. However, if your child is really suffering – you might want to discuss this with your allergist. There have been FDA warnings regarding this drug that you might want to read first:

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2005/ANS01343.html

You may be interested in reading other Web sites dedicated to Eczema: