How I Controlled My Baby's Eczema (Part 2)

    After posting my last article on baby eczema, Baby P.'s eczema seemed to come back with a vengeance (still only located behind her right knee and on her feet). I couldn't figure out what happened. The steps I had talked about in the first article seemed to be working so well, and then we had a step back again. 

    We were due for her 12 month appointment with the pediatrician around that time, and so I talked with her doctor about it. As you've probably seen by now, Baby P. seems to have some sensitivities to certain foods. At first we thought it was eggs, but now we think it's almonds. How could that be confused? Well to make a long story short, I'm allergic to a protein in milk called casein so we only have almond milk in the house. When I was making eggs for baby the first time, I had mixed a little almond milk in it to make it fluffier. Later we figured out that just from almond milk getting on her skin she would break out in hives. So needless to say we figured out she was allergic to almonds. When we were meeting with the pediatrician we talked about this connection and she suggested, since Baby P. still breastfeeds, that I cut out almonds and tree nuts from my diet and see if that helps with the eczema. 

     I had cut eggs out of diet at one point, but I had never thought of cutting out almonds (especially since it is so ingrained in my diet because I only eat dairy free products). SO I decided to try it, I only bought Coconut milk, and check every label for almonds on things I eat. Unfortunately I quickly found out I eat A LOT of almonds! There were almonds in my cereal, almonds in my milk, almonds in my ice cream, almonds in my granola bars...!! If Baby P. really was allergic to almonds, I had been feeding her so many almonds through my breast milk and didn't even realize it!

   Well it's been almost 3 weeks since I cut out almonds from my diet, and after almost 1 week we saw results with her eczema!!! For the first time in 9 months, her skin is relatively clear behind her knee and on her feet. Here and there it still gets a little red, but I still constantly am applying lotion to those spots to help prevent that. 

   Here is my last two cents, for whatever it's worth, on how to get rid of your child's eczema:

• Look at their diet: If your child is suffering from eczema it could be something they are eating. More often than not eczema is the result of a food allergy. We had made sure Baby P. wasn't eating ANY allergens (no gluten, egg, dairy, soy or nuts) in her solids. 
• Look at what YOU'RE eating, if you breastfeed: Since Baby P. is 12 months old and she eats solids as well as breastfeeds, I didn't think that what I was eating could really be getting through that much through breast milk... but I was wrong. As I mentioned the almonds I was eating came through the breast milk and she would react to it. Which makes sense because she is so sensitive to it that if it even touches her skin she breaks out in hives. The things that comforts me with this sensitivity to almonds is that I know she will outgrow this allergy as most children do!
• Know that it can take at least a week: When you cut out a food that your child is allergic to, it often takes AT LEAST a week for the allergen to leave their system. So be aware that if you don't see results right away, you need to wait at least two weeks to know for sure if they are allergic. Also take it one food at a time if you haven't narrowed it down. If you do it all at once it's far too confusing and harder to figure out what they are allergic to.