Allergy to Something?!

This is one of those situations where the advice of other mothers is nice but cannot replace that of a doctor. You have such great detail of how/when/where these spots & bumps form: I think a good naturopathic physician would be worth a visit. If you don't have one, Dr. Ed Hofmann-Smith at the Natural Childbirth & Family Clinic (NE Portland, ###-###-####) is a truly fabulous doctor. Reasonable rates for folks w/out insurance or (more likely) insurance that doesn't cover naturopathy. We have insurance that doesn't cover his service but bring our 2 year old there still because Dr. Ed is so wonderful. I hope you find resolution!

It could possibly not be an allergy at all to any food you have been giving him, but something called impetiago(sp?). Try putting neosporin on a few of his red spots and if it goes away in a day-then that is what it is. You can take him to your doctor and they can give you a perscription for some stronger stuff, but I have found that neosporin works just fine. I have three children and two of them have had it. Nothing to be allarmed about, it just sounds bad.
Good luck!
A fellow mom from Hillsboro

K.,

A great book about allergies is "Is this your Child". It saved my two year old kid from the misery of allergies that were causing both physical and behavioural reactions.
The author has key reactions to specific allergens but will also give you tools to identify others.
Trust your instincts and remember if your kid craves something it should make you question it. I still have to limit oranges at this time of year as my kid loves them but they don't do him any favours. Other foods he cannot tolerate without distressing reactions.

Good luck.

Could it be soy?
my husband and son are both very allergic to soy. I found out with my son while I was nursing him, i had to be careful of what I ate. If it is a soy allergy, it'll take about a week of being soy free to know for sure. Soy is in almost everything, so read the labels.

Hi K.,
My daughter (16 1/2 months) has food allergies and eczema, and she started having this reaction when eating certain foods which she hadn't shown allergies to before. I emailed her doctor, who said that it sounded like skin irritation from smearing food and saliva around her mouth while eating(she's a self-feeder.) He suggested we apply aquaphor or vaseline around her mouth before meals to keep her face from getting irritated. We use "un-petroleum jelly" and the rash has stopped.

Kristen,

I'm going to offer encouragement to your concerns and plans. I just recently found out that I am allergic to cassien in milk. My doctor is also recommending that I eliminate wheat, meat, oats, and peanuts. So I am on an adventure to rediscover the foods I can eat.

I also have a 8 mo old and 5 yr old. I am going to change the whole family over. My husband is fairly supportive.

I recently introduced solids to my daughter. I too noticed spots/bumps looking like acne around my daughter's mouth and eyes. She developed these either when eating foods with orange pigment or foods with wheat and egg. I have taken her off of these foods and returned only to the rice cereal I started her on. She also had sores on her bottom from a diaper rash from the same time. I am going to start all over again and keep a journal this time.

Something also to consider that I hate to mention is that I have heard taht allergies have been possibly linked to immunizations. I don't know the truth of this link, but I am researching this for myself and my family. You may want to consider doing the same.

Good luck on your food journey. Please write if you have advice or want someone to discuss food with. I'd welcome it.

not sure that this will help, but I just thought I'd let you know that both my boys inherited my intolerance for oranges... regular oranges, not mandarines, tangerines, or any other citrus. We have to be careful what juices we buy, because so many have OJ in them. As a child, I was also very allergic to mustard; I outgrew this in my teens and so has my oldest son. My youngest cannot go near the stuff.

Long story short: it's probably a great idea to start an elimination diet, so you can figure out what's up. Hope you figure it out soon!

It sounds more like sensitive skin. Sometimes in the winter my kids get these spots from dry skin due to the wind and cold making faces a little raw. My daughter actually has an allergy to shellfish and there was no wondering. The hives are more raised bumps with white around it. Badger Balm makes a great "lotion" for sensitive skin called Baby Balm. I put it on my two year olds cheeks every night before bed to keep away the winter bumps.

I agree that you should check with a doctor. There are causes other then food allergies or sensitivities that could cause a skin outbreak. I would gess that it is not a food allergy if he has no other symptoms.

I have a lot of food allergies and in addition to hives I also react with an upset stomach. Sometimes I get only the hives but even then I have itching along with them. Often the itching is in my ears and throat.

I also know that I can eat certain foods for awhile before I have a reaction. THere is a build up of sensitivity. For example: I stop eating chocolate for several months and then on a special occasion have some. If I continue to eat chocholate off and on over a couple of weeks I will once more have an upset stomach. Skin tests have shown that I am allergic to chocolate.

That said, both of my grandchildren had rashes or bumps around their mouths and cheeks while they were learning to self feed. This was caused by smearing the food on their skin. Putting a protective layer over the skin before eating does help. My granddaughter also had impetigo at that age and the doctor prescribed an antibiotic which eventually cleared it up.

Children can outgrow some food allergies. My granddaughter was allergic to milk, eggs, soy, peanuts when she was a baby. At 5, her mother took her to an allergist because her asthma was out of control. We learned that she no longer tested allergic to eggs and milk but reacted still to soy and peanuts. She also has dust mite, dog dander, and pollen allergies which is probably the main irritants for increased asthma symptoms.

I am like you with eating organic and healthy. My husband and I enjoy it tremendously and I know that since I am breastfeeding, my son is benefiting from it too. You might have already tried this but the biggest culprit I would rule out first is cow's milk. Cow's milk is much harder to digest since the protein molecules are larger to assimilate into the bloodstream than breastmilk. I would try him on goat's milk for a while and see how he does. Goat's milk has smaller protein molecules so it is easier to digest. Plus, it is healthier and easier on his system. Hope this helps!

My 18-month-old son, too, has red bumps around his mouth and on his cheeks. His seems to be worse in the morning and better as the day goes on. The doctor said that it is probably because of sloober combined with sucking his thumb and the dry air from the heater. I was putting hydrocortisone cream on it and it got better right away, but as soon as I stop, it comes back. The doctor said that I should not put hydrocortisone cream on all the time (being a steroid and all), so he told me to use Eucerin cream. It is very thick and greasy and I have to put it on 6 or 7 times a day to keep it under control, but it does keep it under control. So, it could be that it is not an allergic reaction at all. Just a thought.
K.

Hi K.,
Just a thought that maybe is isn't a food allergy at all. Maybe it is some kind of chemical allergy. Cleaning products have been known to do this. It could be your laudry soap. Does he still put things in his mouth? My daughter is 6 and still does that. She doesn't have the reactions since converting our home over the "green" products. If you would like to know what I use, please email me at ____@____.com. Thanks! Please let us know what you find out.

Have you considered a Vitamin D deficiency? My kids both developed red, rough, rashy, bumpy cheeks as babies and our naturopathic physician recommended a fish oil supplement. Within days it was completely gone for both of them!

Hi,
Knowing only what you posted, the first thing it made me think of was a reaction my daughter was having. It wasn't so much a reaction as irritation from a pacifier. Your child probably doesn't even use a pacifier, but if he does that could be what's causing it and why it gets worse throughout the day. Or it could be excess spit around the mouth. And I probably just wasted your time... but I hope you figure out what's going on.

A.

K.,
Yes it could be cumulative. We have tons of food issues over here. My 4 1/2 year old boy is gluten intolerant (diet diagnosed Celiac Disease) and also dairy intolerant. My 3 year old daughter is gluten intolrant.
AND! My 8 mth old has not been able to tolerate ANY food until this week. We did POI and he has been ok with it.

So back to you, my baby did fine on pears for about one month and then started reacting to them. They say taht too much of anything can be a problem. Although, it is a pain, I woudl remove everything for 1-2 weeks and start over. Then reintroduce them one at a time. Those 3 are all allergens so it could be any one of them.
If that is just too hard. You coudl take your best guess adn just remove one I guess? but to be certain I woudl go back tot he basics.
Hope that helps!

J.

It sounds like yeast. I would suggest feeding him yogurt (whole milk yogurt is best if you can find it.) Food allergies most often develop from eating highly processed foods so the less processed the food, the less allergies it is likely to cause. If you still think the rash is from high acid foods, try mixing up some baking soda and water in a spray bottle and spray it on the rash. It's very soothing.

Good luck!
L. B

Having gone through food allergies with my daughter, I have some advise. Her symptions started appearing (rashes on face, legs, arms, genitals) after I weaned her at about 11 months.

Consider having him tested by a pediatric allergist. And also get an opinion from a pediatric dermatologist, and pediatric naturopath. I prefer to have a team approach and like to hear all the experts rather than just one.

They will take out some of the guess work on what might be causing the reaction. Its possible that it is just genetic. That said, allergies are such a mystery and everything that you do might only be management of the problem. There is no cure and every child is different.

My daughter tested positive for a number of foods and an epipen was prescribed for her, even though she has had no other reactions but eczema. She took every medication under the sun (steriods, antihistamines, antibiotics). I cant speak for anyone else, but it was such a nightmare for me. For now, she isnt on any meds and we are managing things with 3 times a day moisturizers on her body. Many children grow out of food allergies by the time they are 6 years but not for things like peanuts and fish. Apparently true allergies to things like tomatoes are quite rare in children.

Make sure the rashes on his face dont get infected. And make sure you treat any infection immediately. Your doctor is the best person to show you what infected skin looks like. Hope this helps!

See if you can find an NAET practitioner in your area. It's an effective, non-invasive allergy elimination technique. (Dr. Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique).

K. it sounds a little like the way my DD eczema first started manifesting. We too eat organic and we knew there was a risk because of genetics at play here and had watched her very carefully. At 11 months this rash poped up w/o any known causative factor. It would come and go w/different foods but not consistently. We did elimination diets, blood allergy tests, everything we could think of...what we found was a chemical sensitivity.

Some of my DD allergies are to formaldehyde, artifical colors, preservatives, artificial sweetners, etc. She was miserable as were we. I tried everything on the market and took her to the naturopath who suggested I see a dermatologist.

I decided against that and eventually found an online wholesaler who makes products that are completely safe for my family.

What I've learned is she was being exposed to formaldehyde in body wash, shampoo, laundry detergent, etc. The labels read Q-15 or Quaternium-15 and when I started shopping online from them and got the chemicals out of my house and her rash was gone w/n 3 weeks. That was 3 years ago this March and we've not had a single recurrence.

You may want to try eliminating night shade plants (peppers, tomatos, potatos, etc.) that was something that I was told might help us.

If you have any questions I'd be happy to try to help. Feel free to send me a message.
C.

WAHM to 4 y/o virtual twins

My 7 month old daughter had a rash like that...just on her cheeks and I couldn't link it to a specific food. Her Dr. says it has to do with drool around the mouth and the cold weather with the skin getting chapped.

My daughter at 2months had this rash of pimples and the Dr. told me it was a form of eczema and told me to use cortaid on it. I would ask your Dr. first but it may be that. It really surprised me because i didn't think eczema could be pimply.
Best Wishes!

As a naturopath and a mom of a 21 months old with allergies, I can appreciate what a headache trying to guess an allergy can be! I'd recommend getting some allergy testing to save yourself the hassle, worry, and long-term health issues. The ND I saw for this was Dr. Rita Bettenberg on 103rd and NE Wasco. She does EAV testing (a noninvasive, energetic allergy test) and it did wonders for my daughter's colic. More standard medical IgG and IgE tests can work just as well, and sometimes better, but involve a blood draw. Many NDs can work with you and your son to reduce your reactivity to allergens.

In wellness,
Dr. E. Mendenhall, ND

Have you checked to see if he is getting more teeth? My son would break out around his mouth and get rashes on his cheeks when he was teething.

Hi K....I am a mother of 3 grown daughters and 4 small grandsons. For the past 8 years I have been very interested in wellness and getting the toxic substances out of homes. One thing I have learned over the past few years is that many cleaning and laundry products, as well as, many personal care products, that people buy, have many harsh and cancer causing ingredients in them. Many personal care products contain formaldahyde...which is a known carcinogin...in them...you won't see formaldahyde on the label...there are about 30 trade names that manufacturers use to hide it...one of them being Quaternium 15 or Q 15...it is even in the #1 selling baby shampoo.

The harsh ingredients in the laundry, cleaning, and personal care products you use could be a cause of your little one's face breakout...many times it is the laundry detergent, as many have ingredients in them that cause skin irritations.

I have found a line of laundry, cleaning, and personal care products that have safe, non-toxic ingredients. Many people with skin irritations and eczema have been helped by switching over to these safer products.

Just an idea...if you would like any further information, contact me back.

Have a great Mommy day!!

My son gets the same thing and he's 5. It's not an allergy, it's a sensitivity to this cold wet/dry weather. I took him to the docter and she suggested neosporin a couple times a day until it goes away and just to keep it well moisturized after that. I also use lanolin on his face before bed and it seems to help also!