Eczema..dairy...??? Argh!

My daughter (now 2) developed eczema around 1 and I did some digging and found that sometimes acidic foods can be the cause. My daughter loved oj and manderin oranges. As soon as I cut both of those out of her diet it all cleared up within a few days. If she even has the littlest bit of orange in any form it comes back. Just a suggestion since most people are talking about dairy allergies.

I think my son has the same issues. I keep going back and forth...should I take out ALL dairy? I'm trying to use hydrocortizone cream on his patches, but it doesn't seem to ever go away, it just helps while I use the cream and then return when I don't.
A friend mentioned that wheat is also a big contributor to eczema. That is another BIG undertaking.
It takes 3-4 weeks for dairy to get out of your system, so if you started to see an improvement in a few days, it may have totally cleared up after a few weeks.
There are good dairy alternatives, goat milk is usually tolerated well, so you can try that. Goat cheese is extra yummy! But I know it's unbelievably hard to cut out all dairy because you have to make almost everything from scratch. There are some good websites for allergies. Good luck with the decision, I can't decide what to do either:(

My baby deals with eczema and aquaphor lotion helps a LOT to keep it under control so that we haven't had to use teh topical (which is a steroid -- don't want to use it too often) in months! It sounds to me like the dairy isn't the issue (at least not the only issue) if it started getting bad again when you weren't giving dairy. you're going to have to play detective and eliminate a bunch of things that it COULD be -- dairy, pool, any harsh, new detergents, lotions, etc., foods that are new and then once the rash is better, slowly introduce each one one at a time (give about 3-4 days before introducing something new so you know definitively what's causing the rash. it's a pain but i think it's the only way. and/or you can take your daughter to the allergist who will give her a skin test to test for allergies. my baby got this done b/c his eczema was ongoing and he was always congested. turned out he was allergic to dust, which is kind of hard to eliminate! so all you can do is sometimes keep the allergens under control ( we got air purifier, hypoallergenic cribbing, etc.). anyway, best of luck! let me know if i can give you any more detailed info but if the eczema is really bad, you might want to ask ur pediatrician about referring you to an allergist for testing.

My two oldest dealt with eczema. My second son had it so bad as an infant, his face would be bleeding from the scratching, especially in his sleep. We tried all sorts of things with no complete success. Then a friend introduced me to Arbonne's Baby Care Line. I began using just the wash, diaper rash cream, and lotion but until the patches got under control, I used their Rejuvenating Cream. Within a week their skin was beautiful and NO scars from all my one son's scratching!! I could send you some AMAZING before and after pictures if you want to see them. Just drop me a message with your personal email since I don't know how to link the pictures to MP emails.

My son is 6 and still has flare-ups. The pool is drying but actually helps it sometimes since its a bacteria on the skin. The biggest thing after swimming is rinsing off and get lotion on them. As my ped derm says keep him greased up all the time it does help.....and I can't say enough about Cerave lotion, it's not sold everywhere, I have only found it at CVS and Walgreens, I put on him everyday especially after a bath. Oh and don't forget to change sheets twice a week that helps too, good luck!

My son is 2 and we have been dealing with eczema since he was an infant. I find a variety of things help and a variety of things make it flare up!
We have eliminated milk, but he is ok with cheese & yogurt. For Milk, he has HempMilk. We use all dye free/fragrance free products - detergent, soap, lotions. I have found Dove or Cetaphil to be the best soaps. Cetaphil Mosturizing Cream is great- I get a big tub of it at Sam's. Vaseline is also great for bad flare ups. Absolutely no fabric softner!! My son reacts if he gets next to someone else's clothing that has been washed with regular detergent & fabric softner.
I also find that perservatives in food and food dyes cause my son's eczema to really flare up.
We are also on a probiotic that he takes daily that I think has helped.
Seasonal allergies (pollen, ragweed, dust, etc) can also cause the eczema to flare up. My son takes Zyertec for his seasonal allergies, so that can also help calm his eczema.
I would suggest doing a food diary, and noting the eczema each day, might help you pinpoint what is going on.
Good Luck!
Just when I think I have it figured out, we add something new to our list!!

I have been dealing with my daughter's eczema for almost 5 years now. Sometimes she looks good, other days she is itching so bad that she bleeds. Eczema is a crazy thing. When she was little they did say that she had an allergy to milk. We even had to buy a very expensive formula. Now she eats anything and everything. A few things I have noticed that flare her up are stress. ( if she gets mad or cries, anything like that.) Also if she gets hot. Sun seems to help her and a lotion that we were indroduced to when we finally had to take her to Mayo clinic because her eczema was so bad. I it called Vanicream. I buy it at drugstore.com, or you can order it through most pharmacies. They also have a sunscreen!!

Renew is the best product I have seen that will take care of all types of skin problems.

My son has it too. He is allergic to peanut (which he never eats) but didn't test allergic to anything else. You might want to get your daughter a blood test for allergies (not skin test - people with eczema will get a big reaction from the skin test but it doesn't mean anything will happen if they eat it). The blood test can also be misleading though, because it's possible to test positive for something yet never have a reaction to it when it's eaten. In other words, I would only get it done if your insurance will pay for it because it might not help narrow down a possible cause.

My son still gets occasional flare-ups. We wash his face if he gets anything acidic on it like strawberry juice or tomato sauce. The pool does dry him out and he also has trouble if we are outside a lot in the winter. We put vaseline on the dry spots to protect them from the pool and the cold weather. You can put hydrocortisone cream (no higher than 1% strength) on the spots as well. We use a gentle moisturizer too. (We use the plain Aveeno).

The dye-free/perfume-free detergent is a good idea too. It might help to bathe her less often - use lukewarm water and gentle soap (we use Dove for sensitive skin) when you do give a bath. If other family members are using body wash and other soap that's not gentle, she might be reacting to the residue left in the tub. The allergist we saw also said never use Johnson and Johnson baby wash because it's actually very drying.

My son is two now and only got a tiny dry spot this past winter and I noticed a little dry spot since we've been going to the pool. He had a patch on his chin the entire time he was teething so we also tried to keep that dry and protected with vaseline.

Hang in there and keep trying! I know it's frustrating. Our pediatrician is great, but the allergist was able to help us so much more. If it doesn't get better, I'd also consider asking for a referral to an allergist.

My 21 month-old has had it for a little over a year now and contrary to the norm (according to my ped), he is worse in the summer, and I think I have figured out he has flare ups with the heat. I had thought it was sunscreen or grass, but was able to eliminate those things. But as soon as it was hot outside he flared up bad. Unfortunately there's not much I can do for him but luckily it doesn't seem to bother him (he never scratches it). I just put the hydracortizone cream on him when he needs it.