Milk Spots, Hormone spots or Excema

Hi, it does sound like either something other than hormone spots but which maybe started at the same time? or the hormone spots have got infected. I remember Spencer's on his forehead went all yellow an oozy and it was pretty gross, so I smothered his face in sudocream, he looked like an idiot but it did the trick.

As far as I am aware they cannot do allergy testing that young (or they can but the results aren't accurate until 12 months) so the doc will probably say no to that anyway, but given that he also has reflux the likelyhood of a milk protein allergy is quite high. I can't remember if it is 80% of reflux babies that have a milk allergy or 80% of those with milk allergy have reflux but either way there is a strong connection between the two.

If you are breastfeeding then restrict dairy from your diet, you will need to do it for at least 2 weeks to see a difference or not, if you are formula feeding it is a bit more difficult but what I would do is firstly talk to your gp about the possibility of an allergy and then I would also swap baby onto Karicare HA which is hydrogenised (can never spell that word) and that may help a little, but it isn't as good as the prescription formulas. Unfortunately to get the prescription formulas you need to see a paed, gps can't authorize the funding for it, so you can either ask for a referal on the public system or go private. Our paed is up there in price and the first appointment cost $275 and follow ups are $160. If you do decide to go the private route ask your gp for one that specialises in allergies cos some paeds are just as clueless about them as the gps.

A couple of websites that are worth looking at (sometimes helps to go armed with info so you dont' get fobbed off as a neurotic new mum)

http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/

http://www.actagainstallergy.co.uk/aaa_couk/1734-parents-home.html

Are you breastfeeding? And does he have frothy poohs?

If you are & he does definitely cut out dairy out of your diet. I found it took about 4 days for the pooh's to start settling down & the eczema & reflux about a week or slightly over. Cradle cap disappeared too. Had some dairy in cooking (over indulged ) and the spilling has come back

If you are on formula there is the option also of trying goats milk, even though it's proteins are similar to cows milk for some babies it works a treat. Other than that I don't know about formulas.

The lactose free formulas aren't milk free. If it's an allergy to the cows milk protein (which is far more common in babies) then that is totally different.

Lactose intolerance is where you are deficient in the enzyme needed to break down lactose, which is the sugar in milk, it is actually at much higher levels in breastmilk than cows milk and normally lactose intolerance doesn't start until you are in your early 20s.

Cow's milk protein allergy is where the immune system actually sees the protein as a threat and attacks it as it would any other invader.

So buying formula that is lactose free probably wouldn't help. The HA or the goats is more likely to (although goats milk protein is similar to cows milk protein so the same reaction can occur). And yep I would totally avoid soy as well unless you want little one to grow boobs

Make a note of all his symptoms etc and then if you need to see the gp about it you have something to show them, as they normally base diagnosis just on history at this age rather than testing them for it.

Hi KitKat,
Does Lachlan need thickner for his reflux? If so you might want to look into trying HA AR formula.
And I have found it is sooo much cheaper to buy formula from the wholesaler, which is Biolab. It's a phone order and they deliver to your house the next day. We were spending $200 a month on formula (Issy has De-Lact and Dom has HA & thickner for Issy) and since buying from Biolab it saves me an extra $20.00.
If you still wonder about it being lactose intolerance you should have a look at this website because there is actually 3 different types of lactose intolerance.

Kat, how did the doc know Lachlan was lactose intolerant? (And which doc did you go to?)
Campbell's excema on his head doesn't seem to be responding to the Xma-Ease cream. Sometimes he scratches it so bad he bleeds! I'm wondering if its an allergy of some sort? It started about a week or so before he started solids, so am thinking its possibly something in my breastmilk? But I can't think of anything new I've started eating.

Thanks Kat, yeah have been thinking today that a food allergy doesn't make sense. Only poss thing I can think of is that his towels get washed with ours, using Surf or Cold Power powder. The rest of his clothes and nappies get washed in Amolin Sensitive. So now everything of his is going to get washed in Amolin, and I'll see how that goes.
Otherwise I'm at at a complete loss as to what is causing it. I agree, its bloody complicated!

Hi

Our daughter is 4mnths and has eczema, she first started off with major cradle cap and had dry knees. She is breast fed but is topped up with formula. We initially started on normal formula but then went to goats milk which actually seems to have made no difference. The eczema started spreading, she gets red angry raised spots and has very dry skin over most of her body. The red angy stuff is mainly on her cheeks but is also on other parts of her body. We took her to a dermatologist who sent us to get a heel prick so they could test her for some of the basic allergies. We are still awaiting these results. I also was sent to get allergy tested. We are currently using creams prescribed by the dermatoloist, the main one is cetomacrogol cream for her dry skin. We have also been prescribed 1% hydocortisone for angry spots. I would go and see someone who will be able to give you answers and can actually get to the bottom of it if possible.   We don't know what is creating hers but eczema is in our family. I would get on to it ASAP. I put mittens on my daugher and have stitched on ribbons to tie them on as she was just pulling them off. For nightwear I use the gowns with mittens and have stitched up the ends she so can not scratch at night. Aqueous cream got rid of the cradle cap totally. This was the first cream prescribed by the doctor. I am looking for natural creams that work if anyone has any ideas as I do not want to continue with chemical creams. Though at this point I don't feel as though I have a choice for her comfort. Every nappy change she is attacking her legs with her hands and the other leg. I have to cream her all through the day to keep her skin from being so dry. I think ours is a bad case so don't freak out but do go and see a professional.    

Thanks for those ideas, I will try them.

In addition to my prior blurb. Her tummy looks like it has a rash on it, she gets this around her neck and under her chin as well but not always. Her back and shoulder areas have a lesser rash on them and are not so dry.   Her tummy, arms and legs are very dry without the creams. Her forehead was very dry and had the yellow cradle cap but is clear now I use the cream. We never had pussy head spots. Her legs and backs of arms do get raised red spotty areas. Her legs also get larger red spots more on her thighs. She can also get just red areas on backs of knees and elbows but not to often at the moment. This looks different to the red raised angy spots.     

The allergy tests are not always conclusive as someone mentioned earlier. The alternative is to cut out things one at a time eg dairy, then eggs, then wheat. When we get the allergy results back I will see if I need to do that. We have an appointment next week again so I will let you know what the results come up with and if any of the rashes are anything other than eczema. She did look at her the first time though and said eczema.

cuppatea wrote: KitKat I would ask to be referred to a paed if I was you, and one that knows about allergies as well. If it is an allergy, and I'm no expert but it does sound like it, then you will need to see a paed to get the authority number for the proper script formula so you may as well get in the system now. Unless you can afford to go private which is what we did cos I kept getting no where with plunket or the gp. I'm surprised he said lactose intolerant, there is actually more lactose in breastmilk than in cow's milk so it is very rare for babies to be lactose intolerant, it's normally a problem that occurs once people are in their late teens/early 20s (probably natures way of gently telling us we are too old for milk!).

Im surprised too.... she felt a bit threatened when I questioned it, I didnt want to argue. grr silly doc
Funny thing is DP dad is a paed!! lol... doesnt specialise in allergies etc though. I hope we have found the solution with Karicare HA though fingers crossed!

I've got some neocate, just trying to introduce it. She doesn't like it so I am mixing it with Goats.