Milk: It Does a Body....Not Good?

Ever since Addy was born she's always had sensitive skin.  We were almost constantly battling with diaper rash, especially after she started eating solids.  But recently, she has developed an eczema type rash on her face and a little bit on her hands.  The rash on her face has been there for several weeks, although some days it looks worse than others.  We've been putting Aveno Baby Eczema cream on it, and hoping for the best.  We gave up on cloth diapers so that we could constantly slather Addy in diaper cream, because recently her diaper rash has never really seemed to go away.  Like the rash on her face, some days it looks worse than others.

We didn't think too much of all of this until two days ago when both the face and diaper rashes were flamingly red.  I mean, it was so bad that strangers at the mall asked me what was wrong with her face.  And changing her diaper that day was a nightmare.  I would dread it because her bottom was so raw and she was in so much pain that she would scream the whole time.  I wanted to break down and cry right along with her.  There is nothing worse than hearing your child cry in pain. 

Normally Addy is so tough with her diaper rash, and she acts like it doesn't bother her (other than itching).  She'll be happy as a clam, playing with toys while I change her little red tushy.  Not Wednesday.  That day was what made Mike and I really stop and think about it.

We had always chalked it up to thinking that babies just get diaper rash, and our little girl has some very sensitive skin.  But after Wednesday, we started thinking that there has to be something that is causing these severe flare ups.  And it's likely to be a reaction to some type of food that she is eating. 

So we talked about all of the new foods that she has had lately, and the list is long.  We recently decided to try to transition her to eating what we eat, so she's had a lot of new stuff.  Cow's milk, eggs, bread, etc.  Let me just mention that she has had all of this before, but in very small quantities.  A bite of our eggs, a sliver of our bread, etc.  And then she'd eat the pureed food that I made her.  Since we're trying to get away from the purees, she's started having things like scrambled eggs as her full breakfast, a cup of cow's milk as her drink, a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, etc.  In fact, that was her exact menu on Wednesday.

After researching the matter online, we found that the most likely culprit is the cow's milk.  Cow's milk is the most common food allergy in children.  And although Addy had been drinking it in small amounts for a little over a month, Wednesday was the first day that she finished an entire sippy cup of milk by lunchtime.  And I was so proud of her!  She is normally not very interested in drinking, and we need to constantly encourage her.

As you know, I have been weaning her off of nursing, and now that I only nurse her once a day, she really needs to start drinking more.  At this age, she is supposed to get a minimum of 16 oz of fluid a day, and I do not think she gets that.  So that is another thing that I have been concerned about lately.

But, back to the topic at hand.  So on Wednesday she drank an entire cup of milk and had yogurt for a snack (which she has every day).  And her face and diaper rashes were worse than ever, plus she had diarrhea.  Now, is the diaper rash from the diarrhea and the diarrhea from the cold that she had?  That is what I thought at first.  Or are the diarrhea and the rashes from a possible milk allergy/ intolerance?  It's so hard to tell.

I called the pediatrician and they suggested that I cut out cow's milk for a few days and give Addy soy milk instead.  So I went out and bought some soy milk on Thursday.  Have you ever tried soy milk?  Well, I hadn't, so I figured I ought to try it before I feed it to my baby.  Yuck :(  It is not for me.  But I gave Addy an ounce or so in a bottle and she downed it without a problem.  Then before bed, I mixed it in with some breast milk for her bedtime bottle and she drank that without any problem.  So luckily, she's fine with the taste of either soy or cow's milk.

But I am really hoping she's not allergic to cow's milk.  I know this is selfish, but what a pain that would be!  Always reading labels and trying to find soy based products.  Ugh.  At least a lot of kids outgrow cow's milk allergies by age five. 

Today marks day two of no cow's milk products, and though Addy's diaper rash looks much better, I haven't seen a dramatic improvement in her face.  And her diaper rash may be better simply because she doesn't have diarrhea anymore.  Who knows.  We're gonna give it a few more days and re-evaluate.  I'll keep you all posted :)