I don't WANT to go dairy free!

[blondeviolin]

When Hyrum was a wee guy, he showed signs of some kind of food intolerance or allergy. He pooped blood and was constantly screaming. I dropped dairy and his symptoms improved dramatically. He has milk now sparingly, but whenever he does, he is more prone to ear infections.

 

Enzo is almost two months and went through what I THOUGHT was baby acne. All of my babies get it around 4 weeks or so. But his started to spread down his neck, onto his arms and even on his legs. It's not really on his torso or anything. It's not going away. And it responds to hydrocortisone cream. All of those things make me think that it's pretty significant eczema. And I KNOW that is often caused by a dairy allergy.

 

But going dairy free is really hard for me. A lot of my easy, go-to foods taste better with cheese or butter or use milk. Being dairy free really drops like 90% of my favorite foods out of my diet. I don't eat/drink a ton of milk, but I like do like the occasional cheese or sour cream or what-have-you.

 

:(

[LibraryLover]

Do you live in a dry area? I have a child with allergies (pollen, trees, dander) who had eczema as an infant. Dc is a winter babe, and the dryness was an issue. We started to use a humidifier after returning from a trip to Miami when dc was 3 mos old. In less than a day in the humidity, my dc's red, raw skin turned into soft, perfect skin.

[blondeviolin]

Do you live in a dry area? I have a child with allergies (pollen, trees, dander) who had eczema as an infant. Dc is a winter babe, and the dryness was an issue. We started to use a humidifier after returning from a trip to Miami when dc was 3 mos old. In less than a day in the humidity, my dc's red, raw skin turned into soft, perfect skin.

 

Not super dry - Oklahoma. In fact, we've had TONS of rain lately.

[NicAnn]

I felt the same way. Five years later and I can't even smell milk without getting grossed out. It does get easier, truly easy.

 

Hummus and avocado ate good replacements. Daiya cheese is great too!

 

Congrats on the wee one!

[Rebecca]

Don't know if this will help...

but we love daiya as a cheese alternative, toffutti sour supreme or better than sour cream as a sour cream alternative, and earth balance as a butter alternative. We use fleischmanns unsalted "sticks" for some baking needs.

 

Dairy free is hard.

It really is.

 

There are other food allergies that manifest as eczema in infants (like egg).

[LibraryLover]

Not super dry - Oklahoma. In fact, we've had TONS of rain lately.

Yikes! You've all had enough to worry about!

 

Is the baby in air-conditioning at all? Rain can fall without significant humidity left in the air. (Thinking about CA, especially.)

 

Sorry about the dairy if it comes to that. :(

 

ETA: I was really curious, so I checked the outdoor humidity levels in FL v. OK. OK was 64%, and FL was 95%.

 

Has a study ever been done on eczema and climate? And has eczema increased in humid climates due to AC?

 

I only ask because I am thinking of the dramatic difference I saw in my own child. I also have a friend with horrendous psoriasis which improves greatly when in the humidity if FL

[LucyStoner]

On the up side, you will likely notice an improvement in your own skin as a side bonus of going dairy free. I hate milk and rarely ate dairy. When I dropped it all, I was amazed. I have always enjoyed good skin but it was that much better from ditching dairy.

[blondeviolin]

Yikes! You've all had enough to worry about!

 

Is the baby in air-conditioning at all? Rain can fall without significant humidity left in the air. (Thinking about CA, especially.)

 

Sorry about the dairy if it comes to that. :(

 

ETA: I was really curious, so I checked the outdoor humidity levels in FL v. OK. OK was 64%, and FL was 95%.

 

Has a study ever been done on eczema and climate? And has eczema increased in humid climates due to AC?

 

I only ask because I am thinking of the dramatic difference I saw in my own child. I also have a friend with horrendous psoriasis which improves greatly when he visits his parents in Texas.

 

He does spend time in AC, but only recently because our AC was broken for a while. The house was pretty humid then. LOL

 

We definitely have had quite a busy spring!

Don't know if this will help...

but we love daiya as a cheese alternative, toffutti sour supreme or better than sour cream as a sour cream alternative, and earth balance as a butter alternative. We use fleischmanns unsalted "sticks" for some baking needs.

 

Dairy free is hard.

It really is.

 

There are other food allergies that manifest as eczema in infants (like egg).

 

It's interesting you mention egg allergy...my oldest was allergic to eggs as an infant. I wonder if the baby is too young to be tested for food allergies via RAST testing???

 

I should probably take him to the doc to have the rash documented and truly diagnosed.

[lexi]

My daughter had the very same symptoms. It was dairy! Argh! We are dairy free now. It's gotten easier. But it can be icky sometimes. We lived in OK at the time too :)

[VeganCupcake]

My DD had these tragic little eczema spots on her face when she was a baby, and getting really strict about being dairy free (which I am really supposed to be committed to anyway) made them go away. It was the only thing that helped long-term. Topical stuff made no difference.

 

She is now almost 5 years old and can tolerate some dairy. A couple of weeks ago though, we were on vacation, and she had a lot of cheese, yogurt, and ice cream and her skin looked just awful and was horribly itchy in her elbow and knee pits. It has taken almost two weeks to get her back to normal by cutting out all dairy.

 

We use a lot of coconut products and olive oil to replace dairy. Cheese cannot be replaced, IMO, so we just live without it. I know it's hard.

[milovany]

OTOH, I had a baby who had significant eczema (worse that the picture you posted, extremely crusty ears and neck and other) and I made no dietary changes whatsoever. There was no internet then, LOL, so I didn't know I was supposed to look into what I was eating. We used sulfur on it and she got over it. Once in awhile, she'll get a patch, but she can treat it with Eucerin or coconut oil, now. We are a HUGE dairy family and all of us eat a LOT of cheese, milk and eggs.

[~Amanda~]

I think you're really lucky to be "cutting out dairy" at a time like this, there are so many new recipes and options out there as people are finding out more and more about food allergies and whatnot. Check out the Whole 30 and "It starts with food" anything paleo (marksdailyapple.com is a good one) and see what you can find in regards to substitutions that you wouldn't turn your nose up at. it doesn't have to be a hardship for you

[Alte Veste Academy]

I think you're really lucky to be "cutting out dairy" at a time like this, there are so many new recipes and options out there as people are finding out more and more about food allergies and whatnot. Check out the Whole 30 and "It starts with food" anything paleo (marksdailyapple.com is a good one) and see what you can find in regards to substitutions that you wouldn't turn your nose up at. it doesn't have to be a hardship for you

 

I do agree with this, and I LOVE my cheese. If only I could have just kept my cheese...and some half and half in my coffee. My sinus problems and year-round "seasonal" allergies completely disappeared when I recently quit dairy. I had a little pity party. I had quit wheat, felt great, went paleo (except for the dairy), felt even better, begrudgingly quit dairy and yowza, I was like a new person. Body aches that I didn't even know I had went away and, yes, my skin looked better than it had in years. The best thing for me was to go through my tried-and-true recipes to find what I already loved that didn't have dairy. That gave me a happy starting point, allowing me to focus on what I could eat that I love instead of what I couldn't eat.

 

Anyway, it is definitely worth a shot. Congratulations on your wee one. :)

[melbotoast]

I had to eliminate dairy with both of my kids. It sucks! DD was also allergic to soy as well. It does clear my skin up and I'm much more conscious of what we eat now, but it's just hard.

[Hypatia.]

I'm dairy-free for the Caboose, which makes 5 of 5 for me sensitive to both dairy and soy. It runs in my dad's side of the family, so after #1 I wasn't surprised. There are definitely better non-soy dairy alternatives out there now than when DS1 was born. I use the Daiya shreds like a PP mentioned, while they aren't awesome they are better than nothing on my taco! There are some good coconut milk ice creams out there too, though you have to watch some brands for soy. Hemp milk is my favorite substitute in my latte.

[joannqn]

I'm sorry. I was dairy free for about a year with my first and six months with my last. After a year of being strictly dairy free, it got easier as I learned to cook more, but I never stopped craving it. We probably would be better off without it, but no one but my husband is interested in given it up.

[MyLittleWonders]

It was hard at first when we went dairy free (the whole family; we were already gluten free). But, three years later and it's just a way of life. Like others have said, Daiya cheese is a good substitute (we just had "alfredo" sauce tonight), Earth Balance for butter, and we love almond milk (Whole Food's brand is the best in our opinion, followed by Silk's almond milk - all unsweetened/unflavored). I want to make our own this summer when I have time to think. ;) Dairy free has made a difference for us and is worth it, but I can't lie and say I don't wish I could just have some "real" cheese or sour cream (we don't substitute that one as I have yet to find something that is either soy free - we very low soy - and/or free of any artificial ingredients - we are also Feingold).

[Spryte]

We are now dairy free. It's not easy at first. It will get better.

 

DS is allergic to dairy, among other things, and when I find myself tempted to cheat - it helps to remember his test results. In DS's case, his dairy allergy is not as severe as his other life threatening allergies, so I tend not to take it as seriously. But it shows up on bloodwork, increases his asthma and eczema, and so we avoid. Having those positive tests helps keep me on track. Would testing help you?

 

 

[Eagle]

If you have an allergist I would check with them before eliminating anything. Five years ago my older ds had eczema like you pictured and I was told to eliminate dairy, soy, wheat, egg, nuts, and a few other things. It was really difficult. Ds turned out not to be allergic to nuts, outgrew the soy allergy, and is finally able to eat dairy in very small amounts. He is still anaphylactic to wheat and egg.

 

My baby ds now has eczema too and my first reaction was to go off those foods again. But when we met with older ds' allergist he recommended against it this time, unless there is blood in his stool (which there is not). He said research in this area is still underway, so they don't have anything concrete to back up the ideas, but the previous advice of cutting out allergens has resulted in a lot of children who now have significant allergies. So this time around I am eating little bits of dairy (some butter one day and then a couple days of no dairy) and hoping it helps his body develop a tolerance to it.

 

What they are finding with new research is that allergies may be developing through food being introduced through broken skin (eczema) before it is introduced orally into the digestive tract. Keeping the skin coated in a cream that creates a barrier (which skin with eczema has lost the ability to do) is really important.

 

I'm not a doctor, so obviously this is not medical advice. But I wanted to let you know it is important to check with an allergist before trying any elimination diets as the research in the field is changing.

[duckabell]

I'm sorry. I've done this with two of my three kids (the first and the third) and I'm still mostly dairy free while I'm nursing my baby. Hugs. It's funny, but ever since I went off dairy with my first I don't crave ice cream or milk. The thing that's the hardest for me is the cheese.

 

This time around is going slightly better as I am trying to focus on making foods that I can eat rather than making a pizza and leaving cheese off of my portion. So this week it's a lot of salads, couscous, wraps, sometimes Asian food, soups, meat and veggies, and so on.

[mommymilkies]

I had several dairy allergic babies, too. Unfortunately, it seems after going back on dairy, that a dairy intolerance or allergy explains MY symptoms, as well, so I'm off of it for me now. Not fair!