Or maybe it's atopic dermatitis or contact dermatitis or maybe it's an allergy of some type. Whatever it is, it is what I have been obsessing about for the past two months straight. Our eight month old daughter has extremely sensitive skin.
A couple of months ago, when I first showed it to the pediatrician, it was a few light orange dry patches on her cheeks and arm. She said not to worry about it because it's not all over her body. Well, now, two months later, it is. It is inflamed, red, itchy bumps that cover most of her body and that require medication when they get close to or past the point of oozing. It's heartbreaking to me to have to put antibiotics and steroid cream on her, knowing the risks, but even with half a dozen applications of shea butter per day and meticulous care for her that she doesn't touch and aggravate, it continues to worsen. The natural approaches, such as calendula cream, tea tree oil in coconut oil or shea butter and humidity, do not seem to do the trick by themselves. Now, strangers look at her and feel sorry for her, despite her good nature.
I continue to search for the source of the problem. We have ruled out all of the common IgE food allergies, after skin prick testing at a pediatric allergist/immunologist. The fact that it is not an IgE reaction indicates that this is probably not the type of eczema that will lead to asthma. The day she did not react to the skin pricks was a good day. We are awaiting the results of both her and my IgG blood tests to see if one or some of 96 common foods are causing inflammation in my or her body and therefore causing excess burden on her immune system. She has an appointment with the dermatologist and with our other pediatrician next month; in the meantime, we will continue to see a naturopath.
If I was not an obsessive cleaner before (I was!), I am now. The Dyson is working harder than ever and the floors are scrubbed. Is it people's dogs? Is it that we don't have a dog anymore? Dust? Pollen? Those type of environmental allergies are extremely rare in babies, but who knows. We don't have carpet but could it be the aluminum oxide coating on the cork and bamboo floor? Maybe it's all of the pesticides in her cotton clothes? Or maybe our gentle homemade laundry detergent was not gentle enough? I hate to say it but I have changed from cold washes to hot washes in Seventh Generation Free and Clear or Soap Nuts and from line drying to hot dryer drying and more frequent washing in general. Thank goodness I had already used cotton cloth diapers and wipes with water only because switching to those at this point in time would have been overwhelming in itself. And as far as personal care products and cleaners ... we ditched those long ago so that's one other thing off the list. And I only bathed her rarely, with no soap, so surely she didn't react to anything there ... or maybe she is allergic to some component in the plastic baby bath--who knows! Food dyes and other processed food ingredients ... we have not eaten those things since before her time. Goodness, maybe it was the one vaccine she received? I thought for a moment it could be latex, but after ditching the pacifier, I knew it couldn't be the cause. I have changed her baby food from a variety of the most nutritious foods for baby to squash and more squash, probiotic and more probiotics, just to simplify things. Because proteins from common allergens can get through breastmilk (one of the reason babies who are breastfed have fewer allergies), they can aggrevate skin in babies who are very sensitive to these. I eliminated dairy, soy, corn, gluten, oats, citrus, eggs, beef, fish, fish oil, and nuts for three weeks really to no avail. I continue to avoid them, just in case. I now know what it is like to shop and eat like a person with full blown allergies.
There are natural options that seem to work for some ... GAPS diets for babies to strengthen their gut lining / immune system, chiropractic and acupuncture to alleviate pressure from organs that may not be functioning to their fullest potential, and muscle testing for food and environmental sensitivities which can sometimes reveal results that lab tests cannot. And then there are more mainstream options to cope such as stronger medicated creams and internal medicines, frequent visits to the pool or bleach baths to combat resistant staph and yeast. As her skin continues to worsen, I continue to rack my brain for a cause and cure.
On a positive note, she is still our happiest baby, and all of our babies have been happy. I find myself thankful that it is not worse than it is and thankful that after having three children this has been our largest and actually our only problem. No one has had to go to the doctor for an illness. No one has had to go to the emergency room for an injury. Our baby girl seems to have a healthy immune system, like her brothers. She has had only two colds and has gotten over both of them. She poops. She pees. She says mamma, dadda, and babba, crawls, interacts, and pulls to stand. She is doing the things she is supposed to do. And in terms of her eczema, I am very thankful for the internet and all of the parents who have been through this before I. Many parents who have had young children with eczema have conquered it completely, and I remain hopeful that we will find the root of the problem and do the same.
