# How do I know if it's eczema or just a drool rash?



## aliah79 (Mar 29, 2005)

Hey mamas,

My poor chubby boy has been battling a rash for months now. He's very chubby and drooly and we assumed it was from drool. It's just under his chin and now on his chest where his double chin touches. First time the ped said just to keep it dry and try cornstarch baby powder. Second time, different ped said to try cortizone cream. Third time, our usual ped said it looked like it was infected with yeast and to try lotrimin...or mix both lotrimin and cortizone cream together. Some days it looks ok, it's pale pink and dry looking. Other days it is bright red and wet looking and looks like it's spreading. Nothing seems to make a difference, and then I stop using the creams and it looks better, then all of a sudden it looks worse. It's much worse after a shower... and someone recommended to try putting yogurt on the rash if it's yeast....so I figured I'd try it, and well in about 5 minutes he had a new rash of bumps and red splotches all over his rash and all down his chest. Oh and before the bath I did see a new patch of rash further down his chest near his nipple, so it's spreading. I just don't know what to do anymore! The ped said there's nothing else other than the creams that I can do. I don't want to keep slathering him in cortizone and anti-fungal... so then I was wondering if maybe it is eczema instead of a yeast rash.... I'm just worried this is going to be ignored until it's really badly infected or it's going to cause permanent skin damage... should I go back to my ped and see about a referral to a dermatologist? Do you think it might be eczema? And why would he react so quickly to the yogurt on the skin... could he have a milk allergy? I've been EBF him..he's almost 7 months and I've never noticed anything 'off' before....

Can anyone help?

Thanks mamas!


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## mimim (Nov 2, 2003)

Try cutting out dairy from your diet. Sounds like he might have a problem with milk if the yougurt made the problem worse. I'm assuming it was plain yogurt.

My DD has had a rash very similar to what you're describing, only mostly in her diaper area. It started around three months and had about a ten day cycle. It started out bright red and sometimes bumpy and gradually got better until it was almost gone and it would flare up again. It spread a little more each time it would flare up. No doctor EVER thought it was a problem or suggested anything other than slather it with creams. It was diagnosed as eczema.

I finally cut out all dairy and it's 99% GONE! I noticed it getting better about a week after eliminating milk products. It only flares up now if we accidentally ingest dairy products. About 2 weeks ago DD stole 1 piece of her brother's Pirate's Booty and broke out in a big way.

We also do Cod Liver Oil and probiotics, which definitely seem to help.

I have problems with resistant yeast and always assumed this rash was caused by yeast too. I'm still thinking there probably is a connection.

If it is a yeast rash this link :http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/thrush.asp describes
how to use Grapefruit seed extract topically. It's about treating nipple thrush, but skin is skin


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## jpeony (May 4, 2006)

My son had something similar. He had both eczema and a drool rash. It started as a small drool rash on his chin, but then he got eczema b/c I was on antibiotics for mastitis and thus gave him frozen milk. Apparently, something in my milk was causing his eczema. When both skin conditions came together, it spread from cheek to cheek and became inflammed and weeping. That's when we took him to the pediatrician who diagnosed it as staph. After 10 days on antibiotics, both oral and topical, he recovered, but the rash was still there and began looking wet again. We took him to the pediatrician and she said it was fungal. We used nystatin, but after two days of use, it got worse. We took him back to the pediatrician. She said it was most likely a rash and to go back to using bacitracin, the antibiotic ointment AND to keep his chin dry and to air it out. With bacitracin and extreme effort in preventing his drool from going past his lips, his skin healed beautifully. It's been 2.5 weeks since then and his skin is beautiful, however, his drool rash is coming back. I resisted using bacitracin, but it's now getting worse and I'd rather use topical antibiotics than giving him oral ones if another bacterial infection should occur. Since your son seems to heal and then get worse, I don't think it's staph. Try to pat it dry and air it out! I folded my son's collars into his shirts to keep anything from rubbing up against his chin. Also, have you tried different creams on his face to treat his eczema? I tried many lotions before finding Neutrogena hand cream. THAT seems to work for my son. It also could be what you're eating. They say dairy, nuts, seafood, chocolate, etc can be big culprits. You can try removing one from your diet and see what happens. I took a blood test to see what I'm allergic to. Apparenly, I wasn't allergic to any food, so it might be something I'm eating that only he's allergic to. I also believe hot/cold foods may be the culprit. I don't mean temperature wise, but in the chinese way. For example, ginger, fried foods, spicy foods, etc are hot foods. Watermelon, chrysanthemum teas, seaweed are examples of cool foods. I think my son's eczema was caused by me eating too many hot foods. I haven't really changed my diet except I now make sure I eat plenty of cool foods everyday. It might be coincidence, but my son's eczema is gone...it's just a drool rash now.


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## EBG (May 3, 2006)

My 2 YO also had bad eczema as an infant. Started on hands, cheeks, also cradle cap, then when she was older, it popped up behind knees, elbows and trunk. I was on a bad diet (high carb, low fat) but didn't know it had to do with diet and esp. my diet. She had a bad flare-up in December when she was sick and the antibiotics made it worse. It makes sense: antibiotics also kill good bacteria and weaken the immune system. I started her on an SCD type diet (see SCD and Healing the Gut thread) plus high fat, CLO, sunshine (for vit D) and voila, she is 99 percent ezema free. (In 4 months). My other bf baby is doing great, no rash, and I think it's due to the fact that I'm also grain/sugar/dairy free except yogurt.
It sounds like your babe is allegic to milk if the skin reacts to topical application. So you should also stay away from milk as the proteins go through breast milk. Start with dairy and see if there's improvement. If not, try the SCD. Many mamas are doing it for yeast and eczema which are probably connected.


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## aliah79 (Mar 29, 2005)

Thanks for all teh advice mamas!

I stopped used the cortizone and lotrimin. I wash his rash with either vinegar/water or grapefruit seed extract/water and then slather on Weleda Canlendula cream. It's almost gone! I'm so happy









But I think he also has eczema...he has these patches on his cheeks that turn bright red and bumpy some days, also on his knees and sometimes hands. He seems to be very sensitive...he had a suck of my lime popsicle - lime juice and sugar - and his face broke out wherever it touched it...bumpy and red... with that and the topical reaction to yogurt I worry he's going to have food allergies or something









Anyway, my sack of potatoes needs me - thanks for all the help!


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## Missy (Oct 22, 2002)

If he responded like that to the yogurt, chances are he's not "_going_ to have food allergies"--he has them. I would continue with the skin care treatment that seems to be working now and eliminate all traces of dairy from your diet--consistent and constant exposures to an allergen can not only lead to a more severe allergy but also compromise his chances of outgrowing it later. Those exposures--even in trace amounts--can keep his immune system on hyper-alert. The rash that appeared following the exposure to yogurt may have been hives and that can indicate a more serious, systemic response. At first, an elimination diet can seem very challenging, but it gets easier.

Missy


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## aliah79 (Mar 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Missy*
If he responded like that to the yogurt, chances are he's not "_going_ to have food allergies"--he has them.

You're right. I just don't think I can possibly cut out all traces of dairy. We eat a lot of it... maybe that is selfish to say, but it really is something I can't even wrap my head around.


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## Missy (Oct 22, 2002)

It's not as hard as it seems to you right now







I loved cheese and ice cream, but our son is anaphylactic on contact to dairy so all dairy products have been out of the house for about three years now. He's just recently stopped nursing so I've been on an elimination diet for over three and half years; his allergens include dairy, wheat, soy, corn, egg, banana, avocado, coconut, peanut, tree nut, barley, quinoa, most fruit, latex.... and, really, after the initial shock and struggle to figure out which foods were safe, we settled in... We're very, very aware of food now and how it's processed...not always a bad thing. Since he's pretty much done nursing, I've been able to add a few things back into my diet, but it will be a long time before I try dairy again. It might seem overwhelming now, but it gets easier!


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## aliah79 (Mar 29, 2005)

I guess I just wonder why it would be showing up now at 7 months instead of earlier? I'm a picky eater and am very sensitive to tastes, and the only reason I eat some healthy things is because of butter, cream, cheese, and sour cream... I can't do soy b/c of my thyroid. I refuse to use margarine... I guess I need to look into this more...


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## Missy (Oct 22, 2002)

But it's not just showing up now. You said in the original post that he's been battling a rash for months. And sometimes it can take a few months for a baby to show symptoms of an allergy. When my son's eczema first started, at two months, we thought at first that it was a heat rash.


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## Missy (Oct 22, 2002)

Oh, since we can't do soy either, we bake using rice milk, and since most margerines also have soy and corn, we stock up every year at Passover on Mother's Margerine. There are two versions and the one that's made for Passover is dairy-, soy- and corn-free and has a texture and taste closer to butter than any margerine I've ever tasted. It's the only one that's safe for our son, so we now have freezer filled with it, hoping it can take us through a year of baking.


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