Lucas was born 3 years ago in April. We thought having #5 would be easy. There wasn't much we hadn't already dealt with already with the other kids. So we were all excited and thought this would be a breeze!
Like most babies, Lucas developed baby acne after he was a few weeks old. His actually seemed to be a little worse than my other children and he seemed to be bothered by it. At night he was restless and would rub his face on his bed or his blanket. When I took him in for his 2 month check-up I mentioned this to the Doctor. The Doctor wasn't alarmed and said it would go away soon. And he also said that there was no way that Lucas is itching or hurting from it. So I went home and waited for it to go away. But it didn't. In fact, it had spread to other parts of his body and I could tell that it was definitely itching.
A couple of months later we were back for another appointment. This time the Doctor said it looked like eczema. So my question was "what is he allergic to?" The doctor said that he didn't have food allergies because I was breastfeeding him and that sometimes babies just have eczema. While I wasn't satisfied with this answer, I still went home and followed the Doctor's instructions. I changed our laundry detergents, soaps, shampoos, lotions, diapers, wipes,etc. I bought all of the expensive stuff that was hypoallergenic and fragrance free. I was willing to do anything to make my baby feel better.
Changing our household products did help Lucas a little but didn't help the eczema. His skin seemed less irritated but it still wasn't clear. It broke my heart. Babies are supposed to feel soft and smell like baby powder. My baby was rough and smelled like anti-itch cream.
At about 10 months I decided to stop nursing and start giving Lucas formula. But with every formula I tried we had more problems. He would cry with a tummy ache, his skin would break out more or he would throw it all up. So back to the doctor we went...AGAIN. ( Running to the doctor all of the time is very out of character to me. I usually try to take care of the kids' common ailments at home and if that doesn't work then I will call the doctor. If that doesn't work I will make an appointment. I have found that if my kids aren't very sick when I take them in, they will be by the time we get home. And the last thing that I need in my house is for 5 kids to get sick from the germs at the Doctor's office!! ) By this time Lucas was a year old and it was time to start whole milk. The doctor encouraged me to mix the milk with the formula to see how he tolerated it, Especially considering the trouble he had been having with the formula. That's what we did. And he tolerated it ... 0%. He kept throwing it up immediately.
I made another doctor appointment. But this time it wasn't with the Pediatrician, but an Allergist. I needed answers and I needed my baby to feel better. I spent just a couple of minutes with the allergist telling him what had been going on and he called the nurse in for an allergy test. Before she completed the grid on his back he was crying in discomfort and the results were already showing. His allergies... corn, peanut, egg, and milk.
Since then we have tried to avoid these allergens. Peanut is a common allergy which makes it easier to avoid. Milk isn't too bad because he can have soy milk and it can be substituted in recipes. Egg is a little scarier because it affects his breathing rather than his skin. We now have to carry and epi-pen. Corn is extremely difficult because it is in EVERYTHING!!! It hard to avoid.
Lucas has not outgrown any of his allergies yet. We were hopeful that he would by age 2 or 3 but in fact, a couple of them are worse. He has also developed asthma which usually goes hand in hand with allergies.Daily breathing treatments are apart of our routine now. He even knows when he needs one and will say "Mommy, I need a tweetment".He also knows what his allergies are. If he is offered something he knows he can't have he will say "that's not my kind". But he is also learning to use that on things that he CAN have but doesn't want. Like I'll say "Lucas eat your green beans" and he'll say "its not my kind".
Like most babies, Lucas developed baby acne after he was a few weeks old. His actually seemed to be a little worse than my other children and he seemed to be bothered by it. At night he was restless and would rub his face on his bed or his blanket. When I took him in for his 2 month check-up I mentioned this to the Doctor. The Doctor wasn't alarmed and said it would go away soon. And he also said that there was no way that Lucas is itching or hurting from it. So I went home and waited for it to go away. But it didn't. In fact, it had spread to other parts of his body and I could tell that it was definitely itching.
A couple of months later we were back for another appointment. This time the Doctor said it looked like eczema. So my question was "what is he allergic to?" The doctor said that he didn't have food allergies because I was breastfeeding him and that sometimes babies just have eczema. While I wasn't satisfied with this answer, I still went home and followed the Doctor's instructions. I changed our laundry detergents, soaps, shampoos, lotions, diapers, wipes,etc. I bought all of the expensive stuff that was hypoallergenic and fragrance free. I was willing to do anything to make my baby feel better.
Changing our household products did help Lucas a little but didn't help the eczema. His skin seemed less irritated but it still wasn't clear. It broke my heart. Babies are supposed to feel soft and smell like baby powder. My baby was rough and smelled like anti-itch cream.
At about 10 months I decided to stop nursing and start giving Lucas formula. But with every formula I tried we had more problems. He would cry with a tummy ache, his skin would break out more or he would throw it all up. So back to the doctor we went...AGAIN. ( Running to the doctor all of the time is very out of character to me. I usually try to take care of the kids' common ailments at home and if that doesn't work then I will call the doctor. If that doesn't work I will make an appointment. I have found that if my kids aren't very sick when I take them in, they will be by the time we get home. And the last thing that I need in my house is for 5 kids to get sick from the germs at the Doctor's office!! ) By this time Lucas was a year old and it was time to start whole milk. The doctor encouraged me to mix the milk with the formula to see how he tolerated it, Especially considering the trouble he had been having with the formula. That's what we did. And he tolerated it ... 0%. He kept throwing it up immediately.
I made another doctor appointment. But this time it wasn't with the Pediatrician, but an Allergist. I needed answers and I needed my baby to feel better. I spent just a couple of minutes with the allergist telling him what had been going on and he called the nurse in for an allergy test. Before she completed the grid on his back he was crying in discomfort and the results were already showing. His allergies... corn, peanut, egg, and milk.
Since then we have tried to avoid these allergens. Peanut is a common allergy which makes it easier to avoid. Milk isn't too bad because he can have soy milk and it can be substituted in recipes. Egg is a little scarier because it affects his breathing rather than his skin. We now have to carry and epi-pen. Corn is extremely difficult because it is in EVERYTHING!!! It hard to avoid.
Lucas has not outgrown any of his allergies yet. We were hopeful that he would by age 2 or 3 but in fact, a couple of them are worse. He has also developed asthma which usually goes hand in hand with allergies.Daily breathing treatments are apart of our routine now. He even knows when he needs one and will say "Mommy, I need a tweetment".He also knows what his allergies are. If he is offered something he knows he can't have he will say "that's not my kind". But he is also learning to use that on things that he CAN have but doesn't want. Like I'll say "Lucas eat your green beans" and he'll say "its not my kind".
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