Re: 7 month old with eczema around mouth the worst

Hello again,

I have found that when introducing foods to infants, in particular those who suffer with eczema, a more gradual introduction process may be necessary. Introducing one new item on a 3 day or weekly basis may give a better indication of possible allergens; as well as giving the body time to adjust to the new food introductions. Based on your list of food items, I would consider withdrawing the sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, prunes and plums for now. It was with the birth of my brother's youngest daughter (my third niece) that alerted me to the need to pay closer attention to the introduction of certain foods into the diets of infants who suffer with eczema. At 9 months old and with the introduction of pears into my third niece's diet, my youngest niece experienced her first eczema flareup. We soon realized the pears as culprit, eliminated pears from her diet, continued with our Burt's Bees cleansing regimen, and her skin recovered in 3 days. We have found that apples have been our nieces (consistent with all 3 nieces) best start when introducing fruits (they've produced no eczema flareups). We also found that if bananas and oranges were introduced too soon into my youngest niece's diet, she would develope a flareup as well. We observed that fruits with a high Sugar content or citrus fruits had to be introduced into the diet at a much later age progression. The youngest niece is now able to eat bananas without occurence; however we've reserved oranges until the 2 year mark. Regarding pears, we may not introduce them back into her system at all. If so, it will be done at a much later stage in her life. Other mother's have reported eczema flareups with the introduction of pears as well. Although, I don't like to generalize food allergens (because of the uniqueness of each eczema sufferer), I wanted to caution you regarding the pears due to the flareups we've (and others) have experienced.

You can purchase the Borage Skin Therapy at Whole Foods market. It's a national health food chain. You can visit their website at wholefoods.com to use the store locater and find a store near you. Also, you can visit the Shikai website at shikai.com to purchase the items over the internet. You can apply the lotion all over the body (face included). However, be sure to test the lotion on a small area before applying it to the whole body. The breakout around the mouth and cheeks may also be due to the teething. If you find a Whole Foods market near you, they have a natural teething gel that you may want to consider as well.

You mentioned that your other children never suffered with eczema. Has anything different been done since the birth of your son? (For example; moving, painting, or the introduction of a new pet.)

aunty