"A-Choo!"--"Bless You."

This morning as I was taking my much needed shower, and had just finished soaping up my hair, I looked down to see a tiny 1 year old hand reach past the shower curtain and pull down on the knob of the cold water.

The ensuing screech that resounded around the walls of the bathroom startled Remewin into tears. I wasn't feeling a lot of remorse for her at that point since I was trying to get some cold water back, but the thought did cross my mind that it would have been a perfect picture to take of her little arm.

There was no body, there was no head... just this tiny arm slowly moving toward it's mark.

What a kid she is! Everyday brings me such joy and delight in this home.

* * *
Recently we've been struggling with a rather nasty case of diaper rash. Remewin has not been able to kick it. When she went in for her one year appointment in July I told the doctor about it... again. We've been through two prescription diaper rash creams, at least four tubes of over the counter stuff and have fed her jars and jars of yogurt... nothing was working.

She was red and bleeding and every diaper change left her sobbing in our arms.

I tried letting her run around diaper-less all day--after day after day after day-- and it would help, until she had a dirty diaper again. Then we would be back at square one.

About two weeks ago I got online and read up on diaper rash. Nothing seemed to give us any more than we already knew, except for one little note at the bottom of one website. One little note about food allergies. I grabbed on to that.

We began discussing our clues:

1) No diaper rashes while I was nursing.
2) Diaper brand has never changed.
3) Baby wipe brand has never changed.
4) There has been no major diet changes since the rashes began... except one.... the milk.

This was an entirely possible answer to our problem since I am allergic to milk and so is Albowin.

So the trials began.

That day I ran down to Wal-Mart and bought some soy-based toddler formula. When I got back we handed Remewin her first ever taste of soy. She didn't even bat an eye to the taste difference.

From past experiences with Albowin I knew that if it was a milk allergy the changes would be immediate. Much to our surprise, relief and chagrin within three days Remewin's rash had improved.

Now when I say improved, I mean we went from the worst rash imaginable to a regular diaper rash. No longer was her bum bleeding, no longer was her bum bright red and tender.

That was about a week ago. The diaper rash is not fully gone. The spots that were the worst for the longest (like for months) are still red. We're still not convinced that the milk is the entire issue, but it looks like a main contributing factor.

I cannot believe the power that cows milk has to throw the digestive system into distress! Nor can I believe the myriad of ways it presents itself in the human body.

When I was a child I spent years with stomach pain, my mother took me to specialist after specialist to no avail, then at about 12 years old it clicked in her head and she started me on lactose free substitutes. That was the first time in my life I went without stomach cramping for any long period of time.

Albowin was very colicky. His infancy was, in a word, difficult. Then someone (not a doctor) recommended taking him off milk... the change was OVERNIGHT. No joke.

Even Vicbowin's eczema showed marked improvements when we tried it out on her (except she refuses to drink soy milk... so we don't push it with her).

Now don't get me wrong, I love milk! As an adult I can handle it pretty well (except when I'm pregnant oddly enough) but some of my children can't.

Do your kids have issues? Have you ever considered a milk substitute? What allergies do you suffer from? Did you know that asthma, eczema and allergies are connected?

Comments

Terésa said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Terésa said…
Carter had a cow milk allergy too. He out grew it when he was about 4 or 5... before he started school. We tried the soy milk, and he was o.k. with that, but we also tried goats milk. He like the goats rather than soy. You can get it in a powder or in a jug. We got ours in a health food store.

My sisters little girl had a bad rash like that and they found out she has a hard time with gluten. Not full on Celiac disease but just has a hard time preprocessing the gluten in some foods.

Glad you were able to give her some relief!
Amy said…
We just don't drink milk in my family. I've never liked it from the time I was a little girl and I don't believe kids need it. Unless you buy organic milk there are all kinds of crazy gross things in a gallon of milk. Not to mention it is more expensive than water, which is what we drink. My daughter does eat milk with cereal and my husband likes a glass when he eats cookies.

I have a sensitivity to gluten that causes me some problems because I just can't let go of my carbs. :-)
Myya said…
The little hand reaching in reminds me of my littest. She hasn't ever messed with the water though... thank goodness!!
Oh my goodness about the diaper rash, good for you for being proactive & continuing to figure out what is going on. Luckily my girls are not allergic to anything.
Jessica Bair said…
I've never been a big fan of milk. If I drank it as a kid it always felt like a rock hit my stomach. Occasionaly I would drink chocolate milk but I had t drink it slowly. Bianca got terribly constipated with reg milk so she always drank soy after I weaned her. Ava and Joseph got gassy and fussy if I had milk while nursing. I had to use lactose free milk on my cereal and lactose free ice cream. When I weaned them they had to use lactose free milk until about age 3. Not sure why cheeses and yogurt didn't bother them. Probably the makeup of them. Gretel gets a tummy ache if SHE eat ice cream. She isn't bothered by my using reg milk or ice cream while nursing. How long ago did you wean Remewin?
My baby has an intolerance to the protein in milk and soy. It's not a true allergy, because babies grow out of this by 1 or 2 years old. But, for now, I'm nursing her and if I so much as eat something including a trace of milk or soy she poops blood. I drink almond milk and she's fine with that. If you think that milk isn't the whole issue, you could try taking her off soy too. I know odds are fairly high that if a baby is intolerant to milk, they'll be intolerant to soy too. That's awesome she's getting some huge relief though, that diaper rash sounds awful.
Lisa said…
Asher has had diarrhea for well over a week. It's bad.

I had the inspiration to limit his milk to just a few ounces watered down heavily. Bingo. Still crossing my fingers. But so far, so good.

I love milk, but when it doesn't work, it's bad.

I'm allergic to Ester C vitamin C. I break out like I have acne.
Lisa said…
Never mind.

He just went in the tub. Goo.
Unknown said…
I had to quit eating dairy when baby Rosalee was little...colic!

Your post makes me think I should be careful switching her to cows milk at age one...

My friends little girl had a milk and egg allergy that made her super sensitive. You couldn't touch her, and she NEVER got in water, they had to sponge bathe her. They modified her diet and it's way better. Weird.

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