Food Allergies and Rash

Hi R.! My son is allergic to all dairy products, and he does develop a rash if he ingests any, but it also comes with a slew of other problems (vomiting, itchy/swelling throat, a lot of mucus production, etc.) This sounds more like a contact reaction to me (like maybe the detergent mentioned earlier?) You could always switch to soy milk for a couple weeks and see if it makes a difference. My advice would be to not switch off both the milk and cereal at the same time, so it will be easier to figure out which one is causing it, if either of them.

About the contact reaction thing...my 2 year old is allergic to cinnamon, but it's only a contact allergy. If he eats foods containing cinnamon and he gets it on his face, belly, etc., he breaks out in a red rash...it's not real rashy-looking, though, just red and splotchy. He doesn't get it much, either, if we wash the cinnamon off right away, but if it's left on his skin, he gets red and itchy. Good luck--it can be hard to figure out the culprit sometimes :)

Dear R.,

It is very possible that your son has an intolerance to milk and/or wheat gluten. These two foods can cause a great number of problems in children. Not only can they cause physical problems, but in some cases they can cause autistic-like symptoms. This happened to my son when he was small. When I cut down on these foods, he became a completely different child. Although medical experts are still debating the effects these foods have on a child's mental health, I've heard of other parents who have had the same or similar experiences with their children.

My advice is to first find a new pediatrician, since the physical effects of milk and gluten are widely recognized by the medical community. Second, I strongly urge you to see a specialist in allergies and food intolerances.

C. H

I am not sure if you tought about this possibility, but when I was doing Daycare a little boy I watched had a rash on his stomach and around under his arms and it would spread to his face and legs. It turned out to be an allergy to the laundry soap his family was using.

Is it bothering him? My son had this from about 9 months till 11 months. He had it on his stomach, lower back, upper thighs and his neck, but he never seemed to be bothered by it. (but then again, he was a really mellow kid) I really hadn't changed anything in our habits (laundry soaps, bath soaps, etc were the same) so I assumed it was food related as well. Nothing I did seemed to make it change, and it didn't seem to bother him at all, so I just didn't worry about it.

His doctor also had no idea what could have caused it, but said as long as he wasn't in any discomfort to not worry. It went away after about two months. It came back periodically for a day or two till he was about three, but we haven't seen it since.