From the Book of Skin

Eczema in Infants

Eczema In Children

Eczema as Food Allergy

Eczema Main Page

See advice for parents

The Cure

Eczema Rescue

• Eczema is a common problem of infancy and many mother have spent many anguished moments dealing with itching, squirming, unhappy infants with abnormal skin. The problem often  appears on the face as patches of reddish, scaling skin. 

• As eczema worsens, the skin becomes more itchy, red, thickened, and grooved, and may blister, weep, and crack. 

• The typical distribution of eczema is on the face, behind the ears, on the fronts of the elbows, the backs of the knees, the hands, neck, and trunk. 

• Nocturnal restless, irritability and crying are prominent. When the child begins to crawl, the exposed areas especially the extensor aspects of knees are affected. Diaper rash is a common association and may be severe.

The eczematous infant has food allergy until proven otherwise. If formula-fed, then the formula is to blame and needs to be changed. Cow's milk is a common cause and switching to soya based formulas may help.

If the infant is breast fed, then mothers diet contains the problem food and need to be changed. A decision has to be made based on the severity of the infant's conditions. If the eczema is mild  and the infant is otherwise health and happy, the best decision will be to use steroid cream sparingly to control the skin eruption and monitor the child carefully for further symptoms.

If the eczema is more severe, especially if other health problems are associated, then mother should consider doing the Alpha Nutrition Program herself.

 She retreats to Phase 1 foods for 10 days or longer - until her breast-fed infant settles and the skin begins to heal. It takes several weeks for the skin to heal completely and unfortunately, if mother indulges in small treats the infants skin may react strongly and postpone healing for more weeks. 

When is is time to introduce solid foods to the infant, the phase 1 list of Alpha Nutrition foods serves as the guide to first foods. If the infant does well with mother eating phase 1 foods we are more optimistic that these foods will be well-tolerated when they are fed to the infant directly.