Sunday, December 14, 2008

Santa Baby has Hives


My poor baby boy has somehow inherited very, very sensitive skin from someone...not me. Not Tadd. He has "severe eczema" (doctor's words) that just won't go away. We use soap, shampoo, detergent, and wipes made for sensitive skin. We use 2 different medicated creams. We put Vaseline on Brogan's body after his baths to lock in moisture. I don't wear any perfume. And if we miss ONE day of this, his skin breaks out with teeny little bumps and red patches. It's pitiful. Now if that isn't enough to make you feel for the little guy, he's now got a weird hives thing going on.

This is where I admit to being stupid and ignoring all the baby books I've read just for a cute picture.

Last Friday night, Tadd, Brogan, and I were out with some friends at Cold Stone. We got vanilla ice cream with oreos and thought we'd give Brogan just a taste. Well, he loved it (of course) so we gave him a couple little tastes. Stupid Stupid Stupid!!! I know. While I was busy taking pictures of his cute little "oooh it's cold" faces, my friend mentioned that he had some red spots on his face. I thought it was just where he scratched himself. I looked again and there were several red spots with white bumps in the center- all around his mouth, by his eyes, and on his right fist that he sucks on. I freaked out on the inside, thinking, "Okay, the ER is only one exit away" and "Where's the doctor's phone number?" Within minutes, the hives were gone. Whew!!!! I was so thankful it didn't get any worse. I figured that either a) the milk in the ice cream caused the hives or b) he has a nut allergy and the ice cream must have touched a nut. I don't know.

Fast forward 36 hours later to Sunday morning. I was busy getting ready in the bathroom and Brogan was playing in his bouncy seat beside me. I glanced down at him and he had more Hives on him. There was NO ice cream involved this time. Nothing! They were scattered on his face, behind his ears, on the back of his head, but none on his body. Again, they went away in about 5 minutes. This has gone on for 10 days now. It never gets too bad, but it's just WEIRD to me. This morning while I was nursing Brogan, he broke out severely around his mouth again. I am going to call the doctor tomorrow because it's gone on long enough. I'm scared he's going to have to be tested for allergies at some point. It won't surprise me if he has some food allergies (I'm allergic to pecans and walnuts) since the doctor thinks Brogan MIGHT have asthma. If you have any words of wisdom (besides the obvious "Don't give a baby ice cream") let me hear it! :)

Hives around Brogan's mouth

The red blanket that I thought was cute for pictures...

Red blanket = BAD IDEA!!!

9 comments:

The Vernon's said...

Aww, poor thing! I hope he gets better! The pictures are still cute, even if they went against the baby books! I'll be praying for little Brogan! Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Brogan sounds a lot like Noah. From the time Noah was 2 mos old, he's had mild asthma and ezcema. The ezcema was a lot worse when he was little. He still get really dry patches on his upper arms, thighs and cheeks (face). I used Aquaphor (made by Eucerin) all the time when he was younger and it seemed to help quite a bit. I also washed all his clothes in unscented detergent (like ALL Free Clear). Another thing I did was only wash his face with warm wash cloths, never with ANY soap on it. Hope this helps!

Jennifer said...

Don't beat yourself up! You're a great Mommy :o) ...and even with hives, he's just the cutest little thing! (I'm sure the ice cream was worth every little red bump, too!!)

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I stumbled across your blog and read this post. I have two children with eczema, and I myself have severe eczema. I have had it ever since I could ever remember. Here are some tips I've learned through the years and use with my kids too!

1. Lotion (we use Aveeno, fragrance free) at LEAST 5 times a day. It sounds like overkill, but truly works well to keep the eczema out of the severe stage.

2. you can use cortizone cream daily...but if you over use it then it doesn't work at all

3. Chocolate (of any kind....oreos, syrup, candy, any kind) and caffeine make eczema go crazy! It makes it horribly itchy and hard to deal with

4. vegetarian diet (or a diet with lots of fruit and veggies) is best. The more high water foods you get in your diet, the better the eczema is.

5. Shower daily, to remove toxins from your body. People think if u have eczema stay away from water, but I think that's where lotioning at least 5 times a day comes into play.

anyway, hope some of this helps you and baby! I got all this info from my childrens pediatrician as well as my physician. Good luck! and Happy New Year. If you have any questions you can email me at rachel@cinemachurch.us

Gunfus said...

I am reading your blog, because our baby is sounding like your case. It once in a while breaks out in hives and we are not sure why. We are just starting to introduce her to solids and rice, seems to be okay, but so far we have tried barley and oats, and she is breaking in hives around her mouth mainly, so I thought it was because we were scoping the food around her mouth to hard, or just the food being around her sensitive skin. But today my wife called to say that after feeding her this afternoon, she developed a hive on her forehead, and for sure she didn't have any food splatter up there. It is hard on us because we don't know if she is allergic to a food or not? [sigh] What to do..? [sigh] being a parent.. is fun and I love it, but there is all worries.. how do we know when is severe? should I check on her at night? [sigh] so many questions..!

Anonymous said...

Hello there, my name is Fernanda and I have a 1 year old baby that has been diagnosed with severe eczema whne he was 5 mo old...it such a frustrating thing...i have to apply aquafor everytime i change his diaper and it get to a point where i couldn't handle anymore and take him to a dermatologist and they prescribe an steroid and another mositurizer which was very helpful...so everything was fine until last week where he start with the eczema again and developing this horrible hives!!! Sometimes I think is food but sometimes they appear from nothing...i don't know about you, but sometimes i cry and pray to god to help me because this is so frustrating and it hurts so much to see your baby in a situation like that...but well hope your baby is fine...and i'll be praying for both, your and mine. God bless, Fernanda.

hives causes said...

The hives can be caused by medication, foods, and insect bites. When the rash lasts less than six weeks, it’s called “acute urticaria", when lasting more than six weeks it’s referred to as “chronic urticaria.”

Another Ice Cream Mom said...

I was wondering if you ever learned what caused the hives with your baby boy? I have an 8 month old boy who has started breaking out in hives around his mouth and face (a few scattered on the rest of his body, too), and we can't seem to figure out what is causing it. I have doctor's appointment scheduled for tomorrow, but thought I'd see if you could tell me what you found out. Funny thing is: I fed him ice cream a few days ago (not a good idea, I know), and he broke out in a few hives. And he also has broken out in hives when he was just sitting in his bouncy seat - hives that appear and then disappear within 10-15 minutes. Very strange. Anyway, any words of advice?

Becki said...

Another Ice Cream Mom- hi! My son is now 4 years old and has since been diagnosed with food allergies (eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts). He got tested when he was 18 months. He still has eczema but I took him to a pediatrician dermatologist when he was one and they gave him some awesome ointment. Our regular ped wouldn't prescribe it since it's "stronger" but it clears my son's skin up overnight. It's called Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment 0.1% It came in a 1 lb. tub which I've only had to get refilled twice in 3 years.

I hope that your son gets some relief and the hives go away for good! Just so you know, my little boy doesn't get hives anymore with ice cream yay! :)