atopic Excema/Eczema in children

Savvy_Sue

If anyone's mentioned the National Eczema Society, I've missed it. Well worth joining! Because of course

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rosie383

I've been reading this looking for eczema advice. All very helpful, thank you.
The best peice of advice I can add is for any of you, or your friends, who may have another baby.
When starting to wean, always follow the 4 DAY RULE.
What this entails is very simple. Introduce a new food to your baby, then wait 4 days before introducing the next new food. Eg., start with some pureed carrot, only use this to begin with, then 4 days later, you can add in some pureed apple or whatever, then 4 days later, the next food and so on.
This means that if your child shows any type of atopic reaction at all, you immediately know which food caused it and you can avoid it for a few more months and then try to reintroduce it. This sort of reduces the need for allergy testing, obviously some kids may need this eventually.
Our dd1 suffered terribly with eczema from about 5 months, and i can still rmember the helpless feeling watching her suffer. DD2 started to have eczema from 4 weeks, when she was still exclusively breastfed. We followed the 4 day rule with her, and it was wonderful. It is so much different than 6 months down the line trying to 'cut out' a food which 'may' be causing the eczema. This really only works with weaning babies, not older ones who are already eating a wide range of foods, and obviously doesn't help if your child may be allergic to dust, cats etc.
Prevention is better than cure, so spread the word and see if it works. It is completely 'risk free', costs nothing, and may stop a lot of reactions in your future children.