XP: It has to be the oatmeal! Another F/U to "Relieved and even more frustrated"
So I took LO into the pedi again about the rash and saw the doc that I saw the first time (that said it was just eczema) again. Once again he tried to say he thought it was just eczema. He was of no help and I will not be taking LO to see him again.
I asked him if the rash could be from the oatmeal. I told him how I had been using J&J Vanilla Oatmeal baby wash (oatmeal is the last ingredient so there isn't much in it) when all of this started. She started with a very mild rash and he said it was eczema. So we began putting Aveeno Baby Eczema treatment (oatmeal is the first ingredient) on her 3 times a day and her rash got so much worse. Then we stopped that along with the rice cereal and her rash went away. Then we started feeding her oatmeal and her rash came back. I asked him if it could be the oatmeal and he said that it was probably just a coincident and to keep feeding her the oatmeal. So we fed it to her again and her rash got worse so I stopped feeding it to her. Surprise, a couple days later and her rash is almost completely gone. It has to be the oatmeal!
I am thinking once her rash has been gone for a couple days to try the rice cereal again since she was on it for almost three weeks with no problems before. Also I am thinking about taking her to see an allergist. Is this a good idea? Is it necessary? WWYD?
Re: XP: It has to be the oatmeal! Another F/U to "Relieved and even more frustrated"
An allergist may or may not be much help right now. Allergy tests for food are hit or miss on accuracy, especially in LOs under 1-2 years old. We had atopic patch testing done for Ari & while it was more accurate than other tests for him, it was still mixed results & we had to challenge & food log everything.
If it's just oatmeal, I wouldn't stress much about it - see one if you want some peace of mind, but I think you have your answer. If it ends up being a bunch of others, then you should definitely see one.
AHHH! I'm sorry, but your post has made me crazy and I have to respond!
I had some minor environmental allergies as a child that were misdiagnosed by my doctors and lead to serious chronic health problems. My parents were told I had a compromised immune system. I was an adult before I realized what was causing my chronic bronchitis. Lack of understanding about allergies by doctors is kind of a sore point for me...
You are the mom, you know best. If you suspect your LO is allergic to oatmeal, keep it off her skin and out of her diet. You could take her to an allergist, but as PP mentioned, it might not do you much good. It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on what's going on, and the allergist may not be able to do much for you except confirm what you already know. That doctor is obviously not listening to you.
Too bad.
If it were me, I would exercise a little extra caution as I introduce new grains to LO's diet and take really good notes about any reactions she has. Poor LO. Hopefully she doesn't have any other allergic reactions in the future...
If you think she's reacting to oatmeal, be careful when introducing wheat. If it's a gluten reaction (not oat-specific) the same thing is likely to happen when wheat. (You won't likely know until you try.
Allergy tests under 2 years of age really aren't effective. At this age, your most accurate test is going to be trial and error. If she reacts to oatmeal, don't use it, plain and simple.
At the end of the day, even if a doctor doesn't think it makes sense for her to be reacting, you as a mom know your kid, kwim?
And if it's a fluke, what is a few months without oatmeal going to hurt? If she's rash-free it's all good.