Diaper rash...grossness ahead, but your advice is welcome

fairdinkum · May 2014

Every since we started solids, LO seems to be allergic (I use that term in a generic sense) to her own poop. As soon as it touches her skin- literally within seconds- she breaks out into a rash. It was really bad with oatmeal cereal. Her poor butt actually turned purple and swelled up. As soon as we stopped the oatmeal the swelling stopped and she was back to normal. Her pediatrician was not concerned and said, "Don't give her oatmeal again for a few months." (duh). But this seems to be happening with other foods now as well: Bananas, avocado, peas, green beans, mango, and pears. We only give her one food at a time, and we are careful to space new foods out by three or four days so there's no overlap.

What should I do here? I don't believe she's actually allergic to ALL of these things, but for some reason her body does not appear to be handling them well. The only food she tolerates with no problems whatsoever is squash. She has eaten nothing but squash and her regular formula for a week straight and been fine, but she can't live on that forever.

amief · May 2014

I don't have any great advice but I am in a similar boat. We finally have gotten to a point where he can have peas and apples, so at least I can rotate 2 things and mix them together in different amounts to give some variety. We have gone through: bananas, avocado, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash and he's had either the diaper rash or a regular rash from all of them.

I sometimes wait longer than the 3-4 days if LO is still having a reaction. Otherwise I have just been keeping a log of what I have tried and how LO reacted and I keep trying new things. Every few weeks I have called the Ped to see what their thoughts are on the progress and what they recommend next. (ie. should we start trying some of these again? go see an allergist, etc).

If LO has had a reaction to that many things I'd probably call Ped to see what they suggest.

fairdinkum · May 2014

Interesting about the pH levels, I did not know that. I will do some research to see if there is something I should be doing to alleviate that. Also, I didn't think about yogurt. That's a good suggestion and I will give it a try in a few days when her butt is clear again.

krose0713 · May 2014

Maybe you could try foods in the same family as squash? I know a lot of the organic pouches have pumpkin based purées.

luvboston · May 2014

Sounds like contact dermatitis and possibly a sucrose fructose issue in the poop. I would consult a derm andhave the poop sent for testing.

Albertsgirl1982 · May 2014

I haven't had this but agree with seeing a dermatologist and mixing foods of different pH.

JamieWM · May 2014

I think your pedi should be consulted again on "what should you do here"....but if you think it will pass, LO had a tough time adjusting to a formula he was on a few months ago....my pedi gave me a "recipe" to protect his bum w desitin, hydrocortisone, bacitracin and a tsp of mylanta. It was very helpful until his body adjusted. Is your LO fussy and uncomfy? The poor thing.