Diaper rash or allergy

[Doj]

I have a 10.5 mth old who what I thought has been a diaper rash. Her rash is a red circle around her anus.
The rash has been there for about a week and it does not seem to go away with ointment or diapers changes more frequently.
After doing some reading, I read that this red circle is actually and allergy, not diaper rash.
She doesn't seem to have any other symptoms at all and I haven't introduced any new food lately so I am at a complete loss as to what to go.
I can't get the rash to go away and I don't know if there are some food that I should eliminate and see if it goes away.
Am I hurting at all by continuing to feed her the same foods that appararently are causing the allergy?
Any suggestions

[Mom to M&M]

How long has it been since you introduced dairy?

[Doj]

Well I introduced yogurt, cheese about 2 mths ago. I have never noticed this before. I have not introduced cows milk to her, however she has been on a cows milk formula since birth (not sure if that makes a difference)
I was too thinking that it could be dairy as she use to eat a of yogurt and then stopped. She refused to eat it so we stopped and I just started giving it to her last week again. I can't pinpoint exactly if the rash started when yogurt was reintroduced. I am going to stop with the yogurt and see if this clears up at all.
Thinking about it, I did give her cream cheese this morning, so that was probably not the best thing. I probably should lay off that I guess.
Are dairy allergies usually outgrown?
We do not have any in the family at all

[Mom to M&M]

I would eliminate all dairy and see if that makes a difference. It wouldn't be an allergy if she's on cows milk formula but likely an intolerance, which usually are outgrown.

[Doj]

Is it common to accept for the body to accept a food and then the body rejects it? (intolerance)

[Missy Lou]

have you asked her doc?
melissa

[Mom to M&M]

Yes, intolerances can develop after the food is eaten for a certain amount of time and the proteins build up in the body.

[Doj]

Took her off dairy for 3 days and the rash is still there(except cows milk formula), but significantly less red. I have noticed that she is also very tired all the time.
She is also teething.
If dd had an intolerance to dairy, would her cows milk formula contribute to it? The reason i ask is that she has continued to take the cows milk formula while eliminating all other dairy and the rash is a lot better. Would this really be an intolerance?

I am going to reintroduce dairy tomorrow just yogurt an see if the redness comes back. If so, off to the Dr we go.


Thanks

[binxyboo]

As Stacy said, it can be caused by teething, but the red ring around the anus is also an allergy sign. Riley gets it if he drinks milk, but not with yoghurt....

[jenisgump]

Hey-
Just another tidbit.  Three days isn't enought time for the dairy to be out of her system.  When I was bf I thought maybe my lo  might have had  an allergy and I stopped eating everything except for rice and chicken for 2 weeks to clear my system.  I would keep her dairy free for at least a week and 1/2.  You might see achange then.  Hope this helps.

[binxyboo]

Yes, two weeks minimum off all dairy, even any dairy derivatives

[Doj]

That's very interesting about the length of time to get out of the system. Since I am seeing a major improvement in just 3 days, maybe it is teething, but she is still very tired. no improvment there.
I will continue to keep her off dairy. Just having a really hard time as dairy was a major part of her diet. Struggling with food and snacks for her.

Thanks for you help!

[binxyboo]

It can take up to two weeks, but of course some see improvement sooner

[Doj]

sorry 1 other question. Since I wont be giving dd dairy, should I be supplementing with something else for the calcium loss? I would think that introducing something new such as soy might not be the best idea

[binxyboo]

We are on calcium enriched rice milk. You can google it and it comes up with lots of suggestions.

[yaya]

another possibility is thrush. My LO had(s) terrible nappy rash which just wouldnt go no matter what we put on him and turns out its thrush (are there little spots on his bottom or just generally red?)

[Doj]

I still have her on formula and will continue until her first Birthday or until we see the DR.
Since I am going to keep her on formula do I need to add additional calcium such as rice milk or is the formula enough?
Her daily intake of formula has decreased to about 18-20oz a day. I have read conflicting information as to whether this is enough or not.

Regarding the rash. It looks like (this may sound funny) someone took a bright red rubber circle stamp and stamped her bum. I do not see darker and lighter spots, its the same colour all over, however again this morning, its looks better.

[Mom to M&M]

That's definitely enough dairy intake at her age. FYI, a GREAT diaper rash cream is Pinxav - http://www.pinxav.com. In fact, I use it on DD every night just as a preventative and of course it's great for any flare-ups...

[jenisgump]

My lo had horrible diaper rash untill I started making my own wipes.  I'm sure you might not have to go this far, but if the rash continues you might want to try it out.   

2 cups of water- we used distilled
2 tbspn johnsons baby bath
2 tbspn of baby oil
1 roll of paper towels- we use the type that has 1/2 sheets and bounty as the brand if you use this type of towel double the amount of all the liquids
1 tupperware container large enough to hold a roll of paper towels

place all the ingredients in the tuband roll the paper towels around untill the mixture is totally absorbed and then let sit for a couple of hours. 

I hope it clears up soon

Jenn

They are so much softer and they smell so much better.

[Doj]

Thanks to everyone for all of your help!
Had a look at the rash about 20 min ago and looking even better than earlier today. Wil contine to keep her off dairy (except for formula) and see if it clears up completely.

[binxyboo]

Glad it's on the mend!

[Doj]

Well its been awhile since I updated.
Took dd off dairy for 2 weeks and noticed that the rash had improved, but did not go away. Noticed that a new white ring was starting that looked like a yeast infection.
Last week took dd to the DR and the DR said that it was a yeast infection and gave me some cream. Since the red ring was still present, asked DR if she could have an intolerance or allergy to a food. She asked if there was diarrhea or stomach upset, I said no, and she said that this is just a yeast infection.
I have been using the cream for about 1 week (combination of anti-fungal, diaper cream) and the white ring is gone, but the big red circle is still there and has shown no signs of improvement at all.
DR if off still Jan 2 so I am thinking that I take her off dairy till then and see if there is any improvement or keeping things the way they are.