Breastfeeding, solid introducing and eczema kid.

I fully breastfed my son until he was 9 months and introduced solid together with breastfed until he was 17 months. The readiness for solid varies widely from baby to baby. The point here is to look at your baby, not the calendar. Between 6 and 9  months, your baby will give you some signs that he might be ready for solid foods. My son showed his readiness when he was 9 months old. He drank milk as if it was water, the normal daily milk intake was increased from 1,2 litter to 1,6 littler for a week. That was when I introduced solid to him.

There are many arguments regarding breastfeeding benefits towards eczema kids. A study from Taiwan suggests that longer breastfeeding may increase, not decrease, the risk of eczema. According to Breastfeeding Basics, a baby’s immature digestive tract isn’t prepared to handle a wide variety of foods until at least six months, when many digestive enzymes seem to click in. This is especially important if you have a family history of allergies. The protective protein IgA, which coats the baby’s intestines and prevents the passage of harmful allergens, doesn’t reach peak production until around seven months of age.The latter made more sense to my baby case. His eczema was very bad, the rashes would flare up each time I had the foods which are allergic to him (cow's milks and dairy products, eggs, oats, wheat, soy, sea food, tree nuts, peanuts). 

How I managed my son's eczema.

This was what his doctor advised: Apply steroid cream on the affected areas 2 times per day, continue to apply for a few days more even if the skin gets back its smoothness but not more than a week, apply plenty of moisturizer cream. Done as told, a week later, the skin got back the milky smoothness. And a week later it flared up again when I had another type of allergic food.

After having done my homework to understand thoroughly eczema, I realized that the way this doctor treated the eczema was not good, asked me to apply the steroid cream on the baby skin even the rashes were not there anymore as if this could cure the eczema "root". This was not an one time sickness, this will happen from time to time and we need to live with this a least for a few years. I don't want to overuse the steroid cream. Keeping itching under control is job No. 1 of any eczema treatment, the first symptom of an eczema outbreak may be an extreme itch, which creates a never ending hard scratching and causes inflammation in the area, which turns into a visible rash and triggers further itching, then serious infections followed. Bacteria can enter the skin through scratches and other open areas. 

I changed all his bed sheet, blanket, clothing into breathable cotton. When an eczema sign appeared, I immediately stopped the suspected foods and applied moisturizer cream on the affected areas few times a day. Waited until the night, only applied a thin layer of the steroid cream after his bath (before sleep) and continued to apply the moisturizer every 2 hours (my son required breastfeeds each 2 hours). I think that night time was the best time for the skin to heal. In the next morning, his skin condition still seemed controllable. I normally continued with the moisturizer only, no more steroid cream and tried to distract & stop him from scratching. The rashness was disappeared after a few days. The allergic reactions lasted badly for 15 months and gradually reduced. He is 2 years old now, has pumpkin-cheese for breakfast every morning and the allergic reactions appeared for a few minutes then disappeared by themselves without any treatment. Same for fish and other foods, but not peanuts.

Referals:

http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/articles/starting-solids-waiting-is-worth-it
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/07/13/us-breastfeeding-eczema-idUSTRE66C5Q420100713
http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a541297/baby-eczema-causes-symptoms-treatments-and-creams
http://www.everydayhealth.com/eczema/skin-care-routine.aspx