Eczema in Infants
Eczema is a common problem of infancy and many mother have spent many
anguished moments dealing with itching, squirming, unhappy infants with
abnormal skin. The problem often appears on the face as patches of
reddish, scaling skin. As eczema worsens, the skin becomes more itchy,
red, thickened, and grooved, and may blister, weep, and crack.
The typical distribution of eczema is on the face, behind the ears, on
the fronts of the elbows, the backs of the knees, the hands, neck, and
trunk. Restless nights, irritability and crying are prominent. When the
child begins to crawl, the exposed areas especially the extensor aspects of
knees are affected. Diaper rash is a common association and may be severe. The eczematous infant has food allergy until proven otherwise. If
formula-fed, then the formula is to blame and needs to be changed. Cow's
milk is a common cause and switching to soya based formulas may help.
If the infant is breast fed, then mothers diet contains the problem
food and need to be changed. A decision has to be made based on the severity
of the infant's conditions. If the eczema is mild and the infant is
otherwise health and happy, the best decision will be to use steroid cream
sparingly to control the skin eruption and monitor the child carefully for
further symptoms.
If the eczema is more severe, especially if other health problems are
associated, then mother should consider doing the Alpha Nutrition Program
herself.
She
retreats to Phase 1 foods for 10 days or longer - until her breast-fed
infant settles and the skin begins to heal. It takes several weeks for the
skin to heal completely and unfortunately, if mother indulges in small
treats the infants skin may react strongly and postpone healing for more
weeks.
When is is time to introduce solid foods to the infant, the phase 1 list
of Alpha Nutrition foods serves as the guide to first foods. If the infant
does well with mother eating phase 1 foods we are more optimistic that these
foods will be well-tolerated when they are fed to the infant directly.
We suggest reading the book Feeding Children. For quick and inexpensive
access you can order and download the PDF file at Persona Digital (click yellow
button below). Once you understand the proper approach to diet revision you can
order the Alpha Nutrition Program as your guide. While some infants "outgrow"
their eczema in a few years, more often, the food allergy problem persists and
expands into more serious problems which can be lifelong. It is important for a
mother to learn how to manage this tendency as the child grows.
Order Book feeding Children
