Seven Areas to Consider

1.  What is the pH of the formula your baby is drinking?  We need to be alkaline internally.   Regarding infant formulas, metabolic acidosis is common in babies fed cows' milk-based formula.  Eczema can be an emergency expulsion of acid toxins through the skin, and this is one huge reason why so many babies have eczema and then outgrow it when they get off the formula.  Also, if the mother's milk is too acidic, so will the baby be.  Soy can be debatable too (it has enzyme inhibitors).  Go with goats milk for infant formula and for kids (it's alkaline).  If we are acidic inside, we get sick.  Midwives make their own formula, and I'll provide links here soon for that formula.

2.  Go to the probiotics link, learn about good bacteria, how the lack of it may attribute to eczema in unborn children, and how infants, children and adults can clear up eczema with the addition of it.  From Dr. Greene's web site:  "Many children with eczema have flare-ups triggered by what they eat or drink. In one fascinating study, a group of children who received Lactobacillus had significant improvement of their eczema within one month." 

Babies can only handle the Bifidobacterium infantis bacteria (that's the good bacteria that normally resides in the healthy infants.  That is why there are probiotics just for infants.  The Life Start product found in the Eczema Mall under "Probiotics" is just for infants.  Midwives develop their own infant formulas and add LifeStart to it.  Baby aren't ready for other bacteria until they are four years old, because the good bacteria that normally resides in the GI tract of an adult is not the same as for babies.  If there is an infection, babies could handle acidophilus for a week, but that's about it, and only under the supervision of a professional.  Again, babies aren't developed enough for other bacteria until they are 4 years of age.  It's a very different story with adults, though.

3.  What is the pH of the products (skin and hair) that you are using on the children.  Many products are alkaline, destroying the acid mantle ... and that's one reason many babies suffer from fungal diaper rashes.  We need to protect the acid mantle. 

4.  Is the infant eating lots of cereal containing gluten, or is the child eating a lot of pizza, breads, bagels ... foods containing gluten?  Not saying take the pizza away from kids but am saying try thin crust and maybe substitute tortillas for bread and many food, dairy and gluten allergies are from an imbalance of bacteria in the GI tract.  See, also, the most common allergenic foods in the Diet web page.

5.  Is the infant or child getting essential fatty acids like those in flaxseed oil?  I dip my tortillas in flax oil (celtic salted), and my son and I both love it ... hard to get oil down any other way.  Also, crushed flaxseeds mixed with Grade B maple syrup are a nice tasty treat.

6.  Stress is an issue.  Please see the Stress page for more ...

7.  The feeling of clothing on the skin is significant, so please see the clothing web page and cut off all the tags (because they itch and feel terrible).

If you can change any one of these, it could make all of the difference.  The nice thing about it is that since there are so many things we can do, you don't need to be perfect in anything.

NIH Note:  Sebum levels during the first year of life.  (See, also, DHEA web page.)

See, also, The Inflammation Free Diet Plan