Allergies
I want to talk about allergies because sometimes we don’t have enough information or it is something totally new for us, for our little one or for our family.
You notice that your little one is allergic when the baby starts getting fussy all the time, when they develop eczema on their skin or itchy, red, dry or red bumps. Also when they have bloody stools or hiding blood on the stool.
Usually you see some signs of it starting around 3 months but it could be earlier than that, to be honest this happened to my little boy around 1 month old, the reality is the most critical barrier in baby's skin is from 0-3 months. Another peak again is around 5-6 months old and more children who are going to develop eczema will have it by 2 years of age.
The causes of eczema are genetic components, food or environmental allergens, but the good thing is that allergies are avoidable. We can mention the most common food and environmental allergies as dairy, gluten, eggs, citrus, tomatoes, dust, pets and metals.
To mention some of the things we can do to avoid allergies, the first thing is to have a diagnostic test. The different types of tests are skin allergy test, blood test, oral food challenge and biopsy, but before 6 months old you can not do any of those tests.
When the baby is so little the only thing you can do is to avoid the food you think is causing the allergies or perform trial and error, also avoid allergens like fragrance, parabens, allergic oils, etc.
For clothing it is highly recommend to be careful on what you buy because for example in North America flame retardants are added to children’s PJ’s and not just PJ’s, consider sheets and daily clothes that you have to change, some type of fabrics create heat in babies skin, itchy spots or rashes.
The best fabric for eczema and allergy prone skin is Pima cotton, this cotton is harvested by hand which helps retain the integrity of the cotton. Pima cotton is the safest and in its highest-quality form when it is grown organically and spun without the introduction of any chemicals.
You see allergies regularly in babies and it is time to think that your little one needs just the best, please pay attention what type of fabric you use, which type of products you use, be careful with what you eat or what you feed your baby to make sure you avoid a reaction. Baby’s skin does not need products, they are not meant to be stripped, babies have their natural coating and oils and we need to protect that!