Eczema & allergies

Hi Everyone, I'm 20 + 3 and happy to say everything going well.

My husband (and his mother) both have bad eczema and my husband has allergy-related asthma and gets terrible hayfever.

I guess I'd love to get a sense (I know it wouldn't be a very scientific study!) of anyone here who has or hasn't passed their eczema on to their child and what can be done to help it?

I think I read somewhere that drinking milk during pregnancy can have an effect? Probably too late for that now - although I don't eat cheese and drink soy milk I'm not 100% dairy free.

And I'm definitely planning on breast-feeding (if I can) because I gather that helps?

Any insight greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[craftingfoxcub]

My baby, his father, and his paternal grandfather all have eczema, he is still breastfeeding at 15 months. I have no family history of eczema. So if it is a genetic disposition, it has come down his father's line, but it is hard to say.

(I'm sure, with determination, and armed with some idea of common issues that can mean breastfeeding gets off to a rocky start, and knowing where to seek help, that there is no reason you should be unable to breast feed. The hardest thing may be finding appropriate support. For example, someone trained in recognising and correcting tongue ties. Good luck.)

[Hidden in reply to craftingfoxcub]

Thanks so much - that is very helpful.

On the breastfeeding issue - the reason that I might not be able to is due to breast surgery many years ago. I hope that all will be OK but there's no way of knowing in advance.

[craftingfoxcub in reply to Hidden]

Fingers crossed for you. Xx

[Vixstix33]

Hi! My little monkey is 18 months and I'm 16 weeks with the second. I have asthma and hay fever and as a child eczema, all my mothers family do. My husband is also asthmatic! I have done nothing special in either pregnancy and with my son I panicked that he would have all of the above. He doesn't show any signs of hay fever or eczema, he wheezes slightly if he's been running around but so far we've had no chest infections etc unlike a lot of his friends. Its all a game of chance but I'm not sure u can influence it while pregnant although I understand why you want to. Its very common for babies to have eczema so don't worry Drs will refer u if necessary. I didn't breastfeed, my son just wouldn't so don't worry if u cant Enjoy your pregnancy and try not to worry about it, There's really not much u can do until baby is here xxx

[Hidden in reply to Vixstix33]

Thank you for such a comprehensive and comforting reply. Good luck with your number 2 and I'm happy to hear that number 1 is so well.

[LottyB]

My dad has a very severe allergy which brings him up in huge boils all over, and when its not bad it looks like nasty psoriasis. His daughter from his first marriage had severe eczema. So he was very worried when I was born, and when I was pregnant whether my baby would be ok. I get stress related eczema occasionally, which E45 can help, but other than that I'm fine. My daughter is now five months and has had a couple of little skin complaints during the hot weather, but now its cooling down, and with being careful what products I use on her, its pretty much gone. I use simple baby products rather than Johnsons, I find its a little less perfumed and is much gentler.

What will be will be. Its super common to have childhood eczema and grow out of it. Dairy can aggravate it, but doesn't usually cause it, unless its an actual allergy to dairy.

😊 you're doing great. X

[Hidden in reply to LottyB]

Thank you so much. How great that your daughter doesn't suffer too badly and thanks for the advice about Simple rather than Johnsons that will be very useful!

[LottyB in reply to Hidden]

I was reading the bottles whilst bathing Niamh earlier and the simple stuff I perfume and colourant free. Just has the natural smells of the herbs in it. 😊 and burts bees do lovely natural mum to be smellies, so might be worth a look. 😘 x

[lulah]

my husband has eczema, and so has my daughter, we used hemp body butter from the body shop and it cleared it up from crusty bleeding patches to completely smooth in 3 weeks

[Hidden in reply to lulah]

That sounds good too, thanks Lulah!