Dairy Allergy

Elsa has had eczema since she was two to three months old. I wasn't too concerned about it until she gained enough fine motor skill to scratch it. And then there was the time that her neck, upper chest, and side of her face became infected...

When I came to realize that the discomfort was effecting her personality, I decided that I needed to take serious action to get the eczema under control and try to figure out her triggers. Our local GP and a dermatologist gave me some good guidelines on how to treat flare ups and what to do for general maintenance. We were lucky enough to also see the allergist on the Gold Coast who is a bit of a local legend so in mid-July, we found out that Elsa has a dairy allergy. I had suspected that was true b/c she refused to eat yoghurt and even broke out in hives the last time I tried to feed it to her.

Elsa and I have gone dairy free. Well, sort of. I avoid all of the obvious dairy but I haven't been as careful at dinner or birthday parties. Unfortunately, I think that Elsa pays the price after those occasions so I need to be a bit more diligent. I just hope that we don't discover more allergies in the next few months!

Elsa soaking in her bath oil

Elsa's eczema at its worst (I cringe just looking at this picture. Thankfully, she is much, much, much better now).