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Can formula cause a rash?

Hi all

Toby is 7.5 months and until now has been EBF. We have been dealing with rashes for a couple of weeks now and after a process of elimination it seems to be the formula which I have just started introducing for daytime feeds in anticipation of returning to work. We have tried two different brands but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

The funny thing is that it doesn't seem to be a reaction to ingesting the formula, like an allergy, but a reaction to the formula actually being on his face! When we try to give him a bottle (getting him to take a bottle is a whole other story) he plays with the teat a lot and inevitably quite a bit of the milk dribbles down his chin. Within minutes he has a red blotchy rash in those areas.

Has anyone else had this?? What can we do about it? We are already applying a barrier cream to his face before and after feeds (including bottle feeds) and applying hydrocortisone at night which definitely seems to help. If this mild skin rash (which doesn't seem to itch or bother him at all) is the only problem do we need to stop giving him formula or will it just stop happening once he gets used to a bottle and stops spilling it so much?

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks
C image

Replies

  • hi hun my dd is only 10 weeks so can't really help, but when she was born she was on sma gold and everytime i made her bottle i would get really bad sneezing fit's and my sick would itch when i got the milk on me. i end up changing her milk to cow and gate as it was getting really bad. She was also getting really sick after/ durring bottles with the sma, so i do think that certain milks agree with certain people.

    Maybe speak to your doctor or hv?
  • hey mrs my ds1 came out in eczema with formula and also rash round his mouth when it was on his chin etc try infasoy???? good luck with bottle im in the same boat : (
  • Hey Charlotte, one of the many issues we had when starting weaning Hugo, was a weird sort of rash coming up on his temples and under his eyes when I gave him anything with milk in it but the ingestion of the yoghurt/cheese whatever didn't seem to bother him, the only reaction seemed to be the rash. Because I had a dariy intol as a child, they tested Hugo for it and I spoke to a dietician at the Homerton. The tests came back negative for any dairy allergy/intolerance and the dietician told me that children's skin can sometimes react to things but have no ill effect on them whatsoever. She told me to keep giving Hugo dairy and see what happens. So I have and only occasionally now does he come up in that rash (it goes away really quickly and doesn't seem to itch or otherwise bother him) but usually he doesn't. So in our case it just seems to be his system getting used to new things.

    If it's not causing Toby any pain or discomfort, maybe just persevere with it and eventually his body will stop reacting? Are the formula milks in NZ the same as the ones you get here?
  • Hi Peeptoe - thanks, that's really reassuring image Will just keep on keeping on!

    It's really annoying but the formula brands here are totally different to the UK. The two main ones are S-26 and Karicare. I started on S-26 as I thought it was possibly owned by SMA (and therefore the same product) but I switched to Karicare after I visited Toby's daycare and saw that every single tub of formula in the formula cupboard (each parent provides their own for their child) was Karicare. That in combination with the rash convinced me to switch quick smart. He does seem to like the Karicare slightly better, although still won't drink more than a few mls at the moment, but has made no difference to the rash.

    It's things like this that make me wish we'd stayed in the UK!! He never had any problem with SMA when he was little. Sigh...

    C x
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