food allergy question

[HoosierGal]

Hi girls,
Quick question about food allergy/irritation. DD is a 6.5 months old and she's almost 21 pounds. She likes her food! LOL! She eats oatmeal cereal and loves it and her fruits too, but not crazy about veggies mostly just likes peas and squash. I noticed that after a few days of squash she got a red slightly rashy looking area under her eyes. I mean in a line directly under her bottom eye lashes. We stopped the squash, tried other veggies same thing. We went several days with no veggies, only fruit and cereal and the rash went away. So we tried veggies again and the rash is there under her eyes. So I stopped giving her the veggies. This morning I gave her cereal and banannas and the rash is there....I don't know what's causing it or if it is even from her food. Maybe it is environmental? Just wondered if any of you moms had seen this before or had similar stories. I don't know what to do. She eats 3 times a day and has a bottle about 3 times a day. If she doesn't have food though she's really fussy and acts like she's starving. I hate to just give her cereal because she loves her fruits and some veggies....
Forgot to mention that when we tried sweet potatoes it makes her severely gassy...rip roaring gassy all night...but she loves them. I stopped giving them to her though because she acted miserable in the night.
Any advice?

[Nenmom]

Could it be heat rash? Does she sleep on her belly? Maybe the sheets on the bed are irritating her eyes?

[lablover2]

I'm wondering if it's something other than food. Have you happened to use a different lotion, powder, baby bath product, detergent or anything like that on DD lately? If so, I would discontinue those to see if that makes a difference.

As for my DD, she does get spots, little rashes, watery eyes, redness under her eye or both eyes sometimes, but I think hers is allergies in general. We live in one of the WORST places to live in the U.S. for allergies due to the high pollen count, etc. This has also been a bad pollen year for many places (more so than normal) -- I wonder if your DD is experiencing that.

Does it seem to itch or be bothersome to her? Have you used any meds (such as benadryl-- but don't use this w/o talking to pedi first!)?

I wish I had some insight and some suggestions. I hope it goes away soon so she can continue her yummy foods!

[HoosierGal]

Well...I didn't think heat rash...I guess it's possible. She sleeps with me at night and mostly on her back or side so I don't think it's the sheets.

I was wondering if it isn't just normal allergies. We have cats and a dog and maybe she's developing a sensitivity to them? Sometimes her eyes are puffy underneath. We go to the ped next week so I'll ask her about it then.

Thanks for your thoughts about this. I know kids get rashes and all kinds of stuff and it's normal...still don't like it. I just am hoping it is not food related!!

[lablover2]

Hope it's nothing serious. Let us know what the pedi says next week.

[Sonninit]

I was just thinking about you HoosierGal, hadn't seen any posts for a while and wondered how you were...

it sounds like it is related to the food, but with so many different ones, and such a localised rash, my immediate thought is if she's putting her hands in her mouth and getting her cheeks dirty with the food which might be irritating the skin from the OUTSIDE.

We had the same problem with sweet potatoes, plus constipation (which they have always had trouble with anyway)

[HoosierGal]

Thanks Sonninit, I have not been able to be on the computer much, and I miss being here so much. Most of the time I don't even have time to read to catch up let alone post!

DD is a pretty clean eater...she opens up wide and hardly gets anything on her most of the time. I try to keep her cleaned off while she's eating to see if that helps but it doesn't seem to matter. I've been noticing the last few days that after she has a bottle, all around her bottom lip and under her chin it looks irritated, red and rashy. The redness goes away but the spots are still there till next time. And that thing under her eyes...I just don't know. It's been there again for days and now I'm thinking it doesn't have anything to do with vegetables. Sometimes she rubs at it, but not very often. If it were an allergy to cats or dog wouldn't her eyes be read and watery? Itchy stuffy nose? She doesn't have any of that, just that rash under her eyes.
My mom told me I'm to obsessive, kids have rashes and irritants and I shouldn't worry. It's not that I'm worried so much, it's just that if its an allergy to something I want to know what it is...allergies can get worse...KWIM?
Anyway thanks for all the thoughts! I'll post again after her appt.