Eczema & dairy allergy

[Blos]

I don't want to hi-jack anyone else's posting so this may be repeating other messages - sorry.
My ds is 18 mths and has had eczema since birth. It started slowly but really started getting worse a few months ago. 1% cortisone worked for 2 days and then he was back to rabid scratching, bleeding, weeping, etc. I took him to a homeopath 2 weeks ago but progress with the remedy is slow - if anything, it's worse. I'm still bfing and have cut out all dairy - have seen some improvement in his skin in the last 24 hrs - so suspect this may be the problem??
My questions are: has anyone successfully treated eczema with homeopathy AND any suggestions for a dairy-free alternative to milk (I'm going to have to wean soon). I've read negatives for both goat and soya.
Any, any help gratefully received - I'm desperate, particularly as the itching wakes him at night.

[amidaiwish]

hi - has he had any formula?
is the eczema just on his face?

i switched to Babynat Organic Cow's Milk Follow on formula and DD2s eczema (mostly on her face, face used to get hot when i fed her) cleared up overnight....

if you have cut out dairy from your diet and it is improving that quickly i think you can be confident the dairy is a trigger. often with homeopathy too it gets worse first if they've got the remedy right so stick with it.

[Chandra]

We tried homeopathy. The only thing I can say is that it will only make a great difference if the doctor is a VERY good one. Unlike traditional medicine, remedies and doses vary according to the individual characteristics of the patients, the illness and how it presents itself. We have a good start when our homeopath was still under the tutelage of her supervisor, but as soon as he moved out of the picture the magic was over. However, when it worked, we could see a huge difference in just a couple of days.

I think avoidind dairy for 24 hrs may not be yet enough to be sure about milk being the culprit. I would continue avoiding dairy for a couple of weeks more and see what happens.

As for weaning him, there are plenty of alternatives to cows milk but if you are going to remove dairy from his diet, it is very important to have the advice of a nutritionist/doctor with interest in allergies/dietitian as milk is, at this age, still a very important food and making up for the fat and calcium it provides it's not exactly straight forward.

HTH

[Blos]

Thanks so much amidaiwish and Chandra.
The eczema is mainly on his body - very bad on his arms and top of his chest. It occasionally jumps to his face and neck but not too bad when it does.
My GP and health visitor drive me nuts. I've asked for advice from both about switching to a dairy free diet but both say that I should stick with the dairy and just treat the eczema. They're not at all concerned that ds is sometimes so distracted by the itching that he can't eat or sleep. I've asked to be referred to a dietician but to no avail, hence the move to homeopathy.
I'll stick with the natural way for the moment and see what happens in a couple of weeks when I reintroduce dairy.
Thanks again.

[brimfull]

Blos -my ds had awful excema from a little baby,and only improved when he gave up drinking milk.He didn't stop all dairy as he still had the occassional meal of cheese on toast or porridge.He gave up drinking milk at age3.He just suddenly refused to drink it and still refuses,he's 4.5 now.
Recently he's started to ahev porridge made with milk regularly and his skin is drying up again.

Sorry for the ramble ,but I tried homeopathy and must echo chandra insaying that it depends how experienced the homeopath is.We had the same experience of working with a student and her teacher and in the beginning it was amazing but deteriorated when we had the student on her own.