Eczema due to nursing/co-sleeping & the Aron regimen

Need your help with a chronic friction flare-up due to breastfeeding/co-sleeping!

My daughter's eczema has (thankfully) always been mild/moderate, but in the past two months, her left cheek has become incorrigible and is now a huge source of stress. She currently has a staph infection, and doctors think she is a carrier due to another infection she had just a few months ago, so it could be recurrent if we don't get it under control.

The crux of the issue is that she spends a lot of the night with her cheek pressed up against my skin (breastfeeding), then pulling off and rubbing her cheek against the sheets as she settles down. No MATTER how good her skin looks at night after a long day of constant management and vigilance, by the morning her left cheek is red, swollen, and raw in some places. We are basically treading water because her skin can't heal fast enough during the day to outpace the nighttime "damage." I'm at my wit's end because one little self-inflicted scratch from can reset the "progress" meter back to zero.

Our bases are pretty well covered. We have a competent team of doctors who currently have us applying a steroid cream + antibiotic + vaseline on top for her face and any open-skin areas, are going through the process of identifying allergens/triggers, and have tightened up on all home care, but I'm pessimistically convinced nothing we apply or do will let us get ahead unless I stop breastfeeding/co-sleeping, which would have to happen cold turkey because she still loves it so much.

Do any of you have similar experience and are willing to share if you overcame it with a topical-first/home care method, or confirm if weaning is indeed a necessity now?

On a related note, has anyone tried The Aron Regimen for eczema and have any local doctors/pharmacies that worked with you on it? 

Thank you!

Parent Replies

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My son had eczema and colic and cradle cap. The first four months of his life were miserable, poor chap. I tried everything. The only thing that worked was removing dairy from my diet (he breastfed the first year) completely. It took 4-6 weeks but then everything went away and we had a happy and content baby with no skin issues. Once he was eating regular food we gave him dairy every once in a while and backed off if the eczema came back. By four or five he could eat dairy in moderation every day with no problem. 

Our situation was different but I offer it in case it provides a new angle to investigate. My son had a chronic red welt on his left cheek about the size of a silver dollar until both he and I gave up dairy (I was still breastfeeding). The results were dramatic and the welt disappeared . I don’t recall how long it took but since we did nothing else I’m convinced that was the issue. He can tolerate cheese, yogurt  and kefir made with goat milk in moderation but otherwise we still avoid dairy it was a bear at first to drop the daily cheese both because he loved it so much and I lost a key snack food, but we figured it out. Now he just removes the cheese from the pizza if at a birthday party etc without complaint. Our pediatrician never suggested this; food sensitivities are not always on their radar. Best wishes!