I am the mom of two great boys. My first born son's name is Nikolas and he is 3 years old. My second son's name is Matyáš and he is 6 months old. They are happy as they can be now but it wasn't always like that.
When Niki was born he did not want to sleep. He cried and cried all the time. I though it was normal. Babies cry. But this baby cried and didn't sleep day or night. It was hard.
I didn't know that much about babies. I read books and occasionally babysat but that is not the same.
So we went with him for his one month check up and everything seemed fine. The doctor wasn't concerned about his sleep and excessive crying. He called it colic. So I wasn't really happy, but what can you do? My son was colicky.
Then he developed a rash. He had it all over his body. It disappeared on its own just to come back few days later on his cheeks. It didn't take long before his cheeks flamed and oozed. Sometimes even bled. He was miserable.
We went back to the doctor, who said it is atopic dermatitis (eczema) and prescribed antibacterial cream. So we bought it and put it right away on Niki's face. And it worked. Until the rash came back again. We went to the pediatrician again and again. Always leaving with some prescription for cream that should help. The rash came back anyway. We were frustrated. Niki was in pain and wasn't a happy baby. Still not much sleeping and lots of crying. His cheeks were oozing again and inflamed.
Next time we saw a different pediatrician who prescribed Niki topical steroid cream and gave him antibiotics. He told me to stop eating dairy products to see if he is allergic to milk because I was nursing. He also suggested to go see a dermatologist.
The topical steroid cream worked but the warnings on the package made us think twice. Should we really put this on our 2 and half month old baby?
- Don't put it on broken skin.
- Don't give it to children under 4 years old.
- Suppresses the immune system.
- May cause cancer.
We called the doctor again because we were concerned about the side affects. They told us not to worry. They prescribe it all the time. I didn't want to put it on my son's cheeks, but didn't have another option. I hoped he wouldn't be using it for long.
The dermatologist wanted to try different kinds of creams on our baby's skin to get rid of the rash. She said it was atopic dermatitis and it was not from allergies. We were going there every other week but saw no real improvements. I wasn't happy that there was no one who could help our child.
I was looking online to find out more about atopic dermatitis. How can I help my child? We tried even going to the homeopath. What a waste of time and money.
At Niki's 6 month check up, our pediatrician said that Niki is healthy and wasn't really concerned about his skin or sleeping problems.
We decided to find a doctor who could solve the problem rather than treat the symptoms. Two days later we were in the office again seeing a different doctor. She looked at Niki and said to make an appointment with allergist.
So we went to the allergist who determined Niko had the following allergies:
- Wheat
- Eggs
- Dairy
- Almonds
- Cats
- Dogs
We finally had our answers. We had to change our eating habits, but it worked. I went to a wheat free, dairy free and egg free diet. Our dog and cat were brushed every day and cleaned with a wet cloth. I vacuumed everyday. Niki's skin started to improve. I had to use topical steroid cream less and less. I stopped using it completely when he was about 9 months old. Anytime he had a red spot on his face I put
Cerave cream on it immediately. I still use it twice a day on his body. It works.
I heard somewhere that cranberries are a "superfood". I thought, why don't I give them to Niki as a snack? I started to give him dried cranberries around one year of age. To tell you the truth, even his occasional red spots disappeared. Niko loves cranberries. He eats them plain or with Gorilla Munch and Crispix cereal.
Today his skin is healthy. You would not know he had skin problems as a baby.
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Jsem matkou dvou uzasnych chlapcu. Muj prvorozeny syn se jmenuje Nikolas a jsou mu 3 roky. Muj druhy syn se jmenuje Matyáš a je mu 6 mesicu. Jsou to veseli, usmevavi kluci, ale ne vzdy tomu tak bylo.
Kdyz se Niki narodil nechtel vubec spat. Stale jen brecel a brecel. Ja myslela, ze je to normalni. Miminka preci breci. Ale toto dite brecelo a nechtelo spat at byl den ci noc. Byla jsem z toho zoufala.
V te dobe jsem o miminkach jeste moc nevedela. Cetla jsem sice knizky a hlidala male deti, ale to neni to same.
Sli jsme s nim na mesicni prohlidku. Vse vypadalo dobre. Doktor nebyl znepokojen ani presto, ze Niki nespi a ze stale breci. Rekl, ze je to kolika. Ja jsem z toho nebyla moc nadsena, ale co muzu delat. Muj syn mel koliku.
Mesic po jeho narozeni se mu zacala delat vyrazka na obliceji a pak i po celem tele. Nevedela jsem z ceho to ma a jen jsem doufala, ze to zmizi. Mel ji asi tyden a pak zmizela. Brzy se mu vsak zacala delat na tvarich nova. Vypadalo to jako zlute suche stroupky. Ty vsak zacaly mokvat a krvacet. Niki byl nestastny.
Sli jsme k doktorovi, ktery rekl, ze je to atopicky ekzem a dal nam antibakterialni krem. Mastickou jsme ho poctive mazali. Pomohla mu, ale jen na par dni. Pak se ta vyrazka zacala vracet. Chodili jsme k doktorovi znovu a znovu. Vzdy jsme odchazeli s predpisem na jiny krem, ktery mu mel pomoci. Vyrazka se stale vracela. Byli jsme z toho nestastni. Copak neni nikdo, kdo by mohl naseho syna vylecit? Niki se trapil bolesti. Stale dobre nespal a moc casto brecel. Tvaricky mu mokvaly a mel je jako v ohni. Zarudle a obcas i krvave.
Sli jsme k jinemu lekari. Dal nam pro Nikiho antibiotika a predepsal steroidni krem. Rekl mi, at prestanu jist mlecne vyrobky, kdyby na ne byl Niki alergicky. V tu dobu jsem ho stale kojila. Take nam doporucil jit na kozni.
Ten steroidni krem pomohl, ale varovani na krabicce z kremu nas pekne zaskocilo. Mame toto davat na 2 a pul mesicni miminko?
- Nedavejte na otevrene rany.
- Nedavejte detem mladsim 4 let.
- Potlacuje imunitni system.
- Muze zpusobit rakovinu.
Zavolali jsme zpet do ordinace, protoze jsme byli velmi znepokojeni temi vedlejsimi ucinky na krabicce. Tam nam rekli, abychom si z toho nedelali hlavu, ze to predepisuji porad. Ja jsem to na tvaricky meho syna nechtela vubec davat, ale nemela jsem jinou moznost. Jen jsem doufala, ze mu to nebudu muset dlouho davat.
Doktorka na koznim chtela zkouset ruzne kremy na Nikiho tvaricky, abychom se zbavili te vyrazky. Rekla nam, ze to neni alergie, ale atopicky ekzem. Chodili jsme tam pravidelne kazde dva tydny. Vubec to nepomahalo.
Uz jsme byli s manzelem tak zoufali, ze jsme se dohodli, ze zkusime navstivit lecitele. Cetla jsem o tom a tak jsem doufala, ze by to mohlo pomoci. Joj to jsem se spletla. Zbytecne vyhozene penize.
Sli jsme s nim na 6 ti mesicni prohlidku. Nas detsky doktor rekl, ze Niko je v poradku a vubec ho neznepokojovala Nikolky pokozka a problemy se spanim.
Rozhodli jsme se zkusit jineho doktora, ktery zjisti proc ma vubec Niki vyrazku a ne jenom ji lecit. Za dva dny jsme byli zpet a vyzadali si jinou doktorku. Ta se na nej podivala a rekla, ze by mel jit k alergologovi. Cesta, kterou jsme jeste nezkusili.
A tak jsme sli. Alergolog mu udelal testy a vse bylo jasne. Niki mel alergie na:
- Kravske mleko
- Psenici
- Vejce
- Madle
- Psi
- Kocky
Konecne jsme meli odpovedi na nase otazky. Ja prestala okamzite jist vse, na co byl Niki alergicky a jeho oblicej se konecne zacal zlepsovat. Naseho psa a kocku jsme denne vycesavali a otirali mokrym hadrem. Take jsem kazdy den luxovala. Steroidni krem jsem pouzivala mene a mene. Kdyz bylo Nikimu 9 mesicu, prestala jsem ho pouzivat uplne. Kdyz se jen objevil nejaky cerveny flek na jeho tvaricce, tak jsem ho hned mazala
kremem Cerave. Stale ho pouzivam dvakrat denne na cele jeho telo. Funguje to.
Nekde jsem slysela, ze brusinky jsou "super jidlo". Pomyslela jsem si, proc je nedat Nikimu jako svacinku? Zacala jsem mu davat suche brusinky, kdyz mu byl jeden rok. Po pravde receno, i ty obcasne cervene fleky se z jeho tvari vytratily. Niko ma moc rad brusinky. Ji je jen tak a nebo smichane s cerealiemi (ne psenicne).
Dnes ma kuzi zdravou. Vubec byste nepoznali, ze mel jako miminko takove problemy s kuzi.
