Dairy sensitivity

[Drbc]

Part of the reason I did a whole30 was to see if my son (16 months-still breastfed) has food sensitivities. He has always had skin issues. Raised bumps on face arms and legs. And there used k be times when they would flare up an get very red and seemed to increase. I didn't know why, and I figured it must be something in my diet.

During shole30 I didn't notice much improvement in his skin, but I know it can take a long time. He eats solid food, but basically whole30 approved.

So I just finished my whole30 and reintroduced dairy. I put a small amount of shredded cheese on my dinner. It has been 2 days and his skin seems to be flaring up again. My question is can just a small amount of cheese eaten once really be the culprit? Or could this most likely be a coincidence?

Anyone have experience with this?

[Adagio]

IMO, if he is very sensitive, it could be the culprit, but I'm not a nutritionist, just offering an opinion. Some folks are so sensitive to certain foods that they cannot even eat other foods prepared in the same kitchen as the offending food.

[spughy]

The only way to be really sure is to repeat the experiment at least twice. Give yourself another two weeks without dairy, then reintroduce. Then do it again. If you see the same reaction each time, you'll know it was the dairy.

There are also a lot of other reasons skin tissues can become inflamed. Contact dermatitis is REALLY common in small children - it can be something as obvious as laundry detergent (either a change or buildup if you've been using the same detergent for a long time), or something you don't notice, like if he's playing outside rubbing against a plant that you wouldn't otherwise pay any attention to. Heat can also cause skin irritation - if it's hot in the summer or if he's overdressed. And there are numerous viruses floating around that can cause no symptoms at all in adults but skin irritation in children. So, what you need to look for to pin it on a food sensitivity is that it ALWAYS occurs after exposure (either direct or through breastmilk) to a certain food or group of foods, and that the temperature, clothing level, and other environmental factors can be different for each flare-up.

[Drbc]

Thank you so much! That really helps a lot. And now that I put it all together he started running a fever and seems to have a cold or other respiratory virus. This is around when I noticed his skin having more bumps. So that might actually be the cause of the skin looking worse than usual.