HAYDEN and NICHOLAS My name is Linda and I'm Mum to Hayden, now 2 and a half, and Nicholas who is almost five. We live in Seaforth in NSW Australia. Both my boys have eczema. Hayden was born with beautifully smooth baby skin, but soon developed rashes all over his body. The next few months were very difficult for me, as Hayden was continuously scratching and altogether generally very unhappy. By four months he was covered in itchy red blisters and the only thing he was drinking was my breastmilk. It took us another four months on the waiting list to be seen at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital's Children allergy clinic.   By this time, out little baby was extremely clingy to me, and would not like to be held by anyone other than me. He wanted to be held all the time. Needless to say, with an older son to care for, it was an exhausting time. I used to wish he would sit in a rocker and play by himself when I made dinner. Or lie on the mat and be preoccupied with dangling toys. Instead he would scream until his face went purple and his little fingers scratched his face, legs and arms til they bled. At eight months old, we found out via the allergy skin prick tests that Hayden was allergic to eggs, nuts, dairy, fish and dust mites. Nicholas was allergic to dust mites and cats. There was a choice- give up breastfeeding cold turkey or go on the elimination diet, I chose the latter after one night of trying to eat a diet of cabbage and white potato! This was a turning point for us though, as in the next few days, the eczema on his back, scalp and stomach receded and finally disappeared.   Eczema on his fingers, legs, and arms remain however, and over the last few months, his clingyness has gone away and he is a much happier boy. I would say that management of this skin disorder is of upmost importance and both boys' skin needs to be moisturized with Advantin and stacks of Emulsifying Ointment all the time. Sometimes I get really frustrated when the boys scratch until they bleed, because I am always telling them to "Pat, pat, pat- don't scratch!" But then I remember......I had eczema until I was 28! Linda NSW - Australia (October 2008)

HAIDS DAUGHTER Hello All I would like to share my story about my little girl and how we are getting through this heartbreaking time and finally learning to accept and to live with excema. She began to get excema at about 4 months old. We had just moved to Ruakaka from Auckland. At first it was manageable and very minimal, behind her legs, inside her arms, but gradually as she has learnt to scratch and with age, it has unfortunately got worse. She is now a year old and has extreme excema on her torso, legs and arms (her face has been spared).  Our routine consists of Lemnis fatty steroid crème every second day, emulsifying crème with every nappy change and wet wraps a few times a week, as well as bathing everynight in Oilatum plus, vacuuming her room on a daily basis, wet dusting and washing her sheets a couple of times a week, followed by hanging them out in the sunshine for 5 hours or more to kill off dust mites. I find the most damaging scratching is done at night time so I purchased one of the Kumfy Kids sleep suits which has definately made a significant difference with the mittens closed at night times. When she has access to bare skin she has learnt to savagely rip the skin and her clothes and bedclothes are often covered in blood. We have seen the specialists at the hospital countless times, but it seems there is nothing more they can do for my daughter except for prescribe antibiotics and follow the above care plan.  She has had the RAST test and has had positive results for egg, peanut and fish, which I have eliminated from her diet. She also seems to have flare ups from cat fir. Although she did not show an allergy to dairy in the RAST test, I have taken this out of her diet and replaced it with soy products and I have also seen a significant difference. My next step is to seek help with a homeopath which has not been an avenue I have investigated in the past, but I am willing to try anything if it comforts and benefits my little girl. Haids Ruakaka, Northland - New Zealand (October 2008) haidsandlee@yahoo.com.au

ARMAN Born 14 March 2003. Pet allergy eczema.   My son Arman is an itchy kid. Just like his father he has a severe allergy to most dogs and the mites they spread. One cuddle or a lick from a dog will set him off for weeks as does contact with carpet where pets live. It is really heartbreaking to see your child constantly scratch themselves to the point of bleeding. And it is made even worse by comments from friends and strangers. People still look at me sideways in the shops but I just brush it off and hope that one day he might outgrow his condition.   First we thought it was a reaction to a white tailed spider bite that was showing all over his body. But as it kept coming back again and again we noticed the triggers, I recommend keeping a feeding diary to help eliminate trigger foods (Kumfy Kids have come up with one especially!!) I find that using only strictly edible skin care is a great help. Basically if you wouldn’t put it in your mouth then it’s probably not the best thing for your baby’s skin.   I love the fact that all Kumfy Kids clothing fits perfectly over cloth nappies. This is perfect for our strictly cloth nappy household! My 11-month-old daughter loves her sleepsuit and I love the fact that it fits nicely over her bulky night time nappy.   I want to thank Rebekka for coming up with such a fantastic range of products for my itchy boy.  This is my first stop for all children's clothing.  The quality is great and all my orders have arrived quickly with beautiful packaging.  Thanks Kumfy Kids. Felicity Waikato - New Zealand (October 2008)

TOBY Age 2. Eczema & Asthma     By day 2 of his life, my blue-eyed baby boy was red raw and his eyes swollen - and so our journey began.   GPs were quick to prescribe creams and lotions that worked temporarily until the creams burnt his skin and sympathetic strangers offered words of encouragement but at no time did anyone suggest or even suspect he may be suffering from 'allergies'.   By the time he was 1, we demanded he be skin and blood tested, the results showed he was life-threateningly allergic to egg and allergic to dairy. Cutting out both made absolutely no difference and so the initial relief for us quickly turned to frustration.   At great expense, a leading Dietician promptly advised us to give him soy rather than dairy - which made him worse and encouraged us to meet with an Immunologist to purchase an epi-pen for his potential anaphylactic egg allergy.    At this point Toby's fingers alone, were like fat chipolata sausages with no skin on, in search of answers and desperate for information we decided to put away the steroid creams, synthetic, chemical filled, shampoos and cleaning sprays and look for an alternative solution.   Covered from neck to toe 24/7 and with his arms and legs bound in tubi-grip bandages to protect him from itching, we visited a Naturopath who at last pointed us in the right direction and began to help strengthen Toby's immune system from the inside out but more importantly told us about Advanced Allergy Elimination Clinic in Auckland (www.aaeclinics.com.au).  Thank God!   The initial consultation revealed the true extent of Toby's allergies. With treatments underway and by avoiding other known allergens until next time, results quickly followed, the bandages soon came off, inhalers were put away and the miracle of his skin's transformation began!   A year on and a once strict diet of brown rice, poached chicken and pealed pear is now a sad memory. Toby now eats a normal, healthy diet. He can now roll in the grass, stroke our dog, play at other children's' houses, and wear shorts and T shirts and this summer be able to play in the sea without crying out in pain from the salt water touching his wounds.   Why is 'Alternative' so often rejected or considered the 'last resort'? As a parent of a child with such severe allergies, we wasted so much time, heart ache and money following convention and making it worse.   I strongly believe that we must listen more closely to our instincts, to seek out the truth and not just abide to what someone with a few letters after their name tell you. Without the Clinic, guidance and friendship of Head Practitioner Jenny Millet we would not have our blue-eyed boy back. We Thank You.   For the satisfaction of our, well-intentioned, but disbelieving GP, friends and family we had Toby re-tested with the conventional blood test 6 months into his treatments at the clinic. Having been treated for Dairy at the clinic but NOT egg, the results showed that he was no longer allergic to dairy and that his previous anaphylactic egg allergy of 23++ was now only 8+, proving that immune system was now stronger and more tolerant allowing us to begin treatment of egg too. He can now eat egg!   Saffron New Zealand (October 2008)

KAENAN and TAYLOR Hi I'm Kym, and I am the proud mum to two boys - 3.5 year old Kaenan, and 19 week old Taylor.  We live in Cambridge in the mighty Waikato - go the Chiefs! Kaenan started out doing so well, but come 3 months old he started to have problems sleeping, lost weight, and developed eczema.  Off we went to the doctor in the hopes of a cure, only to realise the reality of eczema and skin allergies - it's like finding a needle in a haystack!    The most frustrating thing was going to the doctor and asking for ways to diagnose the cause, and being told we are using the wrong washing powder every time.  At this stage we were doing all we could on the contact side, including washing Kaenans bedding and clothing in Amolin, and only then when it really needed it, so needless to say we changed doctors!  At that time we were unable to afford the trip to the allergy clinic, so battled on with trying to manage the symptoms, scouring the internet for clues to some miracle cures!    Nowadays Kaenan has pretty great skin considering, and only gets the odd patch of broken itchy skin in his flexures.  When he was younger we took him to a naturopath who prescribed exactly the opposite of the doctors - keeping the skin dry without creams to reduce the chance of bacteria forming, and he took "natmur" (don't ask me!!!), reuturi probiotic, and flax-seed oil on his breakfast in the mornings. We try to reduce his intake of gluten and wheat, and he has rice milk, which seems to work.    Taylor was born and had beautiful olive skin until we all had a bout of the flu, upon which the eczema flared up and has been with us ever since. Taylor appears to be much more sensitive to whatever it is that I am eating that causes his eczema - so on Monday we are heading off to the allergy clinic in Auckland. Yay we hope!   It is such a heart-wrenching thing to watch your baby cry and scratch and not be able to do much about it - but I think it's even more painful to see them smiling and happy, and seemingly tolerant when their skin is just so sore and itchy.  I know I wouldn't be able to smile through it!    But fingers crossed that Monday will reveal some new things to help, and that we can help both children get through this horrible affliction.  Wish us luck!!!  And best of luck to those of you who are feeling that same frustration, anger and desperation to find a solution for your little ones - you are not alone, but you are still great parents, despite the looks you sometimes get when the ignorant stare at your poor red baby.  Chin up!   Kym Waikato - New Zealand (October 2008)

JESSICA Hi, I’d like to share my story with you and others about our beautiful baby girl Jessica.  We welcomed our new beautiful baby girl Jessica, into the world in the early hours of 7th February 2011.  The pregnancy and birth were incredibly straight forward  and other than a low iron count all my pregnancy tests came back with all the right results.  Following what I now look back at as a blissful first three months of her life, she developed eczema from top to toe.  Her head is covered in cradle cap that itches like crazy, her face is one big patch of eczema that is daily rubbed and scratched till she bleeds, her body (including under her nappy) doesn’t have one clear spot of supple skin, and her legs are constantly dancing a little jig to rub or scratch the other all over ... in short, she is one small bundle of itchy and painful skin disease. Although it was no real surprise that she developed eczema because I have always had patches and my other daughter Lucy had mild eczema in the first year of her life (yes, thankfully she grew out of it), I was shocked to find out just how bad it can get.  I think the most distressing parts of Jessica’s eczema are watching and listening to her squirm and scream in absolute agony and being unable to help her, and fighting with her to stop those scratchy little fingers from ripping her skin apart.  There are many times in the middle of the night that I silently cry while she falls asleep feeding and getting what seems to be her only relief from an otherwise all consuming affliction. So far in our quest to ‘fix’ our daughter, because she is still exclusively breastfed I have tried a dairy free diet which had little to no affect.  I also take a specific probiotic for eczema, flaxseed oil and a high dose iron supplement daily to help and we think that there is a slight improvement in her condition but still we have blood on the sheets every morning.  The doctors that we have been to see haven’t really been of any more help  than what we have found out from searching the internet and the creams we have found that help are just ones that other parents have suggested to us.  In a few days we are off to a Naturopath who will do an allergy test on our little girl which will hopefully give us some more answers on what it is that we can do to help her. Although there is no happy ending in our quest for a contented and happy baby, I wanted to share this with other parents that are doing it tough and battling for their little ones health.  I believe there will be a day that we get more that 2 hours sleep in a row and Jessica will be the baby that she is meant to be ... we just have to keep fighting for her until that happens. Anna Masterton (August 2011)