Baby’s skin is too sensitive to almost EVERYTHING

My son is 8.5 months old and it wasn’t until a month ago was when he started to really touch/eat his food. It was exciting because now we can all eat and enjoy our meals together! However, it seemed like almost every food I give him his skin reacts to it. Usually localized to where the food touched. He would break out in hives, skin turns red and itchy.

It’s always so discouraging because it’s difficult to find foods that wouldn’t give him a reaction. We usually would apply Aquaphor and that would usually help. But it’s usually applied around his mouth/cheek area, neck, and chin. Since BLW is so messy, sometimes the food will touch other areas of his face that I didn’t apply Aquaphor on, so the reaction will happen to those areas. However, it’s usually not as bad as the ones around His mouth, chin, and neck area.

He does have eczema, but he hasn’t had a flare up in months.

So to anyone that is dealing with something similar, does it get better? Or will I have to apply Aquaphor on his skin forever? Is this an allergic reaction and my son just so happens to be allergic to everything? I’ve mentioned to the doctor but he just told us to give 2.5mL of Benadryl if the reaction is bad.

Also, I’m aware that some foods with high acidity such as strawberries will cause a similar reaction. However, some foods (which will be listed below) that aren’t even an allergen or high acidic fruit will cause a reaction.

Here’s a list of foods I’ve given him that gave him a reaction:

  • Strawberries
  • Alfredo sauce w/ broccoli (homemade)
  • Salmon seasoned with basic seasonings
  • Blackberries
  • Kraft’s Mac & Cheese
  • Stir fried snow pea leaves
  • Pizza (tomato sauce)
  • Bread from a bakery store
  • Gerber ranch flavored puffs
  • Strawberry yogurt melts

The list of foods can range from itchy hives to just redness.

As you can see the list is low due to the fear and discouragement when introducing him different foods.

I’m assuming that highly seasoned foods will usually cause his skin to react but I won’t know until we get him tested for allergies. As for now, we mainly just give him rice porridge with chicken as it seems safe for his skin.

Please feel free to ask any questions if I may have missed something. TIA!!