From diet and supplements to skincare and everyday exposures, here’s what I became more mindful of while breastfeeding a baby with eczema.
When your breastfed baby is struggling with eczema, it’s almost impossible not to start looking at everything. You question every little thing—Is it something I’m doing? Is it something in my diet? Am I missing something in my diet? Is it something I’m wearing or putting on my skin?
With my son Ryder, these were the questions that truly kept me up at night, especially after a bad eczema flare. I became obsessed with trying to find patterns. I started writing down absolutely everything, every single day—what I ate, what he was exposed to, what products we used, what I put on my own skin, and anything else I thought could possibly matter.
Ryder was exclusively breastfed, and if I’m being completely transparent, there were times I was terrified that something I was doing was contributing to what was happening to his skin.
After countless hours of research, tracking, trial and error, and paying very close attention to his flares, I started identifying a few things in my own diet and daily routine that seemed to make a difference for him.
And that’s what I want to share in this post—not a list of things every breastfeeding mom needs to eliminate or change, but the areas I wish I had known to look at when we were first trying to understand Ryder’s eczema.
1. Mom’s Diet: Do you need to change what you are eating?
For us, this was the area where we made the most changes.
Very early on, we suspected that Ryder might have an issue with dairy, especially because both my oldest son and I have struggled with dairy ourselves. We later had bloodwork done through our holistic provider that added to our concerns around dairy. However, I had already eliminated dairy from my diet before Ryder’s eczema even became an issue, so I knew there had to be more to the story.
One food that kept coming up during my research was egg—which also happened to be a staple in our home. Egg became the first food I decided to eliminate completely.
I removed it from my diet for about 2–3 weeks and, if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t notice any significant improvement in Ryder’s skin.
(We’ll come back to egg later.)
So I reintroduced egg and moved on to the next thing I wanted to explore: soy.
After completely removing soy from my diet, we started noticing a considerable improvement in Ryder’s skin. I remember thinking, “Yay! Finally. We’re getting some answers.”
But then we hit another standstill.
His skin had improved, but it wasn’t continuing to get better.
One night while sitting with my husband, I had a thought: What if egg actually was contributing—but soy was too? What if removing egg the first time didn’t make an obvious difference because there was still something else in my diet bothering him?
At that point, instead of continuing to change one food at a time, I decided to temporarily simplify my diet much more significantly. I removed egg, soy, gluten, and most added sugars, with the intention of eventually reintroducing foods and watching for patterns.
Over the next several weeks, we continued to see improvement in Ryder’s skin.
But again, his eczema wasn’t completely gone.
And those same questions started creeping back in: Was I ever going to figure out all of his triggers? Was my baby ever going to get complete relief?
This is where the daily log I had become so diligent about keeping became incredibly helpful. I recorded every meal, every snack, every drink, and every change I could think of. Looking back through those entries alongside his flares, I started noticing another pattern: periods when I consumed more added sugar seemed to be followed by worse skin for Ryder.
So I decided to remove most added sugar as well. When we wanted something sweet, I generally reached for things like fruit or used honey or maple syrup instead.
Interestingly, I started feeling better myself, too. My skin looked better, I felt better overall, and it became another change I was happy to continue regardless of what role it may or may not have been playing in Ryder’s eczema.
And I want to be completely transparent here: these dietary changes did not make Ryder 100% eczema-free.
They were one piece of a much larger puzzle. We saw improvements that made us feel certain this was an area worth continuing to explore, but diet wasn’t the magical answer that made his eczema disappear.
Reintroducing Foods Has Been the Hard Part
We’re still in the process of figuring out which of these foods can safely make their way back into our diets.
So far, egg is the one we’ve attempted to reintroduce—and that experience made us stop again.
And if I’m being completely honest, I’m scared to reintroduce some of these foods.
After spending months watching your baby’s skin become red, inflamed, itchy, and uncomfortable, intentionally bringing something back that you think could trigger another flare is incredibly difficult. Even when you know that elimination isn’t necessarily meant to be permanent, there’s a very real emotional side to reintroduction that I don’t think gets talked about enough.
A note before eliminating foods:
This is our personal experience, not a recommendation that every breastfeeding mom of a baby with eczema eliminate these foods. Eczema and food allergies are complex, and unnecessarily restrictive diets can make it harder for a breastfeeding mom to meet her own nutritional needs. If you suspect a food allergy or want to try an elimination diet—especially when reintroducing a suspected allergen—talk with your baby’s pediatrician or allergist about the safest way to approach it.
2. Supplementing Mom while Breastfeeding
Once I started making changes to my diet, my next question was: Was I getting enough of the nutrients both my body and Ryder needed?
Taking a prenatal or postnatal vitamin while breastfeeding was already part of my routine, but I started wondering if there were other nutrients worth paying closer attention to—especially while I was eliminating several foods from my diet.
Back to research I went.
One recommendation I kept seeing within the holistic eczema community was a combination of three nutrients: vitamin D, omega-3s, and zinc.
I’ll be honest—when I first started reading about them, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t paid more attention to these nutrients before. But as I’ve learned throughout this journey, there’s an important difference between a nutrient being important for normal skin and immune function and a supplement being a proven treatment for eczema.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D was the first nutrient I started researching.
Vitamin D plays several important roles in the body, including supporting immune function, healthy bone, inflammatory reduction and skin health. It’s also particularly relevant for breastfed babies because breast milk alone generally doesn’t provide enough vitamin D to meet an infant’s needs.
We initially tried giving Ryder vitamin D drops directly, but I became concerned that the particular drops we were using might be contributing to some of his tummy discomfort. Because of that, I decided supplementing myself would be the best route for us.
Omega-3s
Next came omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3s are important fats involved in the skin barrier and numerous other processes throughout the body, and they’re an important part of nutrition during breastfeeding.
I was already getting some omega-3s through my own diet and postnatal supplement, but after everything I had been reading about nutrition and skin health, this became another area I wanted to pay closer attention to.
For our family, we chose to supplement Ryder directly as well. Note: this was a decision we made for him—not something I’m suggesting every baby with eczema needs as long as they are getting supplementation from somewhere.
Zinc
The third nutrient I kept coming across was zinc.
Zinc plays an important role in normal immune function, skin health and wound healing. It’s also another nutrient breastfeeding moms need to make sure they’re getting enough of on a daily basis.
Rather than thinking of zinc as an “eczema supplement,” I began thinking about it as another nutrient I wanted to make sure I wasn’t deficient in, particularly after making my diet more restrictive. Vitamin D, omega-3s, and zinc became three nutrients I paid much closer attention to throughout Ryder’s eczema journey.
Along with the dietary changes we were making, I felt like focusing on these nutrients was another piece of the puzzle that coincided with improvements in his skin. I can’t say that these supplements were responsible for those improvements—we were changing several things at the same time—but making sure both of us were nutritionally supported became incredibly important to me.
And if there’s one thing I would tell another breastfeeding mom going through this, it’s this: Don’t become so focused on removing things from your diet that you forget about everything your own body needs to put back in.
3. What Goes ON Mom Can Matter More Than You Think!
If I’m being completely honest, this was an area I had never even thought about.
Throughout Ryder’s eczema journey, his face seemed to be on a constant roller coaster. His cheeks would start looking better, but never completely heal—and then suddenly they would be red, irritated, open, and weeping again.
It was incredibly frustrating.
Why was the rest of his body improving, but his face wasn’t? What was different about his cheeks?
It wasn’t until we went away for a month-long family vacation that someone finally asked me a question I hadn’t considered. My husband’s stepmother works in dermatology, and she started asking about the products I was using.
Do you wear perfume? What lotion do you use? What about your body wash? Your shampoo and conditioner? Hair products?
I truly felt like a lightbulb went off in my head.
I had spent months changing everything that touched Ryder’s skin. His body wash was fragrance-free. His lotions were fragrance-free. His laundry products were fragrance-free.
But what about me?
Ryder was exclusively breastfed. His face was constantly pressed against my chest, my arms, my clothing, and my hair. He was snuggling against me, nursing throughout the day and night, and coming into direct contact with whatever products or fragrances remained on my skin and clothing.
His already sensitive, irritated skin wasn’t only coming into contact with his products—it was coming into contact with mine, too.
From that point on, I was on another mission.
I overhauled my shower products, stopped wearing perfume, switched out fragranced lotions and body products, and started paying much closer attention to anything scented that would regularly come into contact with him.
And for us, this appeared to be one of the missing pieces.
After making those changes, Ryder’s cheeks finally started to heal in a way we hadn’t been able to achieve before.
Today, those cheeks are soft, smooth, and so, so kissable.
They’re not perfect. They still get red sometimes, and every now and then I can feel that familiar rough, sandpaper-like texture starting to come back. But compared with the open, weeping cheeks we were dealing with before, the difference feels enormous.
For the first time, it finally feels like we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
If Your Baby’s Face Is Constantly Flaring, Consider What’s Touching It
Think beyond baby’s skincare and take inventory of the products regularly on your skin, hair and clothing, too:
- Perfume and body sprays
- Scented lotions
- Body wash and soap
- Shampoo and conditioner
- Leave-in conditioner and styling products
- Essential oils
- Sunscreen
- Hand creams
- Laundry detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets
- Fragranced products on blankets, nursing pillows and clothing
What I Would Do Differently if I Could Go Back?
If I could go back to Ryder’s first few flare-ups—to those moments when I felt truly helpless, sleepless and heartbroken watching my baby struggle—there are definitely things I would do differently knowing what I know now.
Hindsight is always 20/20, and I try not to beat myself up over the things I didn’t know at the time. I was learning as I went, just like so many other eczema moms are. But if I were starting this journey over again, these are the areas I would explore much earlier:
• Remove fragrance throughout our entire home.
I wouldn’t stop with Ryder’s products. I would switch the whole family to fragrance-free laundry products, soaps and other products that regularly come into contact with him—including the products my husband, older son and I use.
• Start paying attention to my diet sooner.
Knowing what I know now, I would start keeping a detailed food and symptom log from the beginning and work with his providers to investigate suspected food triggers. I wouldn’t necessarily eliminate everything at once, but I would be much more intentional about looking for patterns earlier.
• Pay closer attention to nutrition and supplementation.
I would have conversations with our providers much earlier about vitamin D, omega-3s, zinc and whether either Ryder or I was getting adequate amounts. Rather than assuming every baby needs additional supplementation, I would want to understand what he actually needed and the safest way to provide it.
• Find an eczema-focused practitioner who looked at the bigger picture.
Our pediatrician and dermatologist were important stepping stones of Ryder’s care, but I also wanted someone willing to spend time looking through his history, environment, diet and the patterns I was documenting. I would seek that additional support. I truly felt like I did this all on my own and some support from an eczema expert I feel would have eased some of my stress
• Explore his gut health earlier.
Gut testing eventually became another major piece of our eczema journey, and knowing what I know now, it’s something I personally would have explored sooner. I don’t believe a gut test is the answer for every baby with eczema, nor did it magically cure Ryder’s, but the information we received helped guide some of the decisions we made next.
More than anything, I would tell that version of myself not to give up. I would tell her that those red, raw, weeping cheeks wouldn’t always look that way. That we would eventually start finding patterns. That his skin would get softer. That he would get more comfortable. And that one day I would be kissing those soft little cheeks again instead of staring at them wondering what I was doing wrong.
We’re still learning. Ryder still has eczema, and we certainly haven’t figured out every piece of his puzzle. But looking back at where we started compared with where we are today reminds me just how far we’ve come.