My baby doesn't let me eat ice cream

7 weeks old

I'm lucky that I've never had to cut anything out of my diet due to health reasons. Not even when I was pregnant, because I don't like raw fish or any of the other foods on the Do Not Eat While Pregnant List. Then I had my daughter.

Her skin was fine when she was born, a bit dry because she was overdue, but normal for newborns. When she was three weeks old, she started getting a little bit of baby acne. I Googled around, and found that it was perfectly normal when the babies bodies were adjusting to all the hormonal changes outside the womb, and it should go away on its own in a few weeks or months.

Then it started getting worse and worse. By the time she was 7 weeks old, it looked more like a rash than acne, with her cheeks covered in ugly red bumps. Around this time, I read Kelly from The Pretty Bee's post on how she had to cut out dairy, soy, corn and eggs from her already gluten-free diet because of the allergic reactions her baby was having. The symptoms she described were very similar (a lot of spitting up, fussiness, green poop... things that sometimes point to allergies and sometimes are completely normal). I really really hoped that I wouldn't have to cut out anything from my diet, especially dairy because I had just discovered this amazing salted caramel gelato at Safeway.

My doctor confirmed that her acne was bordering on a rash, and suggested I cut out dairy for a week or two to see if it made any difference (Noooooooooo!!!). So, I stopped eating my gelato and ice cream. I don't eat a lot in one sitting, rather I like to eat a spoonful or two every few hours. This meant I was snacking on it all day long for the last two months, so all the sudden going cold turkey was difficult for me, especially every time I opened the freezer and saw all the ice cream staring at me.

I tried to cut out all dairy, but I managed to sneak in some buttery pastries, a taco with cheese, and a buttercream frosted cupcake. Even with all my cheats, baby's skin immediately cleared up within the week. I hoped that maybe the acne went away on its own and the dairy had nothing to do with it, so I ate two spoonfuls of ice cream one night, and the next morning, BAM! the acne was back.

7 weeks old - breakout mcgee

7.5 weeks old - getting better

8 weeks old - almost all clear!

Anyway, long story short, I can't eat ice cream right now, and it makes me sad.

Right now her skin is mostly clear, but she still has a few bumps or dry spots sometimes. For the dryness, I've been using a little bit of Mahu Baby body lotion that Mahu sent me. It's made in New Zealand and specially formulated for babies' sensitive skin with all natural botanical ingredients and free of phthalates, parabens or sulphates. The lavender scent (from the essential oil, not added fragrance) is a bit strong, but it does go away, and the lotion is light and quickly absorbed. I just saw that they also carry a baby moisturizer with aloe vera and vitamin E that would probably be more suitable for using on the face if I don't want to overwhelm my baby's little nose.

My husband bought me some soy ice cream, but I'm not too big of a big fan. I don't really like sorbets either, but I've heard that Coconut Dream ice cream is good, so I'm looking for that next. Any suggestions on good non-dairy ice creams?

Disclosure: I was provided with the lotion in exchange for a review, but all opinions are 100% mine.