I have a 2 year old little girl who has chronic hives. Actually they called it dermagraphia or something like that. We went to the Dr. in November and they told me she didn't think it was food related so I didn't need to change her diet. INstead she said that she thought that after my daughter had a serious cold virus her skin was reacting and would right itself in time and she prescribed a daily anthistamine which we are not taking. Well the problem is that we have been eating SAD. Since then I have done some research and I have changed my diet to about 85 percent raw. Now I know that diet must be related to her hives and I am trying to wean her off of all the processed junk she has been eating. I am finding it very difficult. She will eat any type of fruit, but vegetables are another story. She won't eat any veggies raw.

Any suggestions or insight? What is the main culprit for skin reactions? I see lots of people here mention a green smoothie, is there a kid friendly version. I can't even get her to do carrot juice right now, unless it is mixed with mostly orange. And I am having a hard time with grandma feeding her animal products and processed everything when I am not around. Help!?

there is a pretty good parents thread over here
[www.rawfoodtalk.com]
lots of recipes that i think could easily replace the cooked version. very kid friendly (aka sweet!).

as for the hives, have you tried a homeopathic doctor? it's such gentle but effective medicine. can't hurt and might help. in the meantime what about oatmeal baths to soothe, rub on coconut oil and add that to the diet as well. when you are bathing and massing her with oil talk to her about how wonderful her body is, how much you love her lovely skin, that it is smooth and beautiful and takes such good care of her insides, breathing and making her feel good. positive affirmations are a wonderful thing and if instilled very young can become a part of every day thinking quite easily. try to only let her hear you say good things about her skin (and everything else).
louise hay says that skin conditions are caused by stress and anxiety, is there any of that in her life that you can think of? is she picking up stress about the raw diet, about grandma, at school or anywhere else? perhaps she would respond well to some time set aside to talk to you about things that might be bothering her that she's keeping inside.

hope any of that was helpful to you. good luck!

When my daughter was having so many health issues, including these weird, wart-like things on her skin, we took her off almost everything and reintroduced foods. Do you know how that is done? We saw a naturopath and she helped us. We didn't finish our reintroduction because we went high raw very quickly and all her issues magically disappeared. My kids were crazy about spinach and banana smoothies from the first time we had one. You could try using her favorite fruit and spinach, or other mild greens she likes, and make a smoothie. You could start out by putting more fruit than greens. You could give it a cool name like "emerald princess smoothie." After your daughter has been on a really healthy diet she will start to eat things she never had before. Her body will start to communicate what it needs to her. This seems to come more naturally for kids. They are crazy for fruits. I suggest you buy fruit she loves in bulk and let her eat it all she wants and meanwhile offer her bites of your food. I think you should try to go as high raw as you can. At first my kids were eating 3 and 4 apples a day. It was a short while before the greens were attracting them in salad form but then it was a green fest. My daughter would tell me to just set a bowl of raw spinach on the table and she would eat it for hours just walking by and grabbing some. My son started eating two zucchini chopped up with flax oil for dinner. Good luck!!!

Aside from diet, check to make sure you're using natural household cleaning products as many mainstream brands contain irritants that also trigger hives (speaking from experience).

I recall reading that raw food 'celeb' Shazzie used to chew up seaweed and give it to her daughter. It might be worth checking out her blog for some tips with feeding your kiddie raw food (http://www.shazzie.com).

Thanks for your ideas everyone. I do think that her diet has everything to do with the hives, so that is my focus right now. I just need some ideas for getting her to eat vegetables. I didn't know if it was okay for her to have fruit all day. It seems unbalanced. Are you guys saying it won't hurt her to have mainly fruit for awhile? But I like the idea of making smoothies with her favorite fruits and incorporating greens into that. Should I add flaxeed oil or something like it to make sure she is getting enough fat?

TY

coconut oil is much tastier than flax seed oil and can be blended into smoothies. check out that site i linked too, there is a kid friendly recipe thread with tons of ideas and inspirational pictures too.

Oh yes, I forgot about the website! Thank you!

My kids eat flax and coconut oil. Flax for savory and coconut for sweet. The way I feel about balance is the "sad"der they are the more of an unbalanced starting place they're coming from. Give them anything raw that they want until their bodies adjust to being more balanced. All kids eat a lot of fruit and many people thrive on a high fruit diet. She will start eating things that you never would imagine. I made honey mustard dressing once and my daughter has been on a mustard kick ever since (over a year now). She loves alfalfa sprouts, raisins and mustard together. She calls it a food nest. Keep offering new things and before you know it she will have a diverse, all healthy diet. I love Storm and Jinjees "Raising Raw Vegan Children" e-book.

[www.thegardendiet.com]

i haven't pushed the veggie thing with my kiddo.
i'm a fruit girl myself- so i figure i can only model what works for me.

green juice- man, my kiddo will drink kale/apple/carrot, spinach/carrot/apple, spinach/banana/pineapple, etc- if i drink it, he does. my husband is a little weirded out by our juice and his son's enthusiasm for 'JOOOCE!!!' sometime my kid will look at me and make a snide comment about my crazy food, but for now, he'll eat it all.

when he was really young i would just drop parsley, spinach, baby greens, etc, on the floor and let him 'discover' them. i think i posted pics forever ago. he would cram them excitedly into his mouth and gnaw and suck on them until they were gone or just stringy pulp. he still loves salad (no dressing necessary) and if we don't give him his own plate, he'll steal it off ours.

most raw veggies are not too popular- carrots/celery/peppers/etc are not consumed by him, but i find that if i buy them, i don't eat them either. so i've quit and just decided that it mustn't be too important right now, since most of his friends live off of applesauce, juice, and processed crap.

as for grandma's..... man, i could just yell about that. no, the kid does not LIKE oatmeal. no, he doesn't actually NEED APPLESAUCE OR PANCAKES. just give him some fresh fruit and YES I WILL CONTINUE TO BREASTFEED HIM UNTIL YOU THINK IT IS SEXUAL AND GROSS AND I DON'T CARE. deep breath. my kid now likes meat. sometimes. it's okay. he's young and we're not to the point of discussing WHAT it is. i'm going to do what i can in my care to keep him healthy, and ban all the crap as often and as loudly and as obviously as i can. i carry around snacks, i give lists to my parents and in-laws about what is acceptable (brown rice okay- toast and cereal with milk not okay) and request repeatedly that they respect my parenting. i point out that my kid is VERY healthy, they appreciate that, and that i'm raising him, and that they are welcome to help, but not to undermine my method of parenting. this tends to work as they also had parents/in-laws who drove them bonkers...

cashews, wheat, dairy, nuts, corn, potatoes/nightshades, these all have caused hives in children i know personally. make sure these are not a part of the diet-

and then good luck with the rest! kids LOVE fruit. my guy thinks dates are manna from heaven, candy, and love all rolled into one amazing item. i'm keeping it that way. he also loves savory foods- brown rice balls (literally brown rice rolled into balls), salad and seaweed, nuts, seeds, nuts and seeds made into salty treats. he's very good about eating a balance, i think too much sweet wears on the taste buds and cause savory to taste better- from my own experience.

be patient and enjoy the raw foods ride.

peace-

Maybe some food she is reacting to?

I had a lot of hives when I was a kid. But then, I would ate a lot of sour apples, raw tomatoes, raw strawberries. My skin was detoxing. I believe the cause was bad food combining (we were sad eaters at home), so all that mix caused a strong reaction....

Thank you Mama Cass for your very helpful and specific advice. Since we are new to this there is a huge learning curve. ON top of the hives, I'm hoping vegan and as much raw as possible will help her overcome constant ear infections. I don't want to give her any more antibiotics. So far we are illness and medicine free for 45 days. That is a big accomplishement for us, especially when all the other kids she is around seem to be full of snot this time of year.

Cynthia- are you saying that apples tomatoes and strawberries gave you hives?

Last question. I just openned my first coconut. Is the water from it supposed to taste sweet? Mine is not sweet at all, it almost tastes fermented. It is very different.

My 12 year old describes coconut water as sweet. I don't find it to be very sweet but I would not say it tastes fermemnted. It sounds like it might not be a good one to me.

You should be so proud to be medicine free for 45 days.

My kids are never sick any more. When they catch viruses now, their symptoms are extremely mild and short lived. They are super kids and it doesn't take long to get them there. Your girl should be doing noticably better every week. Ear infections seem to be the norm for a lot of kids who are SAD that I have known. An endless cycle of infections and anibiotics. I believe being vegan should take care of that.

Great job!!!

alioops, yes, acid food (rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, very acid apple, etc...) used to give me lot of hives (urticaria) on my forearms.

When one stops eating these produces, then it helps, and after some time, it disapears. I still have the same reaction (milder though) today if I'm not careful with acid fruits.

Hope your little girl will get better soon.

love
Cynthia

about ear infections -
my kids never got ear infections after I bannished milk from my house, especially in winter. The worst produce is ice cream. I never allowed my children to eat it from september on. Even in summer, it was a very rare treat, like once or twice in the season.
So maybe, if it is easy for you, try the no-milk diet for your girl, it might help,

wishing you the best

i HAVE THIS PROBLEM, i DRINK TONS OF WATER, MORE THAN IS GOOD FOR ME, PROBABLY AND THEY GO AWAY ON 20 MIN

I only have had hives a few times in my life..as an adult before I cleaned up my diet and health, and got them whenever my dogs (who would expose me to it) or I came into contact with the pest solution the pest control people I hired to spray for outdoor fleas but it took some sleuthing to figure that one out. They were dinner plate size hives and scared the heck out of me!

I would say to check on environmental catalysts first, as the chemicals in many things (try looking for uncommon things used around the house first) are so potent and yet we have no clue as to how potent or poisonous they really are.

When I had moved in with my elderly mother, I found I was very sensitive to her wet jet sweeper/mop wipes she would use for her floors. She had to use air-tight baggies to keep them in, and store them in the garage and only clean with them while I was out of the house for a couple hours. The stuff had to dry and probably evaporate before I wasn't so affected by it.

Try cleaning anything in your house with things like vinegar, baking soda, borax, maybe a little bleach and water.

Also, it seems to me that while you are improving her diet with more raw foods, and she gets a more clean diet, she may become stronger yes..but even more sensitive to what is triggering the hives..so don't get frustrated if they show up periodically, just take a look at what she could have come into contact with.

Let us know if you figure out the cause for her hives.

Love,
Prism