Baby number two had what appeared to be cradle cap and baby acne, as well as a bad case of colic. Every night at the time that I was tiredest, she began screaming. I tried swaddling, shushing, and swinging. Nothing really worked except really loud white noise. I was breastfeeding and several sources indicated that the mother’s diet may play a role in colic. I was also supplementing with regular baby formula as needed. I tried cutting dairy out of my diet, but the colic and rashes persisted. The pediatrician said it wasn’t caused by my diet, that colic was normal and that she had a bad case of baby eczema. So, while I was out of town, she was fed formula exclusively and was getting worse. The poor girl was so itchy she couldn’t sleep. I made an appointment with a dermatologist because I wasn’t satisfied with what the pediatrician suggested, but all he could do was treat the symptoms. So she was basically taking a heavy duty anti-histamine daily and slathered in cortisone cream. I felt so bad for her and worried about how the medication would affect her. I still felt that dairy might be a culprit so we tried a hypoallergenic formula and the rash got a little better. I decided to visit an allergy specialist who performed a skin prick test to milk and she came up negative. He told me that she was probably still too young. Although, it wasn’t the best choice in formulas, I decided to try soy and see what happened. Once I switched, her condition improved significantly. We were starting solids around that time and nothing else seemed to affect her at first. But slowly, the rashes began appearing again with new foods. She seemed sensitive to peas, sunflower seeds, coconut, and blueberries. Again, we went in for skin testing, which was painful for her and came up negative. I was at my wit’s end. I knew the food was affecting her, but I had not conclusive evidence. So the allergy doctor suggested doing a food challenge to milk. I hesitantly agreed. That day we went in with a bag full of puzzles, crayons, and a Kindle to keep her entertained while we did the food challenge. They have to do another horrifying skin prick test before a food challenge, just as a precaution. So we sat there with the test on her forearm until the nurse came in. The nurse said she was negative again and that we could proceed with the challenge. However, I noticed that she had several hives around the test area. I asked if it was normal and the nurse said no. She said that maybe the positive leaked under her skin but she wasn’t sure. She called the doctor in and he had never seen a reaction like that. So, he called off the food challenge and finally ordered the blood test. We went in for the blood work at the lab. they were not experienced with teeny tiny tots. It was awful and took a really long time to get her blood sample. Anyway, all the foods I suspected she had an allergy to came back positive.