J.S.
my son has had eczema since 1month of age and is now 3. he struggles with food and environmental sensitivities and allergies (to peanuts, cashews) still. we wanted to go the natural route toward cure and didn't want him to have to be avoiding foods if not necessary so are treating him with homeopathy via a professional. dr. polich is in naperville (www.dupagehomeopathic.com) and has prescribed him a remedy that he can take when he has a breakout or accidentally ingests a nut food that makes him vomit and then get hives. It works faster than benedryl (in 2 minutes), which I prefer not to give anyway, due to the fact that it suppresses the body's reaction. homeopathy works to heal from the inside out. So, it's likely your baby will have this issue for a while. I agree that starting solids too early is not healthy for your baby's digestive tract, which is one of the most immature systems the body has early on. Waiting until it is more developed will help to protect it. And most indications are that w/ skin sensitivities like your baby has, are due to the gut not being able to handle what is passing throught it.
Dr. Polich is giving a free seminar on 5/22 (info is prob. on her homepage) in Naperville in the evening. You can email or call them to sign up if you're interested in attending.
Here's a great newsletter Dr Polich wrote about eczema as an example of how homeopathy helps relieve symptoms and starts on a path toward cure:
www.dupagehomeopathic.com/newsletters/eczema.pdf