The Rash Revisited: Car Seat Suspect #1

I've decided that Cricket does not have eczema, an autoimmune disorder, MRSA, poison ivy, impetigo, HSV, or chicken pox, which were all theories about what was happening to him. I've decided he's "allergic" to his car seat.

The very device I researched the most, that I thought of as the most essential safety requirement we'd have for him has ended up being the culprit. Or jackass.

It's impossible for me to relate how guilty Partner and I feel about putting him over and over into the car seat, and now knowing that it was that which was causing the burning rash and blisters.

How did we figure out it was the car seat? Well, it started with Brother K, who called with his speculation that perhaps the seat was treated with flame retardant, and maybe, just maybe, Cricket was having a reaction to it? Sounded plausible, we thought. Since the rash had started on the back of his head, we started putting a burp cloth behind his head, mostly because we thought the fabric of the car seat might irritate the rash. We hadn't though previous to Brother K's suggestions that the seat was the cause.

Yet last week when we had him in the car seat in shorts, the rash bloomed again on the outside of both legs, interestingly enough where his legs were touching the seat. Other places the rash has appeared: the elbow on one side only, the side that he prefers to lean to, along with the cheek on that side, and the back of his hand. Never, not once, has this rash appeared on any part of his body that wasn't touching the seat. He's never had it on his shoulders, trunk, upper thighs. And the rash only appeared on other parts other than his head only after we were in South Carolina, where it was even warmer and he wore shorts and short sleeve shirts for the first time while in the car seat.

Here's what I read: some car seats are treated with bromine, chlorine, and even lead. Often these materials break down in the heat causing, for some babies, serious problems. Among the lead offenders is the Graco SafeSeat (for boosters, but I'm clearly suspicious of the infant seat too.) One of the materials used to treat car seats to make then flame retardant is decabrominated diphenyl ether. This has been linked neurological defects, cancer, low sperm counts, permanent learning and memory impairment, and in some cases, even cancer. I'm beginning to think we got off lucky with a rash.

The healthycar.org people have tested and ranked the car seats according to who is the worst offender and whose seats are better. (Read the report here.) I've called Graco to get try and get the low-down on what was on Cricket's car seat. Two trips to the ER, numerous doctor appointments and finally seeing the chair of the dermatology department at fancy-schmancy university hospital-- *sigh*-- all caused by his car seat.

The whole thing makes me sick. We wash all the Cricket's clothes with Dreft. I think about what I eat all the time since it will pass to him via breast milk. We research almost every damn thing that comes into contact with our little man. I wake up at night and put my hand on his chest to be sure he's still breathing. We love him so much and to think we inadvertently caused his rash is making us feel sick. This is actually a very mild picture of what his head looked like. At first it was much more widespread, with pustules that oozed like a bad blistering burn.

The leg here is not as bad as it got either. It actually felt hot to the touch. The thing is, I think back to the La Leche meeting where I accosted the dermatology resident who say Cricket's head when it looked particularly bad. Her words keep echoing, "That doesn't look like eczema to me." Yeah, me neither, sister.

So I'm in the market for a good car seat cover made from 100% cotton and completely untreated. We're now using a cut up tee shirt, which is protecting the kids skin, but a pain in the ass to get him situated correctly

I'm mad as a hornet about the whole thing. As soon as I find out more, I'll let you know what I hear.

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