The Label Strikes Back!

Read the label, read the label, read the label...and then read it again. When you have a kid with food allergies it just becomes second nature.  I find myself reading labels of things that I am not even planning to give to Monk just to see if it is viable option.  If a package of strawberries had a label, I'd read it.

Or would I?

Labels aren't just on food
Sitting next to my kids tub are about 5 bottles of shampoo and body wash. Some for the older kids and a couple for Monk. He has special shampoo for when his eczema flares up, regular tear free baby wash, and then a bottle of "natural" head to toe wash that has been there for months but rarely used.

Well, I used it, and seeing as most of my posts end in reaction, you can probably guess what happened next. Hives. All over. I pick up the bottle, flip it over, and right there is a list of sources for the natural ingredients. Among them, coconut and sunflower.
 

The Catch
Now my label reading will extend to shampoos, soaps, lotions and such, but there is a catch. The labeling laws for these items are not the same as they are for food. The FDA requires food manufacturers to list the top 8 allergens by their source name in ingredients lists (e.g. Whey as Milk, etc.), and more and more manufacturers are moving towards "Contains" and "Manufactured on" statements to help those suffering from food allergies.  Beauty products are not required to do the same.  The ingredients in the body wash that come from Monk's allergens are polygyceryl-10 laurate, cocoglycerides, sodium coco-sulfate, coco-glucoside and glyceryl oleate.  Try remembering those the next time you are at the store. Of course, since coconut and sunflower oil aren't included in the top 8, the source wouldn't be listed anyway, and it is only because this wash is touting its natural ingredients.

So here is the problem: the hair must be washed.  I mean, the child was labeled "Baby Elvis" at 3 months of age for a reason.

Lip curl and mic ready!

Almost every shampoo that I have come across in the past few weeks of researching this issue has coconut in some form or another. Scouring the internet to find a coconut free shampoo is not an easy feat. I posted the question on two different allergy forums because someone must have had this problem before, right? I got a few great suggestions for soap that is allergy friendly but shampoo is difficult. This blog, Allergic to Coconut? had a few answers including going shampoo free with apple cider vinegar and baking soda (pretend you didn't just gag from the thought of smelling your sweet vinegary baby).

Before I run out and spend $20 on 8oz of shampoo or soak him in vinegar I will consult my allergist to see if I am taking things to the extreme (it wouldn't be a first.) It may be that the sunflower alone or in combination with several sources of coconut in that particular shampoo was what caused his reaction. Either way, that bottle is going the way of the dodo, at lease in my house.