Q: My son is 5 and half months old. He is suffering from rashes on his cheeks, chest, tummy and back fro the past one month. His paediatrician says that he has eczema and prescribed a cream. If I apply cream on the affected areas, the rashes go away. But when I stop applying, the rashes come back in 2-3 days. Secondly, my son drinks breast milk, but through the bottle. I express my milk and freeze it and before feeding my baby, I keep it in warm water. He doesn't finish the full bottle most of the time. Therefore I have to keep the leftover breast milk in the refrigerator and warm it again for the next feeding. Is it OK to keep the leftover breast milk back in the refrigerator and use it again for the next feeding? Is my son having rashes because of the way I feed breast milk? What precautions should I take to control eczema apart from applying the cream?

A:You can use the expressed breast milk which is kept at room temperature for 6 hours. In case you keep it in refrigerator at 25 degree C, you can use it for 24 hours. Breast milk which is frozen can be stored for 3 months. Don't freeze the breast milk, again and again. I don't think rashes are occurring due to your feeding practices. This is infantile allergy, which is peculiar to babies below one year of age, and tends to settle with time. If it is severe, you may intermittently use creams prescribed by your paediatrician. Minimise the use of soaps.