Susan - how is Ella doing?

[Piglet]

I saw your post on Butts and was wondering how Ella was doing. We are going through something similar with K right now and it is awful :( The poor kid is miserable and nothing seems to be helping. He has horribly acidic poops that burn his bum. Did you ever find Triple Paste around here? Did you have luck with anything else? I am wondering if it is a tummy bug going around, rather than an intolerance. We haven't had any luck ruling out foods with K.

[bubbaray]

Um, totally butting in here (ha ha ha), but do you guys use Kirkland diapers by any chance?

DD#1 developed the most horrid diaper rash last September. She saw 3 dr's, one thought impetigo, one thought bacterial infection, another (her allergist) thought it was a food intolerance. We tried every cream, paste, she was on antibiotics, we changed her diet, everything. It was horrible.

Turns out, it was none of the above. It was her DIAPERS! No kidding. And, the kid diagnosed it herself. She told her daycare provider that the "horsey" diapers hurt her bum. Yup, the Kirkland diapers gave her the rash. We switched from them back to Pampers and the next day, the rash was almost gone.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.

Hope your kiddos are better soon!
Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[Piglet]

We have used Kirkland in the past, but use Huggies right now (and Pampers Cruisers at night). In our case the problem is the poop, not the rash, if that makes sense? If I can get the acidy poop to go away the rash will go away. I am just trying to figure out what is suddenly causing the yucky poop. I spoke with the daycare and they said a few kids went home yesterday with tummy bugs in a different room, but nothing yet in our room. I am guessing a weekend at home will do the trick, but in the meantime I dread every diaper change (as does DS2, obviously).

Thanks for the get well wishes!

[torontomom]

deleted...

[EllasMum]

Hi - sorry for the late reply. I just saw this Friday night. Ella's rash is almost completely gone - there are still a few patches, almost like pink scar tissue at this point. Overall, though, the rash is gone. I was not able to get Triple Paste anywhere. A friend recommended a product called Ihle's Paste. I asked for it at Wal-mart and the pharmacist laughed and said he hadn't had anyone ask for it in 20 years. I finally did find some in Shopper's - in the first aid section. It is a big plastic container that has a snail on the label - mostly zinc oxide, mineral oil and corn starch (?). Seemed to work fairly well. I actually had the best luck when I alternated Ihle's Paste with a THICK coating of garden variety Vaseline. I would do Ihle's at one diaper change, then Vaseline at the next. Took a good 3 days to start to really clear up, but it did eventually work. As for the acidic poop - that was super nasty, never seen anything like it - it lasted about 2 days in the acidic form and then just loose for about another 3 days. The crazy part of it was that she seemed to be otherwise unaffected by the bug (or whatever it was) - she ate, drank and slept normally - but would SCREAM when I even came near her with a Huggies wipe (what we normally use). I had to eventually abandon the wipes and just use a wet baby washcloth. That helped alot - just dabbing and no rubbing seemed to do the trick.

Oh, and as a matter of fact, I had just changed over to Kirkland's after using Pampers for a long time... Hmm. The rash has mostly gone away now but just tonight Ella had a really ouchy looking red mark where the elastic gathers touched her. I am sure that the acid poop was what caused the nasty rash from earlier, but the ongoing patches of rash could be due to the diapers. I may have to switch back to Pampers, I guess! Interesting.

ETA: Hope your little guy is feeling better soon. And I'm sure it's no fun for you either! :(

Susan

[bubbaray]

Another thing you might try is cornstarch powder on top of whatever cream you are using.

FWIW, we thought the problem was DD#1's "acidic" poop, but even when she has acidy poops in the Pampers diapers, she is fine. Very weird. If anything, you would think Pampers would be worse as they are strongly scented, but on my DD at least, they make a HUGE difference. Almost immediately, too.

And, Kirkland diapers are made by Huggies. So, if you do find you have a problem with the Kirkland diapers, don't bother with Huggies -- they are the same.

I can't use Huggies wipes at all with either DD. They seem to burn. Pampers sensitive are the most gentle we've found, though the regular Pampers Baby Fresh work fine on both girls.

Good luck to everyone. Who knew diapering would be such a problem?!


Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[Piglet]

Yup - that sounds about right. K just started on the loose pops today - a big improvement on the nasty acidy ones. We have been going through the same exercise with the wipes and the washcloths. He is also otherwise not bothered by the bug, but diaper changes are HARD!

I asked at the Downtown Shoppers about Triple Paste and the pharmacy tech told me that it is done by prescription and the only place that carries all the ingredients (to the best of her knowledge) is Chinook Shoppers. She said that it was mixed together by the pharmacist with a prescription. I am not sure if she knew what she was talking about, but it sounded plausible. MIL told me about Ihle's paste and even gave me a VERY old jar of it (from when BIL was a baby... he is graduating university this spring... EEEWWWW). I chucked it. I saw it at Shoppers a few months back and was relieved that I wouldn't have to break it to MIL that her fave diaper rash ointment was long gone, LOL.

The regimen we have been following is Cortisone at the morning and evening diaper change, with Zincofax extra strength at every diaper change. The Zincofax extra strength is pretty powerful stuff. Every time K has gotten a bad diaper rash it has gone away within a day of using the extra strength stuff. THis time that isn't the case since the poop is so acidic, so it re-burns every time :(

I am glad both kids are on the mend... and I will watch out for the new Kirklands. I wonder what prompted them to change the formulation!?

[EllasMum]

Zincofax Extra Strength is good stuff. There are a couple other 40% zinc oxide formulations out there that I've found - Gerber makes one that has a nice oatmeal-ish scent to it, and Parents Choice (Wal-mart's brand) also makes a 40% one. The Parents Choice one is quite a bit cheaper than Zincofax and works just as well. It is in the baby department in with all the baby bath/cleansing/diapering supplies.

Glad to hear K is doing a bit better!