Help! My first experience with diaper rash. So many questions!

[peasprout]

I feel silly for posting this (considering I've been a mom for 13 months already), but I don't know if my DD has diaper rash or not. She's been pooping a lot lately (not solid, kinda mushy) and today whenever I wipe her, she cries like she's in pain. Is that diaper rash? Does it cause them to cry like that? Or could it be something else? There aren't any bumps, but the area is a bit red. I had a sample of Desitin that I put on her, but I don't know if I did it right. Her entire butt is now coated in this thick white cream. Is that how it's supposed to be? The package said "apply liberally", so I did. And am I supposed to cover her private areas too? How do you get it off? It doesn't seem to wipe away easily with the baby wipes.

[Marisa6826]

You need to really smear the stuff on, and yes, on ALL her "nether regions". The trick is to apply it BEFORE you really need it. Any time Sophie even looks a LITTLE pink, I put it on and by the next change she's OK.

Did you try a new food? Your DD might be having a reaction.

You want to have a difficult time wiping it off because otherwise, it will come right off on the dipe and not stay on the babe's bottom. But by the time you need to change the next dipe, most of it should be gone.

I personally prefer this stuff called Triple Paste. It is OTC, but you need to ask the pharmacist for it. For some reason, they must think there's a black market on dipe cream or something so they keep it in the back. It's really expensive (about $7 for a couple ounces) but really worth it.

I hope your little one feels better in short order.

-m

[peanut4us]

Sara's been the same way (poop-wise :)). And she definatley has a bit of a red bum. We use Aquaphor on that and her privates, very liberally applied. She seems to like it and as an added bonus, the next poop tends to not "stick" as much to her! Aquaphor is clear and comes off easily in the bathtub. It doesn't stain or anything.

Oh--I almost forgot. It's harder to find, but I like to buy it in a tub instead of a tube. It's kind of hard to get out of a tube and I feel like I have a hard time getting the right amount out while Sara is wiggling around. Definatley the tub, and it lasts FOREVER. We use it on her every changing. She's almost 9 months and we are not even half way through our second tub (which is good befcause it is dang expensive!).

[cdlamis]

It sounds like her butt is just sensitive to the "mushy poop". Has she been eating more acidy foods? When my DD has a diaper rash, she does cry out and it seems as if it does hurt.
Don't feel silly for the questions. If you are lucky enough that your DD has not had many diaper rashes, you haven't had much experience. I'd go to drsears.com and look at the diaper rash page. I think it has pictures of rashes- at least of a yeast rash.

http://askdrsears.com/html/8/t081400.asp

It sounds like you put enough cream on. It is supposed to look coated. I don't put any on DDs private area unless it too has a rash. Maybe I am wrong though. I let DD sit in a bath for a while and then wipe it off with soapy and water.

Hope it gets better soon!

Daniella
Mom to Julia 6-13-02
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b32dc745c42b

[TaChapm2]

Ugh...my DS has a rash right now too. He doesn't get them often but it seems like when he does it is a bad one. We use Dr. Smiths diaper ointment. I started using it on him this morning and the rash is almost gone. In my experience (used to work at a daycare) Desitin seemed to burn the babies when I put it on them. I have heard many parents say the same thing. We went with the Dr. Smiths because our Pediatrician swears by it and it seems to really work. Might want to give it a try. BTW...I put a really thick coat on at every diaper change. I think it adds more of a barrier against wetness. I hope DD feels better soon!

Tara
Mommy to Jackson (11-10-02)

[Momof3Labs]

You got great advice for treating it, but I wanted to mention that it could very well be a food that is causing this. Oranges (juice and the fruit itself) and cow's milk both give Colin a red diaper rash around his anus and soft poops, and as soon as we remove those from his diet, the red goes away and his poops go back to normal.

[amp]

We are going through a major diaper rash right now. He screams and shrieks when I change his dipe! It's excruciating for him and it's excrutiating for us to listen to and not be able to fix. We bought Triple Paste per the recommendation on the www.askdrsears.com website. We had been using Johnson & Johnson 3 in 1 dipe cream and until now, it has always taken care of minor redness and irritation, but this is above and beyond anything remotely minor. Hoping it clears up soon because I hate to even change the dipe (although I do it regularly anyway) because I know it's torture for him. Poor thing! It completely coincided with his starting antibiotics for the first time, so I suspect it's related to that (and possibly yeast related as a result), so I don't think it was a food in our case (nothing new this weekend anyway).

And yes, apply the cream liberally and thickly. A lot of it will wipe off on the dipe, so you need a lot for it to do it's job of creating a barrier between her and the poop/urine.

If the rash gets worse or she cries when you use wipes, I recommend either using warm wet washcloths or rinsing her with water (bulb syringe, shower or sink sprayer) or rinsing out baby wipes (to get the chemicals out) and then using them. That's what we are doing and it helps him to cry less, so I know it's less irritating.

Also, make sure when you change her dipe that you wait a few minutes before applying the cream and putting her dipe back on. She needs to dry out. Airing her out as much as possible is one of the best things for her!

HTH!

[Jenmv]

I gave DD a few pieces of orange on Sunday and what do you know Monday she had real soft poops and her first ever serious diaper rash. I feel so bad for her. She cries whenever she poops or I change her diaper. We won't be trying oranges again any time soon. I've been using aquaphor. Her skin was so raw that the creamy desitin slid right off her skin and the regular desitin smells like fish oil. Yuck, I'm never using that again.

[dogmom]

Although I have only some personal experience with baby diaper rash, I can say I have loads of experience with all sorts of skin issues with patients in the Intensive Care Units. There is some truly impressive skin prep stuff out there. The one thing I've picked up is most of the creams are supposed to form a protective barrier over the skin to prevent further damage and allow the skin to heal. What I do is apply it liberally to the effected areas, and wipe off what comes off easily with a diaper change. I don't scrub. Then once the "offending matter" is cleaned off, I just apply more cream over the area. If new cream is on old cream, fine. I can usually clear up anything within 24 hours with this method. (that is on my baby.)

Jeanne
Mom to Harvey
1/16/03

[peasprout]

Thanks for the great advice! Now I'm wondering if it's something she ate, but the bad thing is that I don't even remember the new foods I've given her! She's never had any reactions to anything so I stopped keeping track. :( And lately she hasn't been wanting to eat so I've been giving her anything she even seems remotely interested in hoping that she'll get somthing into her stomach. I know,..bad mommy. I know she didn't have any oranges though. Hmm,...I'll have to think about this one,...

[luvbeinmama]

Andrea - Try giving him some probiotics at the same time as the antibiotics. It really helps to counteract the rashy quality of the antibiotic poops. Whole Foods Market stocks one by Jarro called Baby's Jarro-dophilus. It is in a powdered form you can add to liquid or food.

For those with older kids (over 2), there are also chewable tablets for children out there. I got some from my local pharmacy.

[luvbeinmama]

I just cover the affected areas. And if you need it to stick better you can add baby powder to it. I mix my own "triple" paste for those nasty, yeasty rashes, and apply it with a cosmetic spatula. Sounds like you did just fine. I don't think you need a special cream for the rash you described. Those really mushy, frequent poops are the worst!

FYI - here is an old thread on the subject of rash creams:

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=12&topic_id=1492&mesg_id=1492&listing_type=search#1499

HTH!

[amp]

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out. We don't have a Whole Foods here, but I can check another place that might have it.

[daisymommy]

Just wanted to add that the other thing that causes diaper rash in alot of babies (my DS included), is teething! There is just something very acidic in their saliva (maybe to help the new teeth come through?), and of course they swallow it, so it comes out the other end ;) Making for a red sore bum. Poor baby!

[TaChapm2]

You can usually get it at any pharmacy but you need to ask for it and try to get it in the refrigerated powder form. I have even had our Wal-Mart pharmacy order it for us and it got here in one day. It really helps! If you still can't find it you might try yogart. It is basically the same thing. Good Luck!

Tara
Mommy to Jackson (11-10-02)

[KGoes]

I use the Mustela vitamin barrier diaper ointment - I love it. DD has sensitive skin and I tried everything on the market (since I got sample sizes in nearly every brand).
Good luck!
Kelley
DD born 7/03

[chrissyhowie]

Just wanted to add one tip to the great advice that everyone has given already. When DD had a really bad diaper rash (little open sores OUCH!) and the creams all seemed to slide off, I put a little bit of Lansinoh (the stuff usually used for sore nipples when breastfeeding) directly on the sore spots and then put the diaper cream over that (helps the Lansinoh wipe off more easily later). That really helped.