Chafing on thigh-crease?

[bnme]

My newborn is chafing (peeling skin) in his diaper-area thigh crease. Ay reccomendations on how to treat? Diaper-rash cream, regular lotion ( I use Aveeno products), vaseline? I haven't been putting anything there. Just using Natural Care wipes and patting Destin on his butt several times a day. Do you think I am not drying him properly after sponging/bathing and that is causing it? Or maybe not cleaning the area properly on diaper changes.

Also his butt looks a little irritated today so I am going to use warm water instead if wipes until it clears up.

TIA for any advice!

[blnony]

We had a similar problem and our ped. recommended Aquaphor. We still use it for other things like chaffing under the chin. Also, you might consider using something like A+D regular, with no zinc oxide on the diaper area. Also, you might try letting the area air dry a little longer too.

[bnme]

Is the zinc bad? I thought it was good? I have some A&D Regular so I may try that.

Thanks

[Rachels]

It's natural for newborns to peel all over, but if he looks irritated, try some Weleda Calendula Cream. It's amazing stuff.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[Momof3Labs]

Make sure that you rinse those creases very well after a bath. If he continues to be irritated in those areas, try changing to a super-gentle bath wash (we use Aveeno fragrance free bath wash after a similar bad experience with Baby Magic).

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[blnony]

I don't think the zinc is bad, but our Ped. recommended not using it on a newborn, he said it wasn't needed unless you had a real rash. He said the A+D regular was a bit more mild on newborn skin and would be a good barrier. Also, we had bad chaffing from disposable diapers on DD legs, and we just went up a size and that helped a lot. But putting aquaphor on those spots really cleared it up.

[atlbaby]

You can also try putting a little corn starch in the creases (and on his tush if that's irritated too!) to keep him dry. You can try alternating corn startch at one diaper change, then diaper rash cream at the next changing too.

Just don't put desitin/a&d ointment on top of the corn starch (as DH did the first time :) ) bc you will get a gooky mess! Arielle had a lot of chafing over the summer and the corn starch helped a lot.
-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[nohomama]

Whenever Lola has any kind of skin irritation we try Weleda Calendula cream first. More often than not, it clears whatever it is up.

I'd also recommend letting your son air out for 10-15 minutes between diaper changes and/or after a bath. You'd be amazed how effective that alone can be.

[cara1]

Chafing and peeling are not the same. It's normal for newborns to peel in the first week (or is it first two weeks?). But if it looks red, irritated, or painful, that's another story. For just peeling, I don't think you need to do anything, although petroleum jelly is good. Overdrying with a towel is bad, as is overbathing. Newborns don't need to be bathed every day. If you're at all unsure, ask the ped at your f/u appointment.

[sparkeze]

I still battle this problem and my son is over 9 mo! I think part of the problem is that he sweats a lot there. He's a non-stop mover so he gets really sweaty! I try to let him air out for a couple minutes now that he's stopped peeing once the diaper is off. But I don't think you have this problem yet! When he was a newborn, airing out is the best way. Once he airs out for awhile, you could use some Vitamin A&D ointment (different from A&D diaper cream). You can just buy the generic brand of this at Walgreens or something. You may have gotten a tube of this at the hospital (I did) to use for easier removal of meconium. Anyways, it provides a barrier so the skin doesn't rub together and so the skin has a chance to heal. Similar to diaper rash creams, but I think it doesn't have a lot of the added stuff. But that area is really hard to get completely dry! You have to kind of stretch the legs out intermittently so get some air in there. Newborns usually have their legs all squished up so it takes awhile to get the creases dry after being wet (even while stretching the legs out, since they won't stand for having their legs like that for more than several seconds).