Aug

14

Diaper Rash is a Pain In the Butt

Posted by Summer M

August 14, 2007 |

My oldest son used to get horrible diaper rashes. I mean aweful. That is the main reason we switched to cloth diapers. Though he’s still got sensitive skin, there were no more huge raw spots that he would get after just a few minutes. And trust me, that used to happen far too often.

My youngest has either been blessed with tougher skin or having only ever worn cloth has protected him. He gets a little red on the tush as a new tooth is coming but no horrible rashes for him. Still though no mommy wants to see her baby red bottomed and sad. So I’ve been breaking out the various diaper creams and balms to find something that works. Stephanie of About.com’s Parenting Babies and Toddlers has been thinking about this too. She’s got a list up of some of the best diaper rash remedies available. There’s only a couple changes I would make. First, I’d switch number 3 to the number 1 spot. Letting your baby go diaper free is an easy and painles way to ease the diaper rash away. Though it comes with the hazzard of trying to catch the pee and poop before it happens, but that’s totally do-able. There are many families who don’t even use diapers for their babies at all. It’s called Elimination Communication or Natural Infant Hygiene and it’s a lot easier than you may think.

Another remedy that I would add to the list, one that not many even know about: breastmilk. No, seriously. Breastmilk soothes and reduces diaper rash. The antibodies in breastmilk are great for killing off anything there that could irritate the rash and make it worse. Plus the milk is soothing to sore skin. After taking off the soiled diaper and cleaning the area with plain warm water I dab on some breastmilk and let my babe air dry. Works like a charm, and it’s free and always available.

If you’re wanting to buy a balm that you can use to help I’ve got a suggestion for that too. The Lavender Baby Bum Balm (scroll down the page a bit) from Flutterby Gifts is a great balm that helps. It’s soothing and comforting and made from natural oils with no Zinc Oxide that can be dangerous to some babies. (”Harmful if absorbed through skin. Causes irritation. Prolonged skin contact can cause dermatitis called oxide pox.”)

What do you use on diaper rash? What are some of your favorite remedies that you’d like to share?


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. SAHMmy Says on August 14, 2007 4:53 pm

    Great info–wish I knew about the breastmilk remedy when my baby girl was suffering from terrible rashes! Thanks.

  2. Trish on August 14, 2007 9:29 pm

    Lansinoh. Works like a charm. Nothing can get through that stuff, and it worked for my highly allergenic, rashy daughter.

  3. TimM on August 16, 2007 7:16 pm

    Great stuff. You also might want to take a look at Revolution Health’s rash resource center, which has a whole section on newborn rashes and skin conditions:

    http://www.revolutionhealth.com/conditions/skin/rash/

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