Diaper rash won’t go away

@ho2008 My little girl had a terrible diaper rash from about 3-5weeks old all around her butthole and inner cheeks. It had blistered and was bleeding in some places. Her pediatrician said they see it often in breastfed babies the first few weeks due to the acidity of breast milk poops, but that their skin eventually adjusts. Not sure your babies age or if you breastfeed, but just something to note!

What we did to get rid of it:

• Woke her every 2 hours at nighttime for a diaper change. It REALLY sucked because she had just surpassed her birthweight and I was so excited to get a little more sleep, but worth it to stop further blistering.

• We stopped using wipes and rinsed her butt in the sink with warm water every diaper change.

• Blow dryer on cool to make sure her butt was super dry at every diaper change.

• Our pediatrician actually recommended Boudreaux’s so that’s what we used.

We later learned that she’s also allergic to pampers diapers and wipes. Pampers has fragrance and it just was too much on her delicate skin.

Diaper rash is the worst, but hang in there and be persistent! It’s so hard to get rid of once it’s there, but when it’s gone it’s easier to prevent!
 
@ho2008 Our pediatrician recommended Boudreaux Butt Paste which helped some, but honestly what helped the most was when he started consolidating his poops. He went from passing small stools 24/7 to pooping once, maybe twice a day starting around 2 months I think? Now he is super regular, so we know exactly when he’s pooped and change his diaper immediately afterwards. Those first few weeks were like whackamole with diaper creams and rashes.
 
@ho2008 My pediatrician recommended Calmoseptine when my daughter had a bad diaper rash. It works WONDERS, even the daycare providers noticed and said something about it because they hadn’t heard of it before. You can get it on Amazon (couldn’t find it in stores near me). We always keep it on hand now and it’s a go to if we notice a diaper rash coming on!
 
@ho2008 If you’re using scented diapers or wipes, consider trying unscented to see if that helps. My daughter got rashes from fragranced pampers when she was first born.

Also, agree with everyone saying to dry the butt then put on a good layer of aquaphor between diaper changes. We use Boogie’s diaper spray and it works wonderfully if you’re considering switching to a new cream!
 
@ho2008 Our LO has had a few rashes now, but every time we apply these methods, it clears up so quickly (I know you're already doing some of these):

-Water only for bum wiping. We use reusable bamboo wipes but have had to resort to regular baby cloths in a pinch and it works just the same.

-Very gently dab away excess moisture with a separate dry cloth. Sometimes we'll even fan his little butt for good measure. If we have time, we'll put him on his play mat without a diaper to air dry for about 5 minutes with a puppy pad or towel underneath him in case he goes again, though we've found that dab drying is just as effective for getting rid of that moisture.

-If you are breastfeeding, apply some breastmilk all over them cheeks. I draw up little syringes that we freeze and pull out as needed. Pop that on, dab it around with a finger, then use either drying method again. This is just a bonus step that seems to make the healing move faster. If you're not breastfeeding, all the other tricks should still work great.

-When we apply cream, we make sure it's a breathable layer. Burts Bees diaper rash cream has worked great for us as both prevention and treatment.

-Change every 2 hours or when he goes, whichever comes first.

-"Sitz" bath every day or every other day (just enough water to cover his booty) for no more than 5-10 mins, no soap, just warm water and about 1/2 or 1 tbsp of baking soda

A lot of this advice came from a close cousin whose LO had a breast milk allergy, which caused frequent diaper rash. Fortunately they're past that, but the advice lives on.

Usually our LO's rash clears up in a few days when we do this routine. Wishing you and your little guy all the best!
 
@ho2008 Start washing him with water and hypoallergenic soap after every diaper change. Make sure you rinse all the soap off and pat dry completely before applying diaper cream and a new diaper.

ALL diaper wipes leave a residue behind when they dry and can make getting rid of rash nearly impossible.
 
@ho2008 My LO got a diaper rash, just around his butthole, 2 wks ago, even though I felt I was quite vigilant re diaper changes and cleaning. The biggest change that immediately cleared the rash in about 3 days:

I now wash the LO's butt in the sink with water after every poo. This was something my parents did when caring for me and my sister 30+ yrs ago and now for my neice/nephew, and they have NEVER had to deal with a diaper rash even once.

Initially, I didn't want to replicate this because it seemed like a lot of work (my mom cradles baby over sink in one arm while washing butt with the other hand) and felt I could get the LO's butt thoroughly clean with wipes. Turns out you can't and always leave behind a thin residue (this makes sense if you've ever been camping and had to use wipes to clean yourself vs a shower). Plus, the textures of wipes, in and of themselves, are coarse and tug at the LO's super sensitive skin.

Here's my process:

1) Instead of using the physically laborious method that my mom does (juggling baby with one hand), I've simply set up a permanent changing station by the sink. I lay down a folded towel (beach or bath towel) to the left of the sink that is long enough for the LO to lay comfortably on. I undo outfit and pull it halfway up chest so it doesnt get wet. I slide LO's body halfway off towel so bottom half is hanging over sink and truss up the LO's legs with my left hand. I use right hand to splash running warm water from faucet onto LO's butt and lightly scrub areas with poo with my hand until clean.

2) I then take a baby washcloth and DAB (not wipe) until butt and folds/creases are dry. Dabbing butt to dry was the other big improvement in the diaper change process. I feel like wipes leave the area moist, and moisture also contributes to a rash.

3) I slather on diaper cream after EVERY change. I used the high strength zinc oxide (boudreaux butt paste) when LO actively had a rash. Now that rash has cleared up, I use a preventative diaper cream (aquaphor) and push it into his butt crack so it protects LO's butthole as well.

The process actually requires the same effort for me as bringing the LO to a changing table. It's the same distance to changing table versus sink. The amount of physical effort is the same. It might take a few seconds longer to get the water to a comfortable temperature. But washing over sink gets butt 100% clean every time.
 
To add: My LO stopped pooping overnight at about 6 wks so I'm not needing to wash his butt in the middle of the night for diaper changes, which would certainly wake him up thoroughly--and no one wants that!!!

During the day, LO also seems to thoroughly enjoy having his butt washed with warm/hot water. It's like a mini bath for him and he relaxes.

I've also noticed that, because he relaxes, he tends to finish his poop directly into the sink. So, instead of sacrificing 2-3 clean diapers to an ongoing, never-ending poop like when I used to change him on the table, I'm now one and done with the dirty diaper.

So I'm saving money on wipes and diapers.
 
@ho2008 Cool hair dryer after each diaper change then seal area with a glob of petroleum jelly (Aquaphor). The rash will disappear in 3 days. At Luvs brand diapers believe it or not is very absorbent compared to the most expensive diapers.
 
@ho2008 Triple Paste changed my life. Love this stuff- works great even on tough rashes!

Also let your baby “air dry” for a bit without a diaper, on a pee pad or something similar.
 
@ho2008 All really good suggestions on here already!
I used to give my baby some naked time when he got a diaper rash, it helps to dry it out and they love it. After cleaning them up and before putting on the cream.
At first I used the mats I had left from my hospital stay to place under him in case he peed or pooped and when those were gone I bought incontinence mats (the ones they place in peoples beds under the sheets) so he could spend some time naked. I figured I could reuse the pads when he gets potty trained in his bed over night too..
I’d definitely look into changing diapers and switching to different wipes, maybe even just water and makeup remover pads or something like that.
 
@ho2008 My second has a very sensitive skin and I had to stop using wipes altogether, even the supposedly water-only brands. Cotton pads with water only, including on the go. That plus regular sensitive diaper cream solved it.
 
@ho2008 I would take him back and ask for something stronger. My little one had the rash around his oenis area and it looked so sore. The gp ended up giving some steroid cream which cleared it up in a few days. Prior to that, we tried everything and nothing was working, felt like it was making it worse
 
@ho2008 If it doesn’t go away it could be a yeast infection and you would need an anti fungal cream! Ever since my LO had a diaper rash at a few weeks old, we always use hello bello diaper cream with EVERY diaper change now. But before applying it, we always dab with a designated butt cloth to make sure everything is dry so you’re not locking in moisture.

Haven’t had a diaper rash since 😁
 
@ho2008 We had a similar issue with my baby. She had a rash for DAYS and it felt like it was not getting any better. What helped us was using Bordeaux’s Butt Paste, changing wipes to WaterWipes, and using Cortizone 10 OINTMENT (our pediatrician recommended using this three times a day since her rash was NOT going away). This was our process:

When cleaning baby, we used WaterWipes and stopped wiping. Instead we started doing more dabbing.

Then we would dry her by either air drying (can be challenging because they might poop or pee on you lol) or we used super soft washcloths from Amazon. Again, with the towels, we dabbed rather than wiped.

Next we put a very light layer of the cortizone ointment and then a layer of butt paste after.

After a week, the rash was gone :) if you need links to products, let me know.

I hope your baby’s rash gets better soon!
 
@ho2008 Try a different diaper, and use a cream-based diaper cream, we use Triple Paste! All of these suggestions with oil-based creams will trap in moisture.

We have had one diaper rash in 6mo of having a baby, and it was from using the brand “honest” diapers.

Also. I cut up a bunch of soft rags into little squares and pat babies bum dry after every change before applying cream. Game changer.
 
@ho2008 I had the same issue. The rash was beginning to blister up! We tried everything! What eventually fixed the diaper rash was 20 minutes (or more!!) a day of diaper free time on a puppy pad and rubbing cornstarch on it every diaper change (a good amount of it) once they were fully dry. It cleared in a week. However, If it’s a yeast rash this may make it worse so keep an eye on that. Also changing diaper more frequently. we did it every 3 hours originally and started changing it every 1.5-2 hours with the rash.
 
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