Nightmare nappy rash - DD in pain, Im end of tether

[pixipie151]

My DD is 18 months old. She is very prone to severe nappy rash and had a bout of thrush about 2 months ago, which was treated with a steriod cream. However, the nappy rash is back with a vengence. The skin is red raw and dry as a bone. I've tried every creme recommended - natural and normal - metanium, sudocreme, neals yard balm, bepaththen, kamilosan, almond oil and chamomile and lavender in the bath. Several trips to the doctor, but advice is just to put plenty of creme on to act as a barrier.

She poos 4-6 times a day and it is often still quite soft. The nappy rash seems to be worse after many pooings and especially at teething times. She is in so much pain, she winces every time I change her. I try to give her as much no nappy time as poss after she gets home from nursery and weekends.

Nursery are also very concerned. They asked me to check with GP if she has some sort of allergy as they had a child there a long time ago with same probs, but was allergic to citrus (my baby loves fruit, but cant say I giver her much citrus fruit).

Any advice? Any wonder-cremes or lotions and potions?

I was reading another thread about a baby that is skinny and poos loads, could it be coelic disease? She's a fantastic eater by the way, but dead skinny with a pot belly and very small - only about 21lbs (9-12m clothes are still big on her).

[BooBooGlass]

It could well be something to do with an allergy. A friends son has the exact same symptoms at 2 and is dairy intolerant. Even with a modified diet, he still has soft poos several times a day as he is so sensitive to it :( Definately ask for allergy testing, and it's worth trying out different nappies too. Her solution is matanium and cloth nappies. I think she uses Motherease? If you're using disposables, AVOID Pampers. My ds has had a terible reaction to the new formulation, and i know he is far from the only one. Hope it gets sorted soon, it must be stressful for you x

[meltedmarsbars]

Poor thing!

My dd1 gets awful rash sometimes - metanium or just plain vaseline are the best things I've found so far.

I can't help with the food questions, sorry.

Hopefully someone more useful will be along..

[BranchingOut]

I found Lansinoh really good for healing up raw skin during a bout of nappy rash.

Weleda nappy rash cream is also very good.

[TeasingFireDragons]

Ds had nightmare blistering bleeding nappy rash that turned out to be psyrosis (sp) he has hydrocortisone cream every time it flames up. Thankfully as he has gotten old and now wears boxers there is less flare ups.

Have you spoken with the gp? might be worth mentioning the condition. They may well say nope, but it wasnt even considered until ds had it diagnosed on his knees.

Cutting out citrus and seeing what happens may be worth while as my sis reacted to citrus in this manor as a little one.

[JaynieB]

My DD had nappy rash that was also linked to some kind of fungal infection - the GP prescribed a cream that was a mix of cortisone and the stuff you use for thrush which helped.
I also got some brilliant cream in France which I couldn't get in the UK (I realise thats not too helpful) and a friend also brought me back some from USA which was good too - if you have any travelling friends, maybe they could help!

[sneezecakesmum]

janynie if you can remember what it is called there is an international pharmacy online where I got some mouth ulcer creams sent from Australia!

[sneezecakesmum]

www.unitedpharmacies.co.uk/
Clicked wrong button . Doesnt take that long to arrive, but hassle with your credit card/debit card supplier as they think youre money laundering!

[nightcat]

Skinny and pot belly are signs of malabsorption, pot belly means there is inflammation in the gut that causes malabsorption and one of the nutrients that doesn't get absorbed is Zn which is vital for healing and immunity (been through this with my ds now teen). Yes, you should pursue drs for celiac tests straightaway.

However, even if tests are inconclusive, you can still try cutting out wheat to calm the problems down.

[JaynieB]

The French brand was Mustela - it also smelt lovely and my DD's skin reacted really well to it. I've also used a US brand called 'Triple Paste' which was like a really stiff zinc oxide cream - stayed on the skin really well.
The Mustela stuff was fab though - DD had a touch of eczema as a baby too and this stuff calmed her nappy rash literally overnight.

[pixipie151]

Thanks so much everyone for your advice and experience. I will start with cremes suggested. In a few weeks I'll be working part time so could try cutting the wheat out if not resolved by then, as DD will only be at nursery 3 days a week then.

Its worse than ever tonight - cracked, dry and bleeding. I tried vaseline even though I dont like non natural stuff. Have already tried weleda and metanium, but thanks for the suggestions anyway.

[pixipie151]

PS - nightcat, what is Zn, is that zinc (sorry, rubbish at chemistry!).

[fifitot]

My DD had a persistent rash at one time and as suggested it was fungal so needed an anti-fungal cream to tackle it.

See GP again. Often trial and error finding the right cream. I personally avoided vaseline as it's full of chemicals. I think there is something called Botty butter which helped me too.

[WilfShelf]

If you don't get anywhere with metanium etc, go back to your GP or see your HV/practice nurse and ask about sprays used for bedsores. When DS2 had awful open weeping nappy rash blisters from acidic poo as a newborn, nothing worked - we tried all the things on this thread - no nappy, all the medicated creams, no creams,different nappies, steroids, fungal treatment.

It was only when a helpful HV suggested 'cavilon' spray that it improved. It isn't nice stuff: it's basically a plastic coating for skin but it does stop the acidic poo reburning the skin and preventing it healing. But you wouldn't want to use it for a long time. As an emergency measure when open sores are not healing. There are other brand names and types too - you DO need a prescription though, but the reason I mention nurse/HV is that it is known in nursing care but GPs less likely to know about such products as part of normal primary care activity...

[CarGirl]

You need to get swabs taken, it could be Strep A, could be psorasis, in our case it was both! Could be allergy/intolerance etc.

Best thing for nappy rash like is a "sprilon" spray it's designed for bed sores to stop then getting infected and it worked when all else failed as it's waterproof yet breathable and light - we got it on pescription but to buy over the counter is about £7 per can - worth every penny and it lasts a long time as you need a very light coating.

Lots of nappy free time helps too.

[sneezecakesmum]

IT MAY BE WORTH TAKING DD TO THE GP AS BABIES CAN GET SKIN INFECTION NEEDING ANTIBIOTICS. CRACKED AND BLEEDING SOUNDS DREADFUL. sorry caps lock on and typing one handed.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/Nappy-rash/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[herjazz]

Also avoid baby wipes. Water can also really aggravate. We always use olive oil and cotton wool on dd when she has a flare up. Works very well- just use as you would water when changing nappy. Get the little bottles they do from the chemist rather than yr food cupboard.

We also have a steroid creme prescribed by doc and often use 1% cannestan. If it's thrush you can see lots of little spots close together. Kind of looks like a bumpy rash

[CarGirl]

strep A photos

dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu/derm/result.cfm?Diagnosis=-413984079

it took them over a year to treat dds - kept telling me it was thrush, it used to bleed and weep

[WilfShelf]

I didn't know the sprays could be bought over counter, but for short term use are really helpful. Full of nasty chemicals though so wouldn't recommend AT ALL for general use: want to stress my DS' rash was no longer a 'rash' but literally open sores.

[herjazz]

Cavalon is yr best barrier cream. Ask if yr gp can prestige it in sterile swab packs. It's like a disposable cavalon coated stick. Use on side on one bit of rash, then the other side for another bit. This will be better if there is an underlying infection cos yr not cross infecting

Saline spray is also good. We got this on prescription as is v difficult to get otherwise

[CarGirl]

Yes WilfShelf, same here peeling, weeping, bleeding - "Sprilon" has dimethicone (I think) in it which I think was the miracle cure, rest of the time we just used cotton wool and water.

I had to order it in most times but always got it next day.

One of my other dds had particularly acidic poos (she also had silent reflux) and of course were more evil when teething so used to give her teething powders which I think did help a bit.

Def look at getting coelic disease ruled out if she has any other symptoms, diary intolerance can cause lots of multiple stinky soft poo too

[MiniMousse]

weleda nappy rash cream works for my dd where all other creams fail. have tried bepanthen, sudocrem etc, but the weleda one is the best ever www.weleda.co.uk/baby-skin-care/calendula-nappy-change-cream-75ml/invt/105009/

[MiniMousse]

sorry www.weleda.co.uk/baby-skin-care/calendula-nappy-change-cream-75ml/invt/105009/

[pixipie151]

Thanks for this ladies. Sorry to hear your little tots have had the same, but good to know we're not alone!

I will make a list of the conditions you've all suggested to discuss with health visitor, and check out bedsore sprays (they sound a bit scary!).

Love the tip re cleaning with olive oil, will defo start that tomrrow and hand over to nursery if it goes well.

[CarGirl]

Best thing about the spray is that once you've cleaned them up you don't need to touch them to smear on cream so it's less painful. As they can be sprayed onto open wounds they can't be too dangerous but as with all things in life the less chemicals you expose yourself too the better - lots of nasty chemical in disposable nappies I'm afraid.

[Girlsworld]

Without doubt the best thing that cleared up my baby's nappy rash (severe, weeping red raw at its very worst) is zinc and castor oil cream. No, I'd never heard of it either. I got it from the local chemist and it's been marvellous. The one I got is by Ecolab and it's in an orange and white tube. NB: On the back it says it contains acharis (peanut) oil and to avoid if a peanut or soya allergy is known My LO fortunately isn't allergic to peanuts or soya and and is fine with the cream. Nursery called it miracle cream because it did such a good job!

I had previously tried Metanium, Sudocrem, Bepanthen, Vaseline, Lanisoh. All worked in their own way for the lesser nappy rash but not the really bad rashes.

Hope you find something that suits.