Really bad nappy rash

[Chiccadum]

Can anyone please offer any tips or advice on how to deal with nappy rash. DD1 never had it at all but dd2 (11 months) is now cutting her molars and is suffering very badly, she screams the house down every time i change her nappy. I've tried drapoline and johnson nappy cream but they have not eased it, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[SofiaAmes]

Have you tried changing nappy brands. My ds never had nappy rash, but his bottom did not like pampers so i switched to tesco's. Also, try leaving her with her nappy off as much as possible. Nappy rash is caused by damp conditions.

[gingernut]

Yep, definitely leave the nappy off, it makes a huge difference. We have hard flooring in the bathroom so when he has nappy rash I let ds roam in there without his nappy and mop up as necessary. If you don't have suitable flooring you could put down some old towels.

To be precise, nappy rash is supposed to be caused by the reaction of poo with stale urine. Ds usually does a poo just after his breakfast so I used to leave him in his overnight nappy until after breakfast to avoid having to change twice in quick succession. But since he had bad nappy rash recently I've been changing him as soon as we get him up, and then again after breakfast if he does a poo. That way, he doesn't poo into a very stale nappy. It does seem to help.

Also, use just a very thin layer of nappy cream. If you use too much, it can `coat' the nappy which makes it less absorbent, making things worse.

HTH.

[tealady]

You have probably tried this already but I always found sudocreme to be most effective when my dd had nappy rash - and avoiding baby wipes (cotton wool and water only).

[Chinchilla]

Or try sensitive wipes. My ds got nappy rash one, when teething, although we have generally been very lucky with it. I used Sudocrem, and it cleared up. Probably not a very bad case anyway, but it looked pretty bad. I did not stop using wipes, but we always use sensitive ones anyway, because he has eczema, and smelly ones can irritate his skin.

[threeangels]

I think I remember doing an oatmeal bath a few times. Not with the real stuff of course.

[SoupDragon]

I agree with using cotton wool & water until it's healed as I think it stings less. I found sudocreme good (again, agree with using only a thin smearing)

DS1 did have a fungal nappy rash which needed an anti fungal cream to clear it up so if your DDs doesn't heal quickly, it may be worth considering a trip to your doctor.

[kathsmj]

I always use Metanium Ointment, it's extremely thick, yellow cream, comes in a tube and it is wonderful.
I also don't use baby wipes on my kid's bums, they've always been sensitive and wipes always helped to bring nappy rash on quicker, so cotton wool and warm water are the purest form of cleansing.
Chiccadum, hope dd1 improves soon, poor little thing.

[hmb]

I agree with you Kathsmjm Metanium was wonderful, and even cleared up candida with Dd had it.

[Chiccadum]

She got up this morning and it was worse bless her, she screamed even louder when I cleaned her,it's started bleeding a little, i can't understand why as I change her nappies regularly during the day. I've emptied the medicine cabinet and found Nystan (for fungal nappy rash, just in case it doesn't clear up quickly), Kamillosan and Metanium so I'm going to have to try and see what works, she is walking round with no nappy on at the minute and thinks it's hilarious when she tinkles on the floor.

[SofiaAmes]

By the way nystan is the same as canestan which is the same as athlete's foot cream. They are all 1% chlortrimazone (sp?) but with different prices and different perfumes. I think the baby one is the most expensive. Chiccadum, it sounds like a fungal rash to me. Leaving off the nappy like you are doing is the best thing to do.

[kathsmj]

Yes , I agree, she will feel a whole lot better without her nappy on and the air getting to it will help loads.

[futurity]

My ds sounds very similar ...he has awful nappy rash sometimes...just goes nuts when we go near to change him ..the bum looks like it is on fire...horrible.

We spend most of the day nappiless which helps alot...we also use metanium which works wonders. I also don't use wipes when he is bad...just cotton wool and water and only sensitive wipes at other times. Again I find that helps.

[GeorginaA]

Agree with all the other posters re: leaving the nappy off etc. We find zinc & castor oil nappy cream to be the less "stingy" on ds' bottom than sudocream and very effective. Do be careful though, many of them contain peanut (or sometimes labelled as arachis (spelling?)) oil - we found the mothercare brand of zinc & castor oil didn't have peanut derivatives in it so that's the one we use.

[eidsvold]

my dd had very bad nappy rash after a food change left her digestion/bowels up the creek. The doctor told me to mix sudocrem with metanium - forms a nice barrier and mixing it with the sudocrem makes it easier to clean off. Her bottom was like your daughter's bottom - to the point of bleeding. We were unable to leave the nappy off.

Use cotton woool and warm water to clean her bottom with and then I used to dry it with nappy liners.

[Caroline5]

Dd2 had terrible nappy rash when very young. I didn't find any of the creams worked (metanium did nothing for us unfortunately), the only cure was to leave her nappiless almost all the time, very messy with a new born (and impractical for going out/night times!) but eventually effective. Also I found that Pampers did a "sensitive" nappy in her size which really seemed to improve matters. However, I only think it's available in a small size.

[Hollandia]

DD had terrible nappy rash at first, bleeding as well. It really breaks your heart, especially as she was premature and so small. What worked for us was using cotton cloths and warm water to clean her bottom, then dry off gently (cotton again), use a tiny bit of powder for the parts that are hard to dry and (gently) wipe the excess off. Then cover with a tiny bit of Sudocrem. Worked wonders for us.
Heard great stories about Sudocrem over the years. My best friend would even order it from her relatives in Scotland before it was sold here in Holland. Good luck. Hope it gets better soon.

[mam]

Chiccadum, so sorry to read about your dd2. A few years ago a friend of mine had to take her dd to the doctors because like your dd bleeding started. I think they gave her something that helped quickly so try your doctors in the morning in the meantime like everyone says air and sudocream when the nappy has to be on. Hope it clears up quickly.

[Veggie]

I used Metanium (only from Pharmacy)which helped really quickly.
Since her last nappy rash (last year May) we put on a thick layer of Johnson's Nappy Cream at every nappy change and dd hasn't had any nappy rash since.

[Kyliebump]

I used Vasogen on advice of HV after the cream given by the Dr seemed to make it worse - DS used to scream whenever he saw the tube! It was fantastic - seemed to be very soothing on the skin - DS used to lie with his little legs up in the air waiting for us to put it on.

Also did several days of waterproof coverings on the floor, no nappies and cotton wool and water cleaning - what a mess!!

[eidsvold]

chiccadum - hope you were able to ease your little one's nappy rash!!

[Chiccadum]

After using the Kamillosan a few times I didn't notice any difference. I've been using Nystan and the rash has very nearly gone so it looks like it could be thrush.

[Broom]

I swear by Kamillosan (cost around £3.49) for the one in the jar. When my son started nursery the change in diet caused bad nappy rash but this seem to clear it quite quickly. Good luck on your choice.

[gingernut]

Chiccadum, if it's responding to the Nystan then you're probably right and it is a fungal infection. Carry on using the cream for a week after the rash has healed because fungal infections often return if you don't - they look like they've gone but they haven't really!

Glad to hear it's improving.

[snickers]

if the rash is "speckly" then it's likely thrush (just gone through the same thing with DD) Canestan and a switch to disposables for a week (use terries otherwise) has cleared it up. Get the 1% canestan from the docs (for free prescription). Agree that it seems to be the combination of poo on wet nappies which seems to trigger the soreness...