DS has red raw nappy rash

[twelveminutespast]

My poor 10mo DS has a red raw bottom. Sudocrem isn't even covering it because the skin is so raw.

What can I do to help him? It looks so awfully sore. This morning I changed him and let some air get to his bottom as well as putting a bit of talcum powder on.

Feel so sorry for him

Zinc and castor oil was what worked best for mine. Also wash him down in the bath/sink with a handheld shower instead of cloths or wipes. Pat dry with soft towel / muslin.

When DS had this, we stopped using cloth nappies as they irritated him more than disposables, stopped using wet wipes of any kind and only used water with drops of olive oil and cotton wool to clean (not so easy when out and about) but this helped lots as well as cream.

You could put water in a spray bottle for when you are out. You could also put baby lotion in a little tub with a lid to dip pieces of cotton wool in to clean.

I avoided water totally when DS was sore - I cleaned him with coconut oil which seemed to help

I would say it’s time to take him to the GP. In the mean time I’d put some hydrocortisone cream on him, no more than twice a day. A small amount rubbed in well. I put it on at nap time and bed time then it’s got as long as possible to work.

Agh! Please don’t use water or wipes to clean a sore bum!
Metanium/sudocreme/bepanthan whatever, they are all barrier creams.
You are not supposed to use wipes, water or cotton wool and water to remove them.
Dry his bottom. Slather on the barrier cream. Put on nappy.
Do not remove the cream unless he has done a poo, just add more if needed.
If he has done a poo use cotton wool and oil-baby oil/olive oil, whatever. The cream slides straight off. It’s whole purpose is to act as a barrier to water. If you use water you tear the skin even more, making it worse.
Dry again and add more cream. It’s supposed to stay on as long as possible so don’t remove it if he has a wet nappy, just add more. Only remove if he poops.
And see the GP is you’re worried.
(I’m a nurse and tissue viability specialist nurse told me this, it works)

That’s really interesting whatevah, why do GP’s not tell parents stuff like this!! What about the urine ending up on skin that isn’t covered with barrier cream? Or do you just cover the whole nappy area with it?

I have followed the same advice- it says it on the Metanium leaflet I think!

Also - to test the theory - try putting some on your hands and then wash it off with water. It doesnt move.

My son ended up with a raw bum just like that after we changed wet wipe brands from Huggies to Pampers Sensitive. So it could well be as simple as that. It cleared up quickly once we made the connection and stopped using them.

I don't think your sons nappy rash looked that bad. It does look like a contact rash from the pooh. By all means see a gp if you think it will help, but I really don't think something as strong is hydrocortisone cream is needed. I think I would feel more confident just dealing with it, having dealt with bad nappy rash from newborn til 4 months. But if course if it's not something you're used to go to the GPS and get it checked out. Highly recommend bepanthen it does have n antiseptic as well as being a barrier cream and it's nice and gentle in the skin.

Thanks @Whatevah , that's really useful to know

Don't use wipes

Never use a barrier cream. I remember HV saying if you use pampers a barrier cream isn't needed.

This clearly needs treating though.

Once cleared. Just cotton wool and water.

Hope he's better soo. Bless him.

My third child had this. I tried every cream under the sun and nothing worked. We had his 6 week check with the health visitor and it was thrush! I felt silly for not taking him to the docs but it didn't occur to me it would be thrush! Take him to the gp. Agree with others, if creams don't work it sounds like thrush.

@Alicenwonderland not necessarily thrush. Sometimes creams can take a while to work particularly on contact rashes with pooh. My baby had nappy rash for four months from when he was born. It would come and go, get worse an then better and then as soon as it was better it would get worse again. It was contact rash from pooh, no matter how quick I'd whip the nappy off the rash was there. He had sensitive skin.

By all means take him to the doctors, I think you will feel happier if you did. But don't presume it's thrush. Some health visitor said my newborn had thrush, he didn't and he was given quite a string cream which made his bum worse as Doctor went along with it.

Try a lanolin free zinc & castor oil cream. Some baby wipes, lotions, bath products (as well as adult shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, soap) have lanolin/hydantoin/allatoin in them. Johnson & Johnson used to put it in loads of their products. Lanolin is sheep wool fat. If baby is allergic it can cause awful nappy rash, not to mention other skin problems - blistering, skin peeling, burnt appearance, skin splitting & bleeding, etc.

Hope you manage to sort it out.

My son needed cannestain (thrush) cream. cleared.his up a treat