Nappy rash/blisters at nursery

[Francine84]

My 18 month old DD has come home from nursery today with awful nappy rash. Dropped her off this morning with no rash at all, and at 4.30 when I collected her it was there.

Obviously it's very red and sore over the nappy area and inner thighs, but it also has big white spots/bumps (like blisters) all over and she’s clearly in pain with it. It genuinely looks like she’s fallen in stinging nettles or something and she was screaming when I changed her nappy.

She’s never had nappy rash before, we use cream at every nappy change. And it’s never been an issue at nursery before. Nursery didn’t even mention it when I picked her up, just said she’d had a great time.

Is this normal? Does this sometimes happen with toddlers, they just come out in a rash like that? Or do I have a word with nursery about them taking better care of her and applying cream more regularly?

I'm so upset, it’s genuinely the worst nappy rash I’ve seen. But I don’t know if I’m being unreasonable blaming nursery for it, or if this is just something that happens with toddlers. Advice please!

It’s horrible seeing them in pain with a bad rash but as it’s the first time I wouldn’t complain to
nursery. To get to 18 months having never had nappy rash is a rare achievement! Perhaps it was something she ate or drank. My daughter used to get a terrible rash after eating strawberries or satsumas. Could be that she hadn’t drank much water and her urine was concentrated. The yellow metatanium cream was the only thing that helped for her. Hope your child is ok.

Was she wearing nappies you provided or nursery ones ? Babies can have really bad reactions to different brands due to what they are made of. Definitely bring it up with the nursery, ask when it first appeared etc as it should all be noted down. My oldest used to react like that to Pampers (he's nearly 13 now..) Metanium or Sudocream are awesome though, if she's really uncomfortable try Germolene as it has a mild anaesthetic in it and will make her more comfy.

Yellow metanium cream is no longer manufactured (they have a white replacement cream in a similar box but it isn't the same). Sounds awful for her, OP. Since metanium was discontinued, weve started using bepanthem at each nappy change to stop any issues before they start (rather than treating with metanium afterwards) and seems to be working for us so far. Might be worth a try.

About nursery, I'd definitely ask if they noticed when it started and then cross check against what shes had to eat. Maybe also check her mouth for any teeth coming? DD1 got bad nappy rash when some of the bigger teeth were cutting through. Do nursery have cream that they can apply? If not, pop some in her bag and ask them to use it every change.

Your poor daughter :( Hope it clears up soon.

I would definitely mention to nursery, not as a complaint but a concern and wanting to find out more. They should be logging nappy changes so I’d want them to look into when she was changed, by who and whether there was any rash at any point. Also double checking they are using your nappies and wipes as little ones can react to different brands.

Oh bless her that sounds so uncomfortable. My DD used to come out in a nappy rash within a couple of hours if a poo was left even slightly too long, which ofc was more common at nursery. I would definitely mention it to them, as someone said ask what nappies/wipes they use and if they've recently changed brands.

Try and let her run around bare bottomed as much as possible this weekend, it's the best medicine for nappy rash. If it doesn't clear up in a few days then do get her seen by the GP, my DD once had a fungal nappy rash that needed a prescription cream.

How awful for you both, it’s so distressing to see them in pain. The symptoms remind me of when my 7 month old DC had something very similar years ago and was prescribed 5 different medications over a 6 week period.
Non of the GP’s could identify the problem, one said it was an infection, another said it was possibly foot and mouth from the nursery.
It was so upsetting, she was listless and had a weak cry. The blisters were awful, her temperature was 38.6 and she continually scratched her ear all day. I was so desperate I took her to A/E and they prescribed Daktarin then a few days later a tooth appeared!
I agree with letting her run around without a nappy to get fresh air to the area.
I hope you get some answers soon, and soon recovers. 💐

Is she popping a tooth? Mine always would get nappy rash when she was teeth as she got older.

If my daughter was teething it didn't matter how much cream I put on, she always had a bout of bad nappy rash at that time

Ouch poor little one.
It’s definitely worth having a chat. Perhaps they used the wrong wet wipes or cream? Or it’s a reaction to something new she’s eaten? But if you mention then at least if they have changed her too late causing the rash then at least you’ve brought it to their attention and they know you’re not going to accept this going forward.
Mine never had nappy rash either.

I've never known a child to get a sudden awful nappy rash like that so I'd want to speak to the nursery urgently - when did they last change her, was it wet or soiled, what wipes and/or cream was used, did they notice a rash?

Absolutely definitely mention it to the nursery. Not necessarily as a complaint but to ensure that they are aware that your baby is in pain in that area. Then they can maybe change her more than usual and make sure that they use lashings of sudocream or any other barrier cream to alleviate her discomfort and help her to heal. Baby needs you to ensure that she is comfortable.

This was how hand foot and mouth showed up in my little one

This happened to me. My baby has done a poo just as we arrived at the nursery, and I asked them to change the nappy. When I picked my baby up they had a horrible nappy rash. I asked to check the nappy register. They didn't change the nappy until about 2 hours later. I went to management and told them

I haven’t read the full thread so may have already been mentioned but could it be from something she’s eaten? My little one gets an immediate nappy rash from eating aubergine.

it might be that nursery weren’t quick to change the nappy but that something has also made it worse

Are you sure it’s not chicken pox? That started as bad nappy rash for my daughter at around 11 months and then only a few spots elsewhere.

I used to work in nurseries and you do see some awful nappy rashes. I’d definitely bring it up but not in a blaming way - it could be something she’s eaten or drank that’s caused a change in her wee and poo, it could be the wipes or nappies if they’ve used a different brand - some children react to this! I’d just ask if they’d noticed it in the day, whether they’ve changed anything or if she’d eaten anything new.

We had this with our son, turned out nursery had changed to Asda nappies and he reacted to them (along with several others). We also discovered a few months later he reacts to sudocrem. We noticed it only got worse on nursery days and they used sudocrem whilst we always used metanium at home. So every time he looked a bit red nursery put sudocrem on and it made it worse. We asked them to use different nappies and no sudocrem and he has been fine ever since (well the odd small rash here and there whilst teething but nothing like the red blistered skin he was getting).

Definitely speak to nursery and ask if they can see any patterns or causes. Ours were great trying to help us figure it out.

I’d definitely be asking nursery if they have used something different. My daughter is 2 years 8 months and never had a nappy rash. You know yourself how your child is.

Why didn’t you just change them? You were there and knew they had a dirty nappy and left?

Alot of parents do that

Ask to see the nappy changing chart
Did she have a different type of nappy on?
Maybe she is allergic to the nappy (can happen)
Or maybe they put a cream on that she was allergic too?

Talk to them, and explain whats happened and see what they say

Change very often. After every wee for afew days. Use a cream you know she can use. Sudo is soothing

Both my DC never had nappy rash apart from when they were teething. Their urine can get really strong!

My daughter had a reaction like this to a pampers nappy, did she have her usual one on when you picked her up?

This has never happened to any of my children and I would guess it’s a result of her not having a poo nappy changed for ages. It really shouldn’t happen it’s very unusual, I would complain to the nursery and consider changing nurseries if it happens again.