Nappy rash that will not go...

[jennifersofia]

DD is 6 wks, has had nappy rash nearly since she was born - quite red with little raw patches that leave tiny bits of blood on nappy. Suedocreme no good, metanium no good, kamilosan no good, nothing seems to shift it.
She is bf, and is very gassy and unsettled, gut problems will wake her up. So, wise mumsnetters - 1) Do you think it is thrush? 2) Could it be something that I am eating that she is allergic to? (e.g. dairy?) She is quite unhappy.. which is very . Suggestions?

i think it may be thrust metanium is usually magic stuff

Are you leaving nappy off for good long stretches?
Try sitting her in tepid, slightly salted water. MW did it to my baby and it really helped.

try canesten cream .. thin layer then cover with vaseline

lots of air

sounds thrushy. give her time every day without nappy on and try Timodene. (worked for my DD 12 yrs ago - assume they still make it and it hasn't been proved carcinogenic

Blimey - i never post on baby things my DDs are both too old now!

You need to make sure it is a barrier cream that you use - ie one that will stop the poo/wee from coming into contact with the skin once it is in the nappy (sorry - not sure on the ones you have tried) - I use ungentum cream which has always worked a treat, or good old vaseline will work as a barrier but prob not help the actual rash iyswim.
Can't help on the cause as not medical i'm afraid.But my little ones only ever got really bad nappy rash when they had a dodgy tummy - so may be worth a trip to the GP to check, for the record, antibiotics also caused nappy rash...

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try using cotton wool and water when you change her instead of using wipes. she may be sensitive toi the wipes

A tip I got off Mnet which worled was to use aqueous cream to cleanse rather than water when changing. It really helped.

However my ds has only had a couple of nasty bouts of rash both of which cleared fairly quickly. Anything prolonged might be worth a gp vist.

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Hi the ONLY thing that works for my ds is Neals Yard Nappy cream.

Try Neem oil. Worked within 48 hrs for one of mine when his bottom was completely raw (had been trying some fungal cream for ages and ages).

It could be a bacterial infection and may need something like Fucidin. Get her checked out by your GP.

My DD nappy rash dissapeared after a couple of days of using Fucidin.

Thanks ladies, all helpful. We have been doing the nappy off thing. Will try only water tomorrow instead of wipes, and maybe call GP. So you don't think it might be what I am eating that is affecting the b/milk?

I would definately go to doc, can you imagine how much it must hurt when you wee on a sore bit, oooooh!! My dd had bad nappy rash several times when she was tiny and I tried everything from egg whites to every cream available.... Nothing stopped it as effectively as some cream from the doc and powder too. It was gone in 2-3 days. And it was thrush, very sore raw looking with bleeding tiny bits, horrid.
I hope I don't sound mean, but I feel I left my dd too long trying out different things and kicked myself when the doc's remedy cured it so fast. HTH

Yes wipes full of nasty chemicals. Even cotton wool can drag. I used to swoosh mine in warm water and just leave to dry naturally, maybe dapping very genty with fluffy towel.

No, thanks for that pamplemousse - I have been leaving it hoping that each new thing will sort it. Have made an appt with GP.

No one mentioned Camomile Tea then?

Ok you make a cup of camomile tea, let it cool (OBVIOUSLY!!!) then dip cotton wool or a re-usable wipe in it, gently wipe the area, leave it to air dry, then put cream on. Works a treat. I used washable nappies and the rare times my boys got rashes, I would soak a nappy liner in camomile tea and put it in the nappy next to the skin. Honestly camomile tea every time, works a atreat.
Usually on a thread like this there are lots of people recommending it.

Canesten worked a treat for my ds when I had tried everything else. You need to get the nappy rash version as it's a different concentration than the fanjo version...

Sounds like thrush but agree with other posters that you should see the GP first as obviously we can't see what it looks like. They should also take a swab to see if they can culture anything - ie work out whether it's bacterial or fungal. Ask about suitable barrier creams: there is a prescription only one called Cavilon which is very good.

I would also avoid wipes and stick with warm water and cotton balls at the moment. You can also get absorbent square swabs fron the chemist to pat dry - ask them for a big pack of 100 or so.

I have read of intolerance causing soreness but you should definitely rule out infection first.

DD had persistent skin infections for about 4-6 weeks which were horrible- and I wonder whether the soreness is contributing to your lo being unsettled. DD's were due to a zinc deficiency but note that this is very very rare in term bf babies (dd was 13 wks premature).

If the Gp treatments don't improve things, I would recommend seeing a paediatrician as skin rashes that persist are not "just nappy rash".

Try coconut oil. It has zinc in it and it helps clear rashes very fast. My dc had it when it was too hot and coconut oil was very effective. Also i stopped using wipes and now after every nappy change i wash him with water and leave to dry naturally and then put the nappy on. Water makes a great difference as compared to wipes.

If it's nappy rash, I suggest using Nature babycare nappies. My DD has never had nappy rash. She once had the beginnings, while we were using Pampers (on holiday) but stopped when started using Nature babycare nappies again. Otherwise, lots of airing and changing the nappy very frequently and using cotton wool with warm water and saving the wipes for when out and about.

It's worth checking out whether it really is nappy rash. Displacement has already mentioned thrush. My DD had a different fungal infection that looked like nappy rash and it healed up really well with a cream that had an antifungal and a little bit of steroid (for the inflammation). Normal nappy rash treatments hadn't worked - that's why I checked it out with the GP.

My best advice, especially as she is a dd and not ds, is to give lots of 'bare bottom time. Have her stripped from the waist down for 30 mins 4 times per day. Be vigilant about changing nappies every hr during the day and before going to bed yourself until it clears. Use sudocrem after EVERY nappy change (lathered on so her bottom is white.)
I have 2 dd's and only dd2 had nappy rash as a tiny baby, dd1 never had it. I recognised that with dd2 she didn't get so much air time, creaming after each change or as many changes as dd1.
Buy lots of value kitchen roll- 4 pieces under her bum will prevent wee running up to her vest! Give it 3 days and it should have gone if you do this.

Oh and I use huggies sensitive wipes because I find other brands are too wet- this can cause nappy rash. Make sure inbetween her buttocks are completely dry before applying cream as if you don't it traps moisture under the cream iyswim.

fennel tea is amazing when bf if baby getting dodgy gut. but takes about 5 cups a day.