very red sore botty on 3 and half week old baby - help!

[AnnieDelores]

My little man Samson has had a red, sore bottom on the area around his anus for nearly two weeks. Its about 2 inches around his bum. The skin is now broken and he is very unhappy when I change him - clenching and screaming. I've tried everything - sudocrem, metanium, bepanthen and try to give him nappy off time but he wont sleep on his back unless he's wrapped up and covered so im struggling to get him to go commando for more than 10 mins. Also, because he poos and wees so much at 3.5 weeks, that wakes him up too and I have to lift him out of the mess. I dab him gently with cotton wool and water and dont use wipes.

The Doc told me today to stop putting on all the creams and just leave his skin bare and dry. I'm at my wits end as it just isn't getting better and I feel so hopeless.

Any ideas or experience of this issue?

Clean his bottom with cotton wool and baby oil - water will make the skin dry and crack even more. Let him have as much nappy off time as possible - whenever he is awake- you can put him on one of those disposbale changing mats.

If he doesn't have thrush there (white spotting in the red rash) then use a tiny amount of metanium every time you change him. Drs advice will be good of course, but my HV was the one who really helped me sort it out.

Do you have a good HV? Could you show it to them?

My DS had thrush from about a week old and the skin was red and had little circles of broken skin. Canesten cream was prescribed and I put it on 3 times a day, was better within a week. Like you I had tried other creams and no response. Has thrush been ruled out?

Agree about the thrush - DD's worst nappy rash was thrush- took the HV to diagnose it though - Dr completely missed it.

I was thinking thrush too - ds's was red and bumpy. Didn't respond to any creams until we were prescribed Canestan HC. It was gone in a few days.

He also had mouth thrush and I had nipple thrush at the same time.

oh your poor little one. i would see the HV and then maybe get a second opinion from another GP in the practice. good luck and congratulations on your new DS

the gp didn't think it was thrush but i was given cream for thrush in case when i first phoned the gp surgery. i used it for a few days and he didn't respond so thats when i went back to the gp i refer to above. funnily, the pharmacist disagrees with the gp and says i should put metanium on at night when he poos the least and bepanthen on during the day.

the rash is just in the area around his bum so the irritation looks likely to be caused by his poo, unless this is this where the thrush attacks too? . it looks like little red spots and tiny little areas where the skin has broken....not cracks as such, more like little circles.

i like the idea of cleaning with baby oil but wont the perfumes irritate the broken skin? how about cleaning with olive oil? its all very confusing as the gp seemed to think his skin needed less moisture in order to heal with contact with the air.

i will ask the hv to have another look as i agree i need another opinion.

You actually need to wash with more than cotton wool and water - they don't get rid of the bacteria in poo, and until you get completely rid of the bacteria your son's skin won't get better.

Buy a very mild skin wash at the pharmacist's, wash him thoroughly in the bath and only then leave him commando to dry in the air.

Someone told me egg whites were good for nappy rash. Never tried it myself, does anyone know?

Red spots and circles with broken skin is exactly what my DS's thrush was like. It took a week to clear up so it may be worth persevering with the canestan a bit longer. Make sure you pat his skin dry after washing too, or leave with no nappy for a while as if it is thrush it loves moisture.