Newborn's bottom is literally red raw :-(

[Chocolateporridge]

My ds is nearly two weeks old and his little bottom is red, red raw in two strips either side of his anus. I have no idea what's caused this, my dd never had this but she was breastfed whereas we've been in and out of hospital with ds for feeding difficulties so he's mixed fed and we've occasionally used baby wipes.

My health visitor gave us some clotrimazole cream which has had no effect, metanium has made it marginally less red but it's persisting despite our best efforts at gentle cleansing and creaming.

Does anyone have any idea what this is, and what should I do. I had a c section and really don't feel up to getting to the GP on Monday by myself, but dh is off tomorrow (Sunday), should I try to get an out of hours appointment with NHS direct?

It's not really bothering him, other than when we wipe it, but it looks horrendous and isn't improving

Have you tried the bicarb. It's what mothers used in the olden days before any of the fancy creams. You only need a little bit in the water and it can't do any harm.

DS had this. He was allergic to the gel of disposable nappies. I had to put him in terries. Cleared it in a week.

Have you tried Cavilon spray?

I managed to get to docs today (c section so bit awkward) and she thinks it's something acidic in my diet that's causing it, because of where the raw patches are. I don't really eat or drink citrus fruits so all I can think of is the ascorbic acid I've been prescribed to help absorb my iron tablets.

She told me to stop taking them for a week, use Timodene and also zinc and castor oil cream, and hopefully it'll clear up. I've also switched from pampers nappies to Tesco own brand. My poor ds though, it looks awful

Have you tried extensive nappy off time?

Nappy off time works brilliantly for sore bottoms. I only really used cream as a barrier on healthy skin.