Struggling with nappy rash

[Kathyjelly]

Two weeks ago my dp used some scented wetwipes on ds's bottom and there was fairly bad nappy rash within a couple of hours.

We stopped using the wipes, went back to warm water and cotton wool, and used Sudacreme on the rash. It got worse where I'd used the cream so I stopped using that too and just used water. Very careful about cleanliness.

However, ds scratched his back and a couple of little areas were inflamed, looked infected, so I used a little bit of Savlon which got rid of the infection but made the rash worse.

Ever since, I've struggled to keep the rash at bay. What am I doing wrong?

You're not doing anything wrong, just that nappy rash can be v persistent!
Can you describe what it looks like as nappy rash can present differently and sometimes need different treatments.
As a starter though, when trying to get the last bit gone, I often use a generous helping of Vaseline as this acts as a good barrier.

It's a solid bright red rash which when it is really bad, is raised. It is on his buttocks and upper thighs although not all at the same time. It has also started to appear as a line at the from where the nappy tabs do up.

I've bought larger nappies in case the old ones were rubbing but that hasn't made any difference.

Ds scratches it when I change his nappy but otherwise it doesn't seem to bother him. he's 19 months and very active and generally heathy.

Is it nappy rash or eczema?

If nappy rash, try metanium ointment and as much nappy free time as you can manage

if eczema, try washing with aqueous cream then lots of emollient

I took DS1 to the gp with what I thought was persistent nappy rash/thrush, turns out it was eczema. Are there any dry patches?

I agree it sounds like eczema/dermatitis may be the issue. Plenty of nappy free time; maybe try a different brand of nappy?

If it is nappy rash, when DS's is at it's worst I use metanium with Vaseline over the top.

Thrush affected nappy rash usually has lots of small raised spots, is red and shiny. You can use canestan to treat it.

Have you tried adding a fair bit of salt to the bath water? I find regular (say twice a day) little salt water baths really helped to clear up nappy rash v. quickly. Normally I only bath dd say twice a week, but when she's had NR I've done this and it's cleared it up straight away.

No, no dry patches. I'd started to wonder if it was thrush.

I'll buy some different creams from the chemist and see which one helps.

No raised spots either.

Right, Metanium & vaseline and a little bit of salt in the bath.

Thanks all.

Yes metanium when it's red raw did a brill job on DD but don't use it when it's healed, is v strong. If no luck I'd go GP to investigate thrush/eczema.

My DD (21mo) has always had problems with nappy rash and trust me I have tried EVERY cream out there.

In the end I found a very helpful pharmacist who gave me Canesten HC for it - it's strong stuff, you can only use it in very small amounts - only when it's got REALLY bad do I resort to it, but it's like miracle cream - clears up almost overnight.

If it's still persisting I'd take him to the pharmacy, show them the rash, ask about Canesten HC, see what they say.

It's awful when they have such an angry rash - I think it bothers us more than it bothers them!

bepanthen is wonderful for nappy rash!

ds's bum was red raw (looked like might bleed!) when we went through as spell of using different wipes - all of which disagreed with his bum.
bepanthen cleared it up within 24h!!!

My DD has it very often due to teething.. I found metanium wonderful. I would also put some camomile tea in the bath water. It helps to sooth a lot!
Good luck, hope he gets well soon.

My DD used to get terrible nappy rash and I tried various creams. I found the best thing of all was lashings of caster oil and zinc cream and fresh air - I found sudocream made thing worse and only used canestan and metanium cream when her skin was red raw or had red spots. Boots do massive tubs of caster oil and zinc cream. Good luck.

Big vote for Metanium - magic stuff but look out - it stains! (clothes/carpet...)

If it's very persistent get doc to take a look - could be infected or fungal... that's when Canesten HC or Fucidin (also sometimes HC) can help.

Good luck

I tried salt water on my baby nappy rash but she screamed when i put her in the water like the salt was hurting her bits and makinh them sore