Terrible diarrhoea and nappy rash caused by teething-help!

[inga]

My 9m old ds is having terrible teething pain waiting for his 2 top teeth to erupt. This is being handled with the recommended dose of baby paracetamol. He also has the most awful green liquid diarrhoea-for the 4th day now. However all of this is being eclipsed by the unbearable pain of the nappy rash this is causing him-all over his bottom, in the joins with his thighs and his testes-he even has bloody lesions and bumps on his testes. He screams everytime his nappy is changed and the diarrhoea doesn't seem to be improving. It also doesn't help that he is eating practically nothing although is now better with the liquids. Does anyone have any suggestions to get the diarrhoea to stop-like food suggestions, etc. The doctor says it is likely to continue until the teeth erupt!!!
There is an added complication in that I am having to keep him out of nursery, which he has just happily settled into, because of the diarrhoea and I go back to work on 2 Jan!
I don't want to get into a debate about products for rash as I am happy with what I am using.
Many thanks-all suggestions/ideas/support welcome!!!

Have you tried Metanium nappy cream? It's v. good for bad cases, my dd2 had this at the same age whilst we were on holiday. And this cream sorted it out v. quickly once we got home (changed nappy 11 times on a 13 hr flight!!!). You can get it over the counter in most chemists,it's quite strong and you only need a thin layer. All the best, I really feel for you.

Thanks Batey and Sobernow. Was using Sudocrem which I think is a good barrier cream or for very minor redness. But did buy some metanium and I thought it was more effective but husband didn't. Decided to start using again as I'm the one changing all the nappies so know better!
Still think the problem is getting the diarrhoea cleared up though.
Thanks for advice.

try whipping up egg whites until stiff and applying to the affected area,leaving exposed to the air for a while.truly not some awful old wives tale,as have seen it done in hospital wards.messy process but really can help heal the skin.my ds had terrible teething also and while i am sure teething was responsible for most of it ialso discovered he was lactose intolerent.once off anything with lactose in it he was better.just a thought.

You poor thing - teething and all those horrible symptoms are no joke, I really do sympathise. I don?t know of any good food to eat to stop the runs - sorry - just keep going and avoid fruit/fruit juice for a bit!! If you are worried about his health, as contraversial as it may be, I resorted to giving vitamin drops to mine just as a little boost and just while she stopped eating food entirely. My doctor recommended I stopped giving her milk for a few days and to give just water and sometimes upset systems can become temporarily lactose intolerant which can make the problem worse - just an idea. When mine stopped eating, I just kept trying little and often, with loads of variety until it slowly gets better - and it does, so try and keep smiling. (My dd would only eat plain toast and drink water for a week at it?s worst.)

Over-cooked, mushy white rice with plain yogurt is easy to eat during teething and binding so may help ease the diarrhoea. Avoid acidic foods/fruits for a while.

Thanks all.
Jaytree, my ds also has eaten only toast today made from cheap white bread, discovered by accident when my dh bought us some toasties for brekkie this am! Drinking loads of water too.
Clucks, interestingly, the other thing he'll eat is Greek yoghurt, a firm favourite.
What are the thoughts on changing to a Soya milk until diarrhoea ceases?
Ta.

I know a lot of people succeed with soya milk - I prefer goats milk for children, but a rather unfortunate taste, I'm assuming he is on formula and have no experience of switching for a short period. sorry

If he's keen on yogurt pile on loads because it will replace the gut-friendly bacteria he is currently losing.

Using soya milk may not be the answer. The govt's Committee on Toxicity in Food has looked at soy products recently and is recommending that soy milk is prescribed only when clinically indicated. Their concern is about hormonal disruption from the phytoestrogens in soy. As well as that, some babies are allergic to soya.

Lots of nappy-free time might help with the rash - not easy if your ds has diarrhoea, though. Hope he's better soon.

I find dd tends to get diarrhoea-y when we use calpol a lot - I think it has sorbitol in it which can cause stomach upsets. If you've got to give a lot of paracetamol, try and find one without it?

I found the best cure for nappy rash was open air. It's tough when they are crawling but our solution was a small room and a shower curtain on the floor, lots of tea towels around to wipe up whatever falls! Do this for 10-15 mins every nappy change and it definitely halped in our experience.

Hope he's better soon! Don't panic about work, he'll be better in time!

I found the Kamillosan I used for sore nipples equally as good on nappy rash.

My DS1 was prescribed soya milk when he was about 5 1/2 months old, I had given up b/feeding at this time and he ended up with diarrhoea that cleared up when he was kept off of dairy produce (including his formula) but came back again as soon as dairy was reintroduced. The Dr thought he had developed a lactose intollerance and prescribed the soya for about two weeks, after this time I was to gently re-introduce dairy foods and he was fine. It may be worth a visit to the Dr in case it is something like this, they also took a sample just to check it was nothing more sinister. Hope your DS gets better soon, sounds sore.

inga, have just re-read your post and have seen that you have taken him to the Dr already, I'm surprised at your Dr putting it down to teething, I didn't think they supported this view. May still be worth having it checked out again, although I would say my DS1 did have explosive nappies and nappy rash due to teething, he never had anything as bad as you are describing, however they are all different, but it may be something more than teething.

Demented, went back this morning-Dr reassured me again. Ds has a shard of tooth this morning, so it must be teething?....Hope so.Have spoken to others who have shared/know what I'm talking about.
Hope it all goes away soon!

My ds was fine during teething. It happened very late - past one, still not many teeth but no horrible symptoms like these. I would wonder if something else was causing the poo problems - after all, how can teeth coming through cause them, I mean in a biological sense?

Officially, teething does not cause these strange symptoms, and my DS certainly didn't. However, kids do get 4-8 infections per year on average and during periods of low immunity (which teething pain can contribute to) they can be more susceptible to opportunistic infections. This is my reasoning.

Do agree that a bit odd for GP to blame teething, a stool sample would not have been a bad idea.

I am also particularly averse to bottom wipes, especially during diarrhoea and recommend rinsing with water and drying with terries. Leaving open to air is better than most creams.

all the best.

Hello all, thanks for all your input. Ds's rash almost cleared up, pooh seems to be getting more solid as his appetite is increasing.
Am also now worrying that it might be something other than teething, although Dr has ruled out lactose intolerance as ds has been on formula since 2 months old.
What is the etiquette in collecting stool samples-can I take in a soiled nappy and how "fresh" should it be? Very difficult to get a sample into a little jar, especially with diarrhoea!!!

inga, the Doc gave me a little jar with a small shovel () for DS1's sample, I can't really remember too much about it now but I think I just had to scrape up some of it and pop it in the jar, I didn't ask but assumed that the same day poo would be best.

We found increasing the amount of bread in ds's diet helped a lot - just to bulk it out. And avoid apple juice.

Meant to say glad to hear your DS is getting better. My DS1 had been having formula since five weeks old (mixed feeding) and still ended up with a temporary lactose intollerance. Unless this was a misdiagnosis it could still be possible for a baby to have a temporary lactose intollerance even although they have been on formula for a while.

Sorry that should be intolerance. Brain is slowly turning to mush.

inga dont want to disagree with your gp but you definately can develop an intolerance to a product over a matter of wks or months,infact most intolerences start that way.i had such duff advice from various gps and my ds got worse and worse ,i took all lactose out of his diet ,scarey to do as he was only 7 mnths but i knew my instincts were right,he improved and i then absolutely insisted on being referred to paediatrician and dietician at our local hosp.they were fab and he was lactose intolerent.he is now 4 and has not had any lctose or dairy since 7 mnths and is v healthy,we attend 2/3 times ayr to dietician and paed.dr.he is also soya intolerent.i hope yr baby isnt,and its just a temporary teething thing ,but if you r worried go to yr gp and insist on more specialised help.

Yoko and Demented, hear what you're saying, will see how we go once tooth is through!!! Then will absolutely insist on everything/anything if no improvement!
Doing all your suggestions re:food, etc.
Thanks again.