Chunky DS and how to deal with chafing

[bodgerthebadger]

DS2 is a chunky baby and it is a daily struggle getting between the folds of his skin to dry them. He has rolls of fat and unfortunately the skin is easily irritated and becomes red as a result of sweating and chafing.

It is really difficult getting a towel under his neck to dry it gently and properly, including after a bath, so I considered using talc free baby powder. However, I've heard that even talc free powder should be avoided even if used carefully because of the risks of inhalation by the baby etc. So I'm not sure what to do. I feel like such a bad parent when I see that the folds of his skin are red and tender looking :-(

Has anyone with experience of fat babies and chafing skin got any tips to share with me? I feel so bad for my DS and also worry that the skin will break and lead to an infection.

:-(

You could use a barrier cream, I don't know how often people use this for babies but lots of older people or people with limited mobility use barrier creams in skin folds or areas where there is likely to be chafing (I've worked in elderly care for years and am a nursing student currently doing a placement with a community nursing team). Personally I find that using oil in the water to wash my child makes drying her easier as the towel glides over the skin more easily and doesn't chafe it so that's another thing you could try.

My DS2 is also a bit of a chunk. He's starting to lose some of it now. I usually give him some clothes free time to make sure he's dry properly and found that asda £1 talc lotion helped. Having someone above his head to distract him helped to get him to look up so I could dry his neck quickly. Chunky ones are nice and cuddly xx

I used to use corn flour or Vaseline under the neck of my fatty.

Meant to say, my daughter was a late mover so got very chubby and I used barrier cream in her skin folds.

I used to put sudeo cresm in dds armpits. She wasn't particularly chunky but seemed to get sore there and it was difficult to dry.

Don't know if it's ok for babies, but what about the Lanacaine anti chafing cream.

Ds1 was a right fatso (that's what the paed called him). We just got into the hang of drying him thoroughly in between the rolls and chins (yes, we had to develop all sorts of contortionist baby poses to get in there).

He didn't actually suffer any chafing tbh - and any redness from drying just disappeared after a minute or two... If the skin is chafing it sounds dry, so I might start with making sure it is moisturized enough - oilatum in the bath might help with that?

My ds had a fold under his chin that was v hard to keep dry especially with dribbling. It got very red and we tried all sorts of barrier cream nothing worked. When I mentioned it to the doctor when we were there for another reason he prescribed a cream that cleared it up really quickly. I'm not sure but I think it was an anti fungal cream.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I currently use Aveeno oil in his bath water as he has very dry skin and I limit bath time to 2-3 times a week then baby oil afterwards. I've been using sudocream at the moment but it doesn't seem to be helping and then it becomes a nightmare to wash off from the folds. Before that, i tried Vaseline in the neck area, under the armpits and where the elbow crease is but his skin was still getting red.

Hmmm perhaps the dry skin is as much the cause as is his rolls of fat. Will stick to the barrier cream then. By barrier cream, I assume something like sudocream or metonium?

Have you tried Aveeno cream as a moisturiser?

we have this on prescrription for both my boys for dry skin.

Makes a massive difference in their knee and elbow joints. Not sure if it will work if part of the issue is not getting the skin dry in the first place.

addictedtosugar yes we have aveeno cream as moisturiser, which we get on prescription as well.

The issue is that even when I have dried the easier bits (behind the knees, where the elbow crease is), they still become red and I think that's the sweating/chafing effect even though I try to dress him in loose cotton clothes, not over dressed etc.

I guess I can't work out where I'm going wrong but will stick with all the suggestions posted above and hope for improvement!

Be carful if you do use metanium it stains anything it touches! Great on bums not great on carpets or clothes! As I have found out on many occasions :)

I have used talc free powder on all my babies in these areas and it has been fine. I would say it's about being sensible with the amount you use and how you apply it. None of my babies ever inhaled it and it worked beautifully in the little nooks and crannies that get a bit sore.

Behind the knees is a prime spot for eczema. Are you sure it isn't that?

I've been looking for information about this everywhere, my DS(3) is very fat and it's really hard to clean his neck and chin thoroughly because of all of the big chunks of fat around there, he has huge thighs too and often has redness from chafing. He weighs about 55/56 pounds so he is probably a more extreme case than OP's. I've tried all sorts of creams and gels for irritation.

Ds2 (10) uses sudacrem on his thighs when he plays football

Seems to work for him