Itchy nappy rash

[Flymeaway4]

Has anyone else experienced this? My daughter is nearly 6 months and we've been struggling with this for probably 2 months now. Everytime we take off her nappy, she tries to scratch, to the point of bleeding, which means nappy off time isn't really possible. We've tried various nappy creams (childs farm, metanium, sudocrem, aveeno), which seem to help but never fully get rid of it. We also tried changing the powder we use to wash her nappies (we use reusables, baba and boo pocket nappies if that's a consideration) and doing a strip wash, but neither had any affect. Spoke to the doctor who prescribed 1% hydrocortisone cream once per day for 2 weeks, let it soak in for 10 mins, then a layer of metanium, which we did before bedtime each night. This really helped and it was essentially cleared up (no more pink/bumpy nappy area, no more itching), but 48hrs after stopping she started scratching again and the rash came back. We did notice that the scratching preceded the rash, so we wonder if the rash is caused by the scratching as opposed to it being an itchy rash (hope that makes sense)?! Spoke to the doctors again, different doctor this time, and he said we shouldn't really continue with the hydrocortisone cream beyond the 2 weeks and just said to try sudocrem after each change, which we have done (again), but it's not helped.

Anyone else had this? Any remedies? She's breastfed, so could it be something I'm eating even? Not sure what to try next.

Any other issues? Reflux or anything else?
My two both had CMPA and nasty nappy rash was a main symptom for both - it wasn't itchy though.
For DC1 yellow metanium helped and for DC2 we've found Weleda best. In both cases though it only cleared up after we cut out dairy.

No reflux. She does have quite dry skin on her legs (not itchy though), but no other health issues. She's currently exclusively breastfed, so did you cut dairy out of your children's diets or out of your own?

Maybe we'll try a few more creams? Maybe we just havent found the one that works for her yet.

Both

Ok, maybe I’ll try that too, thanks!

I would say try the Childs Farm range of bath wash/moisturiser/nappy creams. They are widely used by kids/grown ups with eczema or other dry/itchy skin issues and are amazing. I am due no3 in 3 weeks and will be using them from the start. Or baby aveeno products that contains oats/oat milk or something which can relieve itchy skin. All available in boots. Hope you get it sorted xx

We’ve only ever used child’s farm or Aveeno bathing products (or just water til she was 2 months). I just spoke to a doctor friend I know and she said it might be fungal and to try canasten, so I’ll be trying that too

Have you tried using disposable nappies for a bit just to see what happens? The disposables might lock in the moisture away from the skin more effectively? A friend of mine had problems with nappy rash when she used reusables for her dd (a long time ago though things may have improved since then).

Not yet. We have 2 types of reusables, one that we find does feel damp after use, but the other type has a micro fleece layer on top which wicks away water and always feels nice and dry (unless we’ve gone a bit too long between changes overnight!). We stopped using the first type about a month ago in case it was that, but it didn’t improve. If the canesten does to work, I think we’ll try disposables for a week.

Had similar with my lo.

I would try a good disposable nappy (I used pampers but not everyone rates them). When mine got sore I used the white pampers pure nappies (not sure if they still sell them).

Nappy free time maybe when baby is being bf / sleeping - I often fed nappyless with a towel or nappy under bum as it was guaranteed still time. Maybe try socks over hands if she's left as it 'might' mean she doesn't scratch so hard.

Just water in the bath for a while no bubbles/ washes. Cotton wool
And water for all nappy changes. Loads of water to rinse off and dry with cotton ball.

You may have done this but make sure her feeds are from 1 boob for each feed. Only having the first lot of milk from the boob can impact on the balances of fluids/ nutrition/ richness which can make baby's wee different, which could cause irritation.

I'd choose 1 cream to try and use until 7-10 days to allow chance to show a difference.

Now older, I found canesten clears mines up after a few days. If possible put it on when you've seen her do a wee so it can really dry on the skin. Then I'd use a metanium over the top - your pharmacist will give you the canesten for nappy rash.
When a baby the canesten didn't really help but the yellow metanium helped loads- so much I used it after every nappy change.
One dr advised me to use yellow metanium then white metanium over the top.

Mine has dermatitis so I've got lots of experience/ had consultants and gp's input as well as my own research.

Biggest thing though, don't change too much in 1 go or you won't know what's done the trick!

Thanks @mummysharkk. I've got this canesten now, so we'll try that. If (when!) the scratching dies down we'll definitely do more nappy off time (much easier now its warm too). Maybe we'll go back to plain water baths as well, as you suggest. I didn't know that about feeding, but already tend to do one boob at a time anyway and she is rarely hungry enough for both.

My doctor friend said the same about metanium, as did one of the practice nurses I spoke to and it has been very good!