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Original poster

Need advice on bad nappy rash

73 replies

Elisabeth3468 · 05/02/2025 14:14

I'm at my wits end with my daughter's nappy rash, I feel so sorry for her. She's only 4 weeks old and started getting nappy rash at 2 weeks old. It's got bad and the skin is broken and bleeding.
I'm trying everything and my whole day is revolved around the nappy free time just to get air to it.
The issue is she does not stop pooing, so I have to constantly wipe the poo away. She must poo every 30 mins- 1 hour. She's settled in herself and feeds well. I'm breast feeding and I've cut out dairy as of yesterday to see if it helps.
I've tried every cream going and only clean with cotton wool and water and pat dry. Lots of nappy free time but pampers nappies when she needs to go in nappy.
I've been to GP twice now. Tried a cream called Timodine which didn't make any difference and now they've swabbed it and given me another cream to try.
I just don't know what more I can do.
I'm also bathing her daily and patting skin dry.
My poor 3 year old is desperate to get out the house but I've not been able to as need to keep an eye on babies rash.
Has anyone been through this or have any suggestions? Please

OP posts:
LabradorVibe · 07/02/2025 07:45

My son had some eczema which got to the stage of raw patches of red skin. Adding breastmilk to his bath for a few days cleared it up entirely. As you've got an oversupply, it might be worth trying? We didn't add a huge amount, just enough for the wager to be cloudy

AlwaysFreezing · 07/02/2025 07:45

Have you checked your nipples for thrush? And her mouth?

I'd buy a thrush tablet for you and see if that helps. I'd also slather a layer of vaseline on the whole area after you've washed and dried her. Don't bathe her for a couple of days and after cleaning her add more vaseline. Keep the poo and wee off her skin directly. See if that helps.

But. You just need to keep on going to the Dr's. Keep on.

Poor mite. And bloody stressful for you too. Hope it heals soon.

muggart · 07/02/2025 07:51

You ought to cut out egg and soy too.

I wouldn't put breastmilk on it until youve figured out what is causing it. if he is reacting to your milk then putting it on the skin could make it worse or cause allergies to develop.

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NorthernDuck · 07/02/2025 07:57

It can take up to a couple of weeks for the dairy to leave your system and hers to clear, ours didn’t improve with dairy so the allergy consultant (we paid privately) told me to eliminate soya then egg next - the egg fixed the nappy rash (eventually along with vaseline and eco nappies).

keep up with the vasaline, you need to make sure it’s totally clean between changes though otherwise you are sealing the wee/poo next to her skin which will make it worse. What wipes are you using? We ended up with the reusable cheeky wipes as they had no chemicals in them and cleaned the bum best, for us anyway, but I’d use these or water wipes as even the unperfumed ones have stuff on them.

Unfortunately it’s a bit of trial and error but hopefully the Vaseline will start to work soon.

hang in there, I was at my wits end too, DS bum was bleeding, leaking pus, it was so sore, he was pooing 18-20 times a day and I was been gas lit by doctors telling me the poo quantities were normal. The private allergy consultant was really helpful as you are sort of prodding round in the dark.

Superscientist · 07/02/2025 11:02

@NorthernDuck milk proteins leave your milk in the order of 8-24h! It does take several weeks to see an improvement but this is the time it takes for the baby to recover from the exposure to the milk proteins

As others have said @Elisabeth3468 I would remove soya too. My daughter is actually more sensitive to soya than dairy and directly she can't even have soya fed poultry! You should see some improvement in 7-10 days although this might be a very small improvement. It can take 3+ weeks to get a proper improvement. My daughter has multiple allergies and it was usually around the week mark that we would have a reduction in the number of bad days / the bad days weren't as intense.

We did cloth nappies and we tended to have worse nappy rashes when she was on disposables. I know they aren't for everyone!

Original poster
Elisabeth3468 · 07/02/2025 16:30

LabradorVibe · 07/02/2025 07:45

My son had some eczema which got to the stage of raw patches of red skin. Adding breastmilk to his bath for a few days cleared it up entirely. As you've got an oversupply, it might be worth trying? We didn't add a huge amount, just enough for the wager to be cloudy

I will try this tonight thank you. I have some extra pumped so plenty to spare

OP posts:
Original poster
Elisabeth3468 · 07/02/2025 16:34

Thank you @NorthernDuck but I really don't think it's allergies as she doesn't have any other signs of allergies ? It's a lot to cut out all these different foods and soy seems to be in everything and it's really limiting my diet. I will continue to try dairy a bit longer.
I will try Vaseline as a barrier too, we've not tried that yet.
Been using yellow metanium but if anything it's made it worse unfortunately:(
I've had her on my lap for the past few hours with a towel on me and her bum is airing. I find this all consuming and dread changing her nappy as the rash looks so bad. We've changed to eco by naty nappies now as well.

OP posts:
Original poster
Elisabeth3468 · 07/02/2025 16:35

@NorthernDuck I've not been using wipes, only cotton wool and water and patting dry. Or letting air dry. I change her nappy after a feed to check she's fully clean before she sleeps. I just thought I'd see some kind of improvement by now :(

OP posts:
Original poster
Elisabeth3468 · 07/02/2025 16:44

AlwaysFreezing · 07/02/2025 07:45

Have you checked your nipples for thrush? And her mouth?

I'd buy a thrush tablet for you and see if that helps. I'd also slather a layer of vaseline on the whole area after you've washed and dried her. Don't bathe her for a couple of days and after cleaning her add more vaseline. Keep the poo and wee off her skin directly. See if that helps.

But. You just need to keep on going to the Dr's. Keep on.

Poor mite. And bloody stressful for you too. Hope it heals soon.

Edited

My nipples are fine and her tongue is white but I thought just milk as it's just on her tongue

OP posts:
Balloonhearts · 07/02/2025 16:51

Try silver spray as a barrier. Alfasilver is available from boots. It's antibacterial and antifungal too and will create a powdery film over her skin. Spray that liberally on her bum then a load of talc on top is what I'd do. She'll probably yell when it goes on as its cold for a second. Worked with my youngest when he had chronic nappy rash.

BigAnne · 07/02/2025 16:52

@Elisabeth3468 try egg white. It worked for my son after everything else failed.

AlwaysFreezing · 07/02/2025 20:51

Elisabeth3468 · 07/02/2025 16:44

My nipples are fine and her tongue is white but I thought just milk as it's just on her tongue

Show quote history

A really white tongue? That's thrush. And it may be the root of the issue. Order a thrush tablet for you and get to the pharmacist tomorrow to see of they can do anything for her. If not, GP Monday.

Honestly. This may be it.

littlecreeature · 07/02/2025 21:01

Oh I couldn’t read and run as I’ve been there and it is absolutely awful. For us it was milk and egg allergy that caused it. My little one was pooing 20-30 times a day and night, it was constant and her bum was raw and bleeding. It took months of cutting out milk and then egg to clear up and go to normal poos. What did help in the meantime was bepanthem (a wonderful GP rang the neonatal unit at our local hospital to see what they used on neonates) as metanium, Sudocrem, fungal cream, etc did absolutely nothing.
I breast fed and co sleep and my little one would go to bed with no bottoms on, a flat changing mat and Muslin under her bum. I’d swap the muslin every 10-15 mins to get rid of the constant poo so it wasn’t touching her bum. It was hell. Good luck OP x

Ponderingwindow · 07/02/2025 21:05

I would try putting her in cloth.

since she is so small and it’s just a test, you don’t have to invest in actual cloth nappies if you don’t want. Old vest tops or towels would work. Just make sure they are soft and you wash them thoroughly in hypoallergenic detergent first. You can treat that first test batch as disposable since they are just cut up rags. If it helps, then you can figure out actually getting real supplies and figuring out a washing routine.

it’s also possible that the problem is the cream. I would try something really neutral like Vaseline. It’s somewhat horrifying to think of using petroleum on your baby, but it’s one of the least reactive things you can get.

Catsinaflat · 07/02/2025 21:08

I breastfed and if I ate or drank citrus baby would get a very inflamed rash.

Jk987 · 07/02/2025 21:08

Metanium was the magic potion for me. I prefer natural products like coconut oil (worth a try) but when I eventually gave Metanium a go it sorted the problem. Just a tiny amount is needed.

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 07/02/2025 21:11

Catsinaflat · 07/02/2025 21:08

I breastfed and if I ate or drank citrus baby would get a very inflamed rash.

Off the back of this what about tomatoes? I know they can make weaning babies go really red, just throwing it out there as a guess tbh!!

Really feel for you, nappy rash is awful and you feel so guilty!!!

Did you happen to have IV antibiotics in labour by any chance?

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 07/02/2025 21:13

Jk987 · 07/02/2025 21:08

Metanium was the magic potion for me. I prefer natural products like coconut oil (worth a try) but when I eventually gave Metanium a go it sorted the problem. Just a tiny amount is needed.

Coconut oil is also amazing for stopping the poo from sticking to their bum so it just slides off when you clean them so you don't have to rub as hard!

Alwaystired2023 · 07/02/2025 21:15

I had this with my daughter it was awful. Turned out to be a milk allergy and cutting it (and egg) stopped the problem. Didn't have milk or egg from the start with my second child and no nappy rash

modgepodge · 07/02/2025 21:15

Jk987 · 07/02/2025 21:08

Metanium was the magic potion for me. I prefer natural products like coconut oil (worth a try) but when I eventually gave Metanium a go it sorted the problem. Just a tiny amount is needed.

Yellow metanium has now been discontinued!! Though I think OP said she has some.

have you tried breast milk? Either in her bath or straight on the rash. If you happened to freeze any colostrum that will be even better.

Original poster
Elisabeth3468 · 08/02/2025 04:22

@AlwaysFreezing I don't think it's thrush as just on her tongue and looks like milk. There's no other bits in her mouth and surely I'd catch it in my nipples/milk ducts?

OP posts:
Original poster
Elisabeth3468 · 08/02/2025 04:23

@Wavescrashingonthebeach Yes I did have anti biotics during Labour, every 4 hours . Labour was about 9/10 hours.

OP posts:
musicalfrog · 08/02/2025 04:34

Have you tried applying breast milk to the site OP?

Original poster
Elisabeth3468 · 08/02/2025 04:43

musicalfrog · 08/02/2025 04:34

Have you tried applying breast milk to the site OP?

No I haven't. This is my plan tomorrow when doing nappy free time later. Do I just dab it on and let it dry?

OP posts:
Cheddarscones · 08/02/2025 05:34

I let mine be nappy free for a few days, if she did a poo, I wiped it with water and pat dry with a muslin. She spent her awake time on her tummy on me or on the floor on her back and poos were immediately cleaned. The yellow metanium cream was also a lifesaver. It has zinc, I would avoid anything with herbs or food oils.

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