do my nappies have the lurgy?

[janek]

we have been successfully using easypeasy bumbles with dd for all of her 2.4 years, but a couple of weeks ago she developed such bad nappy rash, including a blister on her bits, that i was forced to switch to disposables for a couple of days. this sorted out the prob, so i thought, until a few days later her bits were covered with horrible-looking blisters. she has been growing her back teeth for months now, and often has dribble-related sores on her face (she is much more charming than she sounds, i promise!!!) and i don't think she drinks enough, but can't seem to get her to drink more.

so my question is - is it just the teething/strong noxious wee that's causing the rash, or do i need to do something severe to her nappies? i normally dry pail them and then wash at 60 in ecover liquid and that has always been fine before.

i am in the process of potty training her, so she only wears one nappy at night now, but in the morning her bum is possibly a bit red, or i am possibly paranoid.

sorry for long post, but any previous bouts have only lasted 24 hours or so, and she has not been bothered by them, this time she was saying 'sore' every time she weed.

could be thrush if it is blistering, and if she says it hurts to wee

i wondered about that, she doesn't have white bits in her mouth though. where would she have got it from? does she need treating even though it seems to have cleared up, or at least the blisters have gone? do i need to go to the doc or can the chemist help? are the nappies reinfecting her? do i need to nappy san them, or is there a better way?

With thrush the rash tends to be bright red and tender, with distinct edges with small red spots or pustules close to the large patches. You get white spots in the mouth with oral thrush only. Thrush is caused by a fungus called Candida which is present in the body at all times - it is kept in check by the bacteria also present naturally in the body. Various things can cause an upset to the natural levels of bacteria (antibiotics, illness, anything that might cause a change in pH) and that would let the Candida take over and cause thrush.

60C should kill Candida but IIRC you would need the temperature to be maintained for a while (and some washing machines may not hold at that temp for long enough).

I think the first step is to diagnose the rash...

okay, due to potty training and nighttime use of disposable nappies the rash has now gone. here is a new question: if it was thrush (and i have no way of knowing now, because there's nothing to see), do i still need to treat her bits, or is the fact that it's cleared up enough and i can now go back to my washable nappies?

bump!