Bad nappy rash - broken skin

[Rhian82]

My DS has had nappy rash on and off for a while. Never really that bad, and Metanium has always kept it under control. However, the last few days he's got very badly broken skin in the creases either side of his testicles. It looks really sore, poor thing. He hasn't got much of a rash on his bottom. Metanium isn't sorting it now - any other suggestions for this?

(We use MEOS nappies with flushable liners and wash in Fairy Non-Bio, but nothing's been changed or introduced in the last few days to have caused this)

Sorry - can't help - metanium's my last resort. You could try asking your pharmacist or making a doctor's appointment.

If it's thrush, metanium will take the edge off, but not really fix it - either talk to the doctor, or if you're happy to, try a tiny bit of canesten cream 3-4 times a day for a day or so - if it's that, you'll see an improvement extremely quickly. i've done this a couple of times with DS and it was always thrush - gone after 3/4 days of treatment.

i'd still check with teh doctor though depending on the age of your son, how confident you are/used to thrush you are...

good luck

It is worth going to the GP if Metanium is having no effect on the rash. My DS had the most appalling rash, which was only cleared up by a prescription-only cream called Trimovate.

I do think they are especially prone to nappy rashes when they are teething. Drinking plenty of water seems to help and lots of nappy-free time helps the skin heal.
Oh, and don't use alcohol-based wipes, they sting on damaged skin.

Thanks. The nursery said they thought it could be thrush - we're not sure, but we've got a GP appointment for tomorrow (yes, Saturday!) so we can get it checked out properly and get a prescription if needed. Had a chat to the health visitor today who also said about the teething, he's just had another tooth break through yesterday so I think that's probably a big part of it.

i remember when my dd2's bum was like that (at newborn). i slapped on loads of sudocrem (it is a protective antiseptic cream) and put a bit of thrush cream underneath the sudocrem, it took a few days to clear up. And also always use cotton ball and lukewarm water.

Well the doctor said it could be thrush, but also could be a skin infection (he has bad eczema, and over the last week or so this has erupted into spots on his hands and face). So he's got cream for the thrush and antibiotics for the infection, one of them should work!

Interestingly, she also came down hard on Sudocrem - she said dermatologists hate it and it often causes more problems than it solves. She actually wrote across the spare bit of the prescription, "No Sudocrem"!

I'm not a great fan of Sudocrem myself with my DS because it is quite a dry cream, and with his eczema I think he needs all the extra moisturiser he can get. It is very good as an anti-spot cream for adults, however!

When my DS has a bad rash I use zinc and castor oil as a barrier cream but most of the time I use 3 Bees Baby Balm, which is beeswax based.

I used to use throwaway liners in my nappies but since switching to fleece reuseable liners we've had far fewer episodes of nappy rash and they haven't been anywhere near as bad.

Hope your DS is better soon.

when mine get rash

change nappies with water

let them soak in a tub as often as possible

air

I agree with Sudocrem. I used it a few times when ds was small. Boots zinc and caster oil cream worked alot better.

Have you tried baby oil on your son's skin when he gets out of the bath Moomin? My son's skin used to get really dry and itchy. I would rub this in when he was wet after getting out of the bath. It worked really well to keep the moisture in.

FluffyBunny, thanks I'll bear it in mind. At the moment Epaderm's doing the trick for us but trying to dress him afterwards is like trying to catch an eel!