Nappy rash and when to air baby's sore bits

[Meandacat]

Just home from hospital with my new bundle (after a difficult week in there - very glad to be home).

DD has angry nappy rash tho', and I need to let air get at it. She's happy to sleep curled up on her front with her behind in the air. Obviously the best time to do this is when she's sleepy after a feed, but then the best time to change her is before a feed, to wake her up. But if I therefore leave her without a nappy on during feeding, I fear the potential messy consequences!

Anyone in/been in a similar situation? What's your routine?

Also, she poos like crazy while I'm actually changing her. I often end up wiping down/drying off/putting cream on several times in one change. I've tried leaving her for bit but it seems to be me drying and putting cream on that prompts it. Again, any suggestions?

My poor baby is only a week old and her behind looks like this

hmm, they can look a bit red in the nappy area anyway i think.
is it a visible rash, or just redness? is it blistered? if blistery it could be thrush, so talk to the midwife about that

otherwise, what cream are you using? some babies have particularyl sensitive skin. we found that either vaseline or a bog standard zinc and castor oil cream were best on our sensitive boys

as for nappy off time i am not sure. you could leave it off during a feed and just make sure you have her on a towel in case of accidents? but then you;d still need to put a nappy back on, risking waking her.

does she have much/any awake time yet? i forget when they start being awake for bits in the day

We have used (since birth due to ezcema) a routine of naked time in the evening. We have 2 huge old bath sheets that we don't use for any other purpose and we just let him lie/ roam on them for about 30-minutes nowadays. Mine is 11-months. We also use Waitrose Bottom Butter and I think its brill, but then I've never tried anything else, never needed to.

oh and another thought, what nappies are you using?

a friend of mine switched to cloth nappies because all the disposable ones she tried made her daughter very sore

It's noy thrush - the midwives have seen it and it's just inflamation around the anus which is apparently common in bottle-fed babies (I failed at breastfeeding. )

I've been using sudocrem so far, but it's sooo sore looking and the midwives said the best thing was to let air at it. She's pretty sleepy, so no problem finding the time to do it - just when in the three-hour change/feed/sleep cycle

try Bepanthen or there is another one which is yellow (begins with M i think - someone else hopefully will know). much better than sudocrem.

Thx Turtle Anne - old towels sound a good idea.

Thisisyesterday - interesting... I was thinking of switching to re-usables anyway.

I think the yellow cream Choufleur mentions is probably Metanium, which has always worked a treat for us (have only had the odd instance of angry nappy rash but Metanium tends to sort it out overnight).

Would also second bepanthan, it's what the hospital used for dd1 when she was a newborn in nicu with a v sore bum (they also let her sleep with her bum naked in the air for a day, and gave paracetamol for the pain). We've used it at every change for both dds and not had another problem.

Sudocrem has lanolin in which many are allergic to.

Someone gave me bepanthen so I'll try that - thanks! And I'll look out for Metanium too - don't think I've seen that in our wee local Sainsburies but maybe the chemist will have it.

Ok, first point. No, you did not fail at breastfeeding, even without all the gory details I can probably guess how it went and I am fairly certain that you didn't fail at all.

Secondly, your little bundle is only a week old, so whilst not ideal it also not impossible to reverse your feeding situation if that is what you'd like to do. A few days of formula doesn't have to mean you've failed at breastfeeding.

Thirdly, your baby, even if formula-fed, should not be so sore so quickly. This leads me to think that either her milk or the bum cream is disagreeing with her. If the soreness is just on her actual bottom hole and her bum-crack and not on her butt-cheeks then it's unlikely to be the nappies, but I would still encourage you to think about washables, for a multitude of reasons!

And finally, you can actually leave her bare pretty much all the time. If she's lying on a washable surface (like a hand towel on the change mat or one of those disposable change mats) theres no reason why she needs a nappy on at all. You might like to look into EC'ing for a while until it clears up. If you are still making milk I'd probably hand express some onto her sore bottom bits and leave that to dry on it, it works for sore nipples better than any cream there is!!

Meandacat, congratulations.

My dd had the same thing and the health visitor recommended dabbing the rash with egg white. It sounds weird, but it did work. We had tried sudocream and metalium.

Health visitors are usually the best people to ask about weird baby rashes. You should see your health visitor at two weeks. A health visitor who sees your baby in real life is the best person to advise.

I am sorry if I am stating the obvious. Don't use baby wipes on newborns, use cotton wool and water and dry the baby carefully with a towel afterwards.

By the way, congratulations!

Just a thought, are you using baby wipes or just cotton wool and warm water?

I'd not use any baby wipes or even baby bath in the washing water if you're using cotton wool. Just plain water. There are actually some fairly harsh chemicals in both baby wipes and baby bath. As well as cloth nappies I have only ever used "eco" baby wipes and never any baby bath (not even Johnsons) on my girls. On the few occasions I have done both Pampers Sensitive and Johnsons baby wipes have left the skin on their bottoms vivid red. Nasty things .

No No No!! DON'T put egg white on it. this can trigger an allergic reaction and should not be done!!!

Bepanthen at every change works for us, never had to use it for more than a day or so before totally cleared up1!! fab stuff!!

DD often gets a sore bum if in disposable nappies for any length of time, clears up straight away when in reusables. Would also second using cotton wool and water (atleast for now) rather than wipes.

I would prob feed her without a nappy using a towel to contain any accidents, then she'll hopefully fall asleep and you can pop her in her cot or similar (also protected with towels / waterproof sheet etc).

I second everything GreenMonkies says! The immediate problem is red bottom, but you can restart breastfeeding too if you want to.

Lots of babies have a very red nappy rash, but it's very early days for you and your daughter.

Anything you feed her on and she explodes on (!) can be washed on a hot wash and it'll be fine. I'd suggest a waterproof layer for protection then a towel to absorb and finally a muslin closest to her skin for softness.

I used to leave the nappy off after i had taken the dirty one off and cleaned her up - i would put her on a water proof change mat and a cozy towel on top and let her lie there awake while I chatted to her or tidied up. I would do it first thing in the morning - or whenever she has had her longest sleep - ie been in a nappy longest.

Also think about the wipes if you are using them - some of them made my little one sore. I stuck to warm water and cotton wool for the first month then used pampers wipes and nappies were fine only got rash when I switched wipes.

Tried other creams but all irritated except sudocrem.

hope it clears up soon.

Here's a better link to the eco baby wipes, I get them from my nearest big tesco but lots of large supermarkets sell them. Avoid anything with Parabens, SLS's, alcohol or perfum/parfum in them. These are all well known skin irritants.

I use Pampers disposable changing mats for nakee time for my ds. Huggies ones are much smaller. They are absorbent backed with a waterproof layer. Can just be thrown away if they get messy. I also agree with other posts about re-useables being better for little red bottoms.

Many thanks to everyone who replied - all very helpful.

I actually gave a towel on top of a changing mat a go today and it worked ok, so I'll probably continue with that.

Midwife got annoyed at me for using benpathen instead of sudocrem though. Told me I "shouldn't chop and change" and she had "never heard of benpathen". So I'm still using sudocrem and I have to say... no noticeable improvement so far.

I am seconding metanium - AMAZING STUFF - just use a smidgen though.

Hmm, newborn has bad nappy rash, no, definitely not time to try a different cream . Health professionals sometimes, honestly.

We love Bepanthen. It has saved my boys behinds on many occasions.
I really recommend using cotton wool and warm water. Baby wipes are made of paper, which is made of wood. If in doubt, try wiping your eyes with them. Ouch.

We use cotton pads, like people use to remove make up, and baby lotion, any kind is good, it's just water and a thickener, but useful for out and about. My boys report that this arrangement can be cold, and prefer warm water.

My firstborn had his first nappy rash in SCBU and they recommended the cotton wool and lotion combination.

"Midwife got annoyed at me for using benpathen instead of sudocrem though. Told me I "shouldn't chop and change" and she had "never heard of benpathen"

Umm, I got a sample of Bepanthen in my Bounty pack, don't the MW's know what new mums are being given whilst in hospital!!?!