Diaper Rash ...Help!?

Question

My almost 2 year old son has a diaper rash on his bottom. It has been there for 2 weeks now, he has been to the doctor twice & yesterday was given a higher dosage of steroid cream as well as antifungal cream. I am trying to put a end to this rash he seems very uncomfrtable & so far this is what I am doing in addition to the creams... oatmeal baths (2x per day), underware during the day, 4 diaper changes at night. His doctor says if it is not gone in another week she will try something stronger, but I would LOVE some advice to help my little guy beat this rash long before that, Thanks for any help!

We put him in Huggies (which he never has worn) 3 weeks ago, 4 days later this bad rash comes, we put him back into Pampers the rash calmed down a bit, but will not go away.

Answer 1

I just went through the same thing. It turned out my daughter had periannal strep...a form of strep that looked like a diaper rash. It usually goes a few weeks without diagnosis becasue it is uncommon, doctors first try bacterial ointments, yeast creams. She had to take antibiotics and it went away in one day. She tested neg. for the rapid strep test, but the doctor and I are sure that is what she had. Another thing to look into, just to be on the safe side, is allergies. ona aside note, my daughter had no fever and so symptoms along with the strep.
There's lots strep bacteria going around right now, scarlet fever is on the rise and strep throat.
Four days later seems like an awful long time to develop a rash. I know this sounds cruel, but try a Huggies and see if the rash comes back just to make sure tha's what it is from. I tried everything, all the creams, expensive triple past(which I found works great on regular diaper rash), I took her off solids to see if it was a food allergy, I tried the diaper switch, baths, airing out, changing alot...I was plum out of ideas. If it is bacterial or yeast or strep, you can do all the things in the world and nothing is going to help. The antibiotics were a last resort, but I found this article the day I put her on them. Now I know what to do if the rash comes back.

Answer 2

he is old enough now that he should be able to wear "undies" for extended amounts of time throughout the day... let his bum breathe. I have heard many Mom's on here say Huggies gave their kids a worse diaper rash. Try using Desitin while he's wearing a diaper.... Desitin has a fish oil in it that most other diaper creams do not, which makes a much more effective moisture barrier.

My sister has two girls with chronic diaper rashes... doctor has prescribed many different creams without any luck. They even said that once she was out of diapers it would clear up.... well she has been potty trained for two and a half years now, and it's as bad as it has ever been!!!

My only other suggestion is a possible food allergy.... is there anything he has started eating resently that may be causing it?

Answer 3

The area needs to dry out and kept free from feces and urine. It could have turned into a yeast type infection by now and the doctor should be treating for that. The steroid creams shouldn't be used for longer than 5 days and those are usually used to only treat eczema.
I would stay away from the oatmeal baths - bathe in just plain water and very mild soap like Ivory. Make sure he is rinsed very well after the bath. Let the area dry out completely before putting a diaper on.
Get some Aquaphor cream and use this - stay away from any diaper rash cream that has zinc in it as this makes it worse. Aquaphor is a very good barrier and heals the skin quickly.

Answer 4

If he's almost 2, you probably have a good idea of his bathroom "schedule." Maybe you could let him be naked a couple times a day so that his bottom could get air. My son gets diaper rash so bad his bottom turns practically purple! We've found what's best is air and the prescription of "Butt Paste" -- yes, that's what it's called. It's really thick and doesn't wash off very easily, but that's a good thing. If you get that, just don't scrub it off, let it stay on if it doesn't come off in the bath and add more.

When to worry:
Your pediatric provider should check out the rash if it:
doesn't not respond to the above measures after 3-5 days.

has yellow fluid-filled bumps (pustules) in it. This could signal a bacterial infection.

is getting worse, not better.

is associated with other symptoms, like fever or lethargy.

Good luck!

Answer 5

WOW i seems like your going crazy over there! Have you changed your detergent or bought a different kind of diapers? When i was potty training my daughter i bought her the pull ups and it gave her a horrible rash. If nothing has changed that could cause the rash i would just say try keeping him dry maybe stop the baths for 2 days and maybe keep him without diaper or underwear just around the house just to let the air get to it. Good luck with this i hope it clears up soon!

Answer 6

If its a really bad diaper rash you should make an appointment with his doctor.They can give you a prescription for Nyastatin cream that works really well. My doctor also suggested using butt paste if the diaper rash isn't too bad. Hope he feels better soon.

Answer 7

let him run around naked ar helps healll faster than creams lotions etc , te more things u try the more u may be irritating the child , instead of huggies etc at night try using underwear i know it may be a mess but it may help , corn startch in the diaper at night will help to it will absorb the moisture from the babys bottom not lock it in , but air and after every accedent wash babys bottom and sourounding area good with warm soapy water , u may need to switch laundry soap and softner he may have a reaction to that look at his undies and see if there 100 percent cotton except for the elastic part

my kids had diaper rashes from various things my twins got the flu real bad and with that came the runny messes they broke out with a rash doc gave me antifungal creams etc , it wouldnt work i got this little pink tube of ointment/cream called caldesen in the baby isle of my store and tryed that withen a day i saw a diffrence there is also a powder caldensene (sp) aid will keep extra moisture from hitting the area but it wont help dry the rash up to heal it so the main thing u need is AIR AND IF POSSIBLE WHEN HES ASLEEP FOR A NAME PUT AN OLD TWEL UNDER HIM AND HAVE HIM SLEEP ON TUMMY AND PLACE LIKLE A DESK LAMP ONE THAT U CAN BEND ETC WITH A LOW WALT BULB NEAR HIM SO HE CAN GET THE WARMTH OF IT ON HIS BOTTOM BUT NOT DIRECT HEAT ,

Answer 8

I know this may sound corney but try a little bit of corn starch... don't put nothing elses on his bottom with that. It has worked for all three od my children when they had a diaper rash and has worked back in the day when me and my siblings were growing up. make sure u cover the whole area you can use a little extra , It's amazing it works. hope this works and helps you out. Good Luck with the little guy.

Answer 9

i have tried all that diaper rash cream, even the butt paste that is really en vogue right now....however, the only thing i have foudn that is GREAT at keep the rash at bay is pure cornstarch.

johnson's make pure cornstarch in a shaker bottle like baby powder. that's what i use, but the perfumes they add may hurt his bottom, so just get a box of cornstarch from the grocery store and sprinkle some on his bottom at every diaper change. i sprinkle it on and then rub it into all the nooks and crannies.

i hope this helps....

take care.

Answer 10

the rash might be from the laudry soap, lotion, even if the bathtub isnt cleaned right. Most of my family just use cornstarch and let them be bottom less for a while during the day.
and since rashes are very uncomfortable and hes only two try some arts and crafts, so he wont be running around making the rash worse.