Really severe nappy rash?

Question

My daughter has developed a really severe nappy rash. It is everywhere - all over her buttocks as well as on her bottom and groin and it's absolutely red raw. She is 21 mo and has three teeth coming through at the moment, but she has never had anything as bad as this before. She is always changed as soon as her nappy is dirty. We haven't changed makes of nappy, wipes or anything. At first I thought it was thrush and have been using canestan, but it just seems to be getting worse. I put sudocreme on after each change. Grateful for any advice because she became really distressed today and kept telling me her bottom was "ow"

Answer 1

Try Metanium you can get it from any pharmacy and it works brilliant. It's yellow and smells a bit and cost about £4 but works great.

Answer 2

I have three children (all teenagers now) but my third child suffered from a severe nappy rash once thank God, I recommend that instead of using baby wipes use a soft face cloth and a dish of warm water as baby wipes sometimes spread the rash. Rinse out your cloth well and pat over your baby's bottom/groin then pat dry with her own soft towel, sudo cream is excellent as a barrier cream but when her rash is as bad as it sounds I would use a very light dusting of baby powder, make sure that this is washed of every time you change her, also try changing her nappy more frequently as the acid in a baby's urine especially when they are teething is much stronger and can cause severe nappy rash alone. It doesn't matter if she has only passed urine follow the above steps, wash (patting) drying by patting and powder, once it is under control definitely use sudo cream as a barrier also use this whether she has dirtied or is just wet. I do hope this helps (it did for my daughter) as I know it makes you feel really guilty and it really is no-ones fault just the poor baby's teeth.


Good Luck xx

Answer 3

Hi, don't know if this will help but worth a try. When my little girl got nappy rash, I started drying her with a clean towel after using baby wipes on her. Sudocrem is a barrier cream that is supposed to keep moisture away from the skin but if you have just used a baby wipe then the moisture is already there and the barrier cream will work in the opposite way keeping the moisture against the skin. If all else fails I would recommend a trip to the Docs. Good luck x

Answer 4

Poor thing. Sounds like you are from the UK, as I don't recognize some of the products, but maybe this will help if you can find some of these.

I used a bath product from Aveeno. Everything they make has natural colloidal oatmeal in it and its great for anything itchy. (It does contain some alcohol in the lotions, so I wouldn't use that on any rashes or open wounds... it will sting.) But, they make a pouch of oatmeal to put in the bath. It really helped soothe my sons bottom when he had a bad diaper rash. You can either just add it to the water or wet it and apply it directly as a paste while they sit in the tub. (Then rinse it off.)

Also, some pure shea butter worked if the wound wasn't open. I would apply it after my son was good and dry from a bath and it really helped keep the urine from stinging his little bottom. (It's a bit pricey to get it w/o any additives, but it lasts a long time.)

Giving her anytime exposed to air is a good try too. But, it can be messy!

Also, check with your doctor. My son had a rash that just wouldn't go away. I checked with the doctor and it turned out to be a yeast infection. The doctor prescribed a cream to apply and it was gone in less than a week.

One more thought... until its gone, try using wet paper towels instead of wipes during diaper changes. Some of the alcohols or scents in the commercial wipes really sting. I found this out the hard way when my son had his rash and when I went to wipe him, he said "Mommy hurt!" and started to cry. I just felt awful. From then on, I used only water if he had a rash.

Good luck and I hope your little one feels better soon.

Answer 5

Aah bless her...best thing i found for that sort of thing is to leave her without a nappy so the air can get to her skin. Sitting her in a bath instead of using wipes will also be more soothing but don't use soap as that may sting but if you have any permangenate you can use a couple of grains or drops in the water as it is a mild discinfectant. Some doctors prescibe a cortisone cream for severe cases but i have reservations about using things like that on a little'n. Hope it soon clears up.

Answer 6

it sounds like teething is causing the rash, when little ones are teething their dirty nappies become a lot more acidic than usual which in turn can cause really bad nappy rash and will spread.

when changing her stick to cotton wool and water for the time bein because some nappy wipes can sting when they are so sore.

metanuim is fantastic stuff but only use a tiny bit, kamillasan or bepanthen or good ones to try.

Answer 7

I think the best thing to do would be, stop using the wipes for a little while till the rash has cleared up just use cotton wool and water and sudocreme, don't put anything like canesten on again without knowing what it is. To me it just sounds like its probably to do with teething or sometimes acidy foods or orange juice can have this affect.

Answer 8

I'm not sure if they sell it outside of the US, but I'm a devout Desitin Creamy fan. It's done what no other diaper rash cream could ever do. However, if what you have tried is not working, then try using a medicated cream for Athlete's Foot (Lotrimin). The cream is an anti-fungal cream and often times helps when traditional diaper rash creams do not.

My daughter out of nowhere started getting horrible diaper rashes when she was about 18 months old and they were so bad it would cause her skin to break out and bleed; no diaper rash creams would help, not even Desitin Creamy! Her pediatrician recommended using the anti-Athlete's Foot cream and it worked well. Each time you change her, allow her to run around without a diaper for a while to let her skin air out, of course if you don't have time to do so, then try using a clean, soft towel to pat her butt dry. The point of diaper rash cream is to shield moisture, but using wipes without air time prevents the cream from doing it's job and instead traps the moisture.

You mentioned that you have not changed the brand of wipes or diapers you use... keep in mind that just like our taste buds, your skin can change, too, especially young children. I had to change my daughter's brand of diapers at one point because even though she had been doing just fine in them, one day her skin started to break out (not diaper rash that time). It does happen, and there's no way to know ahead of time. Knowing she had been doing just fine with that particular brand, I was hesitant to just start buying a completely different brand, but I knew I had to try. Sure enough, after about 2 days, her skin cleared up and never broke out again. It's worth a shot of trying. I sure wish you the best!

I have included a link to the Lotrimin website.

Oh, one last thing, despite the old home remedies of using baking soda, it's not the best idea as it drys the skin out too much, especially the delicate skin that children have.

Answer 9

Poor thing!!

I had this problem with my son last week, and found a cream called metanium....fantastic stuff!!

What i did was everytime he did a poo, instead of wipeing with a babywipe, i gave him a quick shower, then made sure his bum was really dry, put some of the metanium on, them covered his bum in johnsons lavender and chamomile talc, then put the nappy on...did this for 4 days, and nappy rash was gone...honest to god, i swear by this metanium, its fantastic!! It does smell quite bad, and u only need a small amount, but the smellis masked by the talc which smells lovely!!

Good luck!

Answer 10

My doc says that when a rash gets that severe it is actually a yeast infection! She told me to use a tube of mens athlete's foot creme, just put a small dab on and use it at each chaging. If she soes not start improving within 2 days, you will have to give up and take her to her pediatrician! Also no orange or pineapple juice, as they are much too acidic, and may burn her rash even more. Have you changed her diet, or introduced any new foods? my neice did this with broccoli, turns out she was allergic! Look at her diet, and if ot try the creme in the U.S. we have one called lamisil a.t. this is what I used for both my girls and all the children i cared for as a nanny! I hope this helps.

Answer 11

HI! I would say some of the rash could be from her getting teeth but it sounds more like what my son had, he had a yeast infection down there to it was a viral infection because i wouldn't leave him in wet diapers. I took him to the doctor and the doctor prescribed some cream and it work wonders! I was also trying Canestin since i thought it was a yeast infection and it to made it worse, the stuff the doctor prescribed was Clotrimaderm.