Need help with severe diaper rash

[RootBeerFloat]

Ds is 11mo and has the worst diaper rash I have ever seen. He is getting over a bad cold and has had diarrhea for the past few days, at times it has been pretty bad. I'm good about changing him when wet and as soon as he poops, but still has developed this horrible rash. It looks like he is scalded all over his bottom, all of the areas that come into contact with his diaper especially. He is in extreme pain from it.

He usually wears cloth during the day (prefolds from a diaper service) with disposables at night (which I know is awful but I literally can't find ANYTHING cloth that will contain him) and right now seems to be the most comfortable in conventional disposable diapers. Instead of wiping his bottom, I am rinsing him in a sink full of warm water with a little vinegar added to neutralize the bile salts from the diarrhea (I just started doing the vinegar yesterday and it seems to be helping alot; before that, he couldn't tolerate the rinse at all).

Any ideas for treating the rash that will help? He was diaperless for much of the day today (which was a hideous mess and didn't seem to help much) and is just in so.much.pain. I will take all ideas!

Thanks!!!!!

[Michigan Mama]

Hopefully it will clear up soon! When this happened with our ds, it took us a while to realize both the diarrhea and rash were from his food allergies. Soy was the culprit, as he's allergic to dairy and I had started giving him soy milk and soy yogurt. Anyhow, might not be an allergy issue for you, but it's something to look out for.

The ointment that clears things up fastest for us is Weleda. It's not really cloth friendly, so I always use either a flushable or fleece liner with it, but it clears him up quicker than anything else I've used. Diaper free time is good...I'm not sure what else to add, except that I feel for you! It's so hard to see them in pain and sore or bleeding and not be able to fix it!

[bea3]

You could take him to the doctor. He might benefit from a prescription cream. The zinc oxide cream I like is Little Twig extra mild unscented. Maalox is nice too (my doctor suggested it) because it coats the bottom (just like the stomach), but less so than a cream and therefore is less sore when being cleaned.

Don't feel bad about paper diapers if that is what works to make your poor baby's rash go away it is worth it. (See my detailed response to Flower of Bliss' post that starts with HELP!)

Hope his little bottom heals quickly.

[RootBeerFloat]

Maalox! A doc gave me a recipie for a homemade cream a few years ago and I knew I was forgetting one of the ingredients. That was it. Thanks so much for reminding me!

I've never used the Weleda diaper rash ointment before, I'll pick some up.

[kolszewski]

You sound just like us!

Since the rash is probably from the diarrhea, you know that it will eventually come to an end. But, that doesn't make it easier right now. My DD literally screams if I even reach for the diapers. I am happily using Pampers while this clears up because as soon as she pees in cloth she starts screaming. The Weleda that is pure zinc is fine for cloth as long as you rub it into the skin completely. That has helped. But, using Triple Paste with sposies is about all that is getting us by right now. I am also going out to buy some microfleece to make some liners this afternoon to see if I can't keep her drier than the suedecloth.

I am in the same situation and just praying for it to end quickly!

[HeatherB]

My DS gets these terrible rashes, too, and I'm certain it's allergies. I just have yet to figure out to WHAT. It's so hard with little ones when diarrhea can be a tummy bug OR an allergy; people will tell you it could be teething, etc., too. There are many options, but rarely do most docs (and mainstream folks) think of allergies, it seems. But I'm certain that's the problem for my DS, who will be totally fine for weeks at a time, then have these burn-like reactions complete with bleeding and open wounds that take a long time to heal. And the redness and problems are ONLY where the stools touch (so not a diaper problem in and of itself).

And I so wish I'd known before that Weleda isn't CD friendly. It has bleached some of my dyed elbee doublers. But it seemed to work pretty well for his bum, so I need to get some liners (and avoid using it with the elbees!).