[gigismom]

please give me a few minutes of your time and help my baby

she has had a rash on her neck and diaper area since she was about 1 month and is now 5 months. It is an all over red rash that is slightly raised. She has recently become very intent on scratching at both of these areas. Diaper changes are nearly impossible as she is kicking, grabbing and scratching and crying. It breaks my heart to see her seemingly uncomfortable. She also scratches at her neck so as soon as it starts to look better it is all inflammed again. The neck seems much worse as it is more red but she definitely is scratching at both. It seems to me that these rashes occur in areas that are in contact with wet fabric. She is a big drooler. I change bibs and diapers very often. here is what i have tried. Everything has helped at least a little bit but nothing has cleared it up completely and she seems much worse lately

neck
cornstarch powder
aquaphor
burts bees diaper creme
kerrys herbals miracle salve plus
many bib changes

diaper
burts bees
kerrys herbals salve
aquaphor (seemed to help the most)
prefold with fleece liners and fleece covers or pul covers (fleece seems to make the rash less red....maybe my imagination)
in the morning after being in a pocket diaper all night long she is the least red

I have considered that the grabbing and scratching is at least partially behavioral as she only does so with the left hand and only started this in the past few weeks when hand skills have really blossomed. However, why would she grab and scratch only these two areas then? I have had her ped look at it and a ped nurse...both feel that it is not yeast. However, I do not trust her ped diagnostic skills very much. Please PLEASE help my baby

jen

 

[weebitty2]

Try lanolin on her neck .. dd had a HORRIBLE drooly/milk rash all under her chin to her neck and collarbones, no matter how often we changed bibs/shirts/wiped her off .. lanolin kept the damp away enough for it to heal. Also .. if you use scented baby bath or baby wash, switch to plain water for a little while .. or water with a tiny bit of natural soap (goat's milk soap's what we used) ..

lanolin also works in the dipe area .. but we don't use it too often there - our diaper battles are yeast rashes .. constantly.

Since they're both places that tend to get damp, do you think maybe it could be a reaction to her drool/urine mixing with any kind of detergent residue?

 

[gigismom]

i have considered the detergent residue issue and plan to switch detergents but the diapers are rinsed so many times that i thought that was most likely not it. what i fear is that it is yeast and just not diagnosed properly. what is meant by satallite rash when people describe yeast rashes? we have no health ins and no money but will call the ped if necessary. thanks

jen

 

[gigismom]

btw... did try lanolin, helped but did not heal

jen

 

[twinluv]

Do you think it could be eczema? One of my daughters has it and it sounds exactly like what you described. The pediatric dermatologist told use to use otc hydrocortizone cream on her outbreaks and aquaphor the rst of the time. Her outbreaks, after a few days of treatment, have gone away.
Good luck!

Mariah

 

[Too Busy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinluv Do you think it could be eczema? One of my daughters has it and it sounds exactly like what you described. The pediatric dermatologist told use to use otc hydrocortizone cream on her outbreaks and aquaphor the rst of the time. Her outbreaks, after a few days of treatment, have gone away. Good luck! Mariah

I was going to suggest eczema, also. Do you use wool? She could be allergic to the wool and having that reaction.

 

[gigismom]

I have considered eczema... my first dd had it but it never looked this severe. I have tried the hydrocortizone also and now that I think of it, this helped the most (it may have been gone for awhile). don't use wool, so thats not it. how about a reaction to something in my milk...dairy products (dd1 was dairy sensitive but this one did not have the same symptoms as she did and I did eliminate dairy in the begining with dd2 with seemingly no adverse reaction when I reintroduced, but maybe this is her reaction. can someone please describe a yeast rash in more detail please? if i can feel comfortable ruling this out it would be great

jen

 

[gigismom]

bump..

also forgot to mention that the red areas feel rough and at times have a white flaky appearance, like dry skin... is this consistent with eczema? Also could someone please give me a detailed description or pics of yeast rash? thanks for your help ladies! Jen

 

[cj'smommy]

Sounds like eczema and it could be a reaction to dairy. It might be worth cutting to from your diet to see how it helps.

Also what soaps do you use on her for bathtime? If it's eczema certain soaps could be irratating it more. I have psorasis (which is kind of the same but not) and oatmeal soaps are soothing and fairly gentle.

 

[gigismom]

i use earth mamma angel baby diaper rash soap for each diaper change and make sure to rinse very well and pat or blow dry. for baths i use just regular baby wash (johnson and johnson, i think). although i give her a full bath only about 2 x per week because i clean her so well with each diaper change. thanks for the suggestion

 

[sbgrace]

Eczema can look pretty nasty--depends on the child. The flaky skin is consistent with it. Yeast rash (we've had that) isn't really like that to me. I will try to find pics and post. Do milk or food allergies run in your family? Dairy and citrus could be culprits in eczema. But, in our case, it wasn't what I was eating. I would especially suspect eczema since the hydrocortisone helped most. Your baby sounds exactly like one of my twins was and I tried most of the same things (with the same results--something might help some but it never competely went away and it would quickly get bad again). I consulted with a dr. and a derm. said the same thing--it wasn't going to go away without hydrocortisone. I hated that and tried everything else first. Then, I went to the hydrocortisone--it cleared it up pretty quickly and then I wanted to keep it from coming back. After some false starts with that (it would come back and I had to do the hydrocortisone off and on) What worked for keeping it away is Calendula. I use California Babies--it is specifically for eczema and has worked like a dream--I haven't had any problems at all since. Now, my cornstarch, aquaphor, (blessedly) hydrocortisone, etc. just hang around! So my suggestion would be do the 1% hydrocortisone to clear it (no more than 10 days--I just did it once a day and tried to be sparing with it but my friend in a similar situation had to do it twice a day--I did it before bed). I would start this now and order some Calendula and use it when you aren't using the hydrocortisone. When it is clear, use the calendula religiously to keep it from coming back. Oh, Caleb is sensitive to lots of things (including zinc oxide) and many excema babies are--so I got plain hydrocortisone without other ingredients (other than the base) and the California Babies is basically just Calendula. I think it is best to use a minimum of ingredients on eczema babies. Another thing that helped us (this is from the dermatologist) was Cetaphil Cleanser. I only wash him with that now and it has helped as well. I hope this helps and you are able to get it under control.

 

[sbgrace]

Ok, I found some pictures of various possibilities:

seborrheoeic dermatitis
(in infants to 6 months--scroll down a little for pictures of babies with it)
http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/sebo...ermatitis.html

atopic dermatitis/eczema http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/atopic.html
(this is after 4 months, usually--but seborrheoeic can turn into this--they are related)

This one is a picture of yeast:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T081401.asp

I hope this helps--I know how awful it is to see your baby itching and hurting!