My child’s behind
is literally driving me insane and often to the point of tears…
Just when the last little open sore she had on her bottom had almost healed…her whole behind breaks out in another awful rash that is well on its way to being MORE open sores.
The worst part, I wasn’t doing ANYTHING differently. The only difference is that she has been sleeping longer at night. 5-6 hour stretches instead of 3-4 hours stretches. Seriously? So my last 2 days off from work have been spent listening to her wail (and feeling like the WORST mother ever) every time I come near her butt with anything. And when she is awake, letting her lay with no diaper so she can air out (i.e. I haven’t even been able to barely hold or snuggle her as much as I wanted to).
I know I shouldn’t complain but I have never heard anyone else struggle so much with diaper rash as I have with Ella. We have seriously tried everything…and I mean everything. Cloth vs disposable. Cloth with liners (so I can gob on any one of 20 different ointments I’ve bought/made to deal with this rash). Cloth with fleece liners that stay dry. Excessive use of cornstarch in various capacities. Disposable diapers about 3 sizes too large to keep the wet parts from touching her behind. Laying her down for naps with no diaper at all. Taking her to the doctor who said “you’re doing everything right, there’s nothing more I can tell you/do for you.”
And honestly, once her bottom starts getting red, there is no reversing it early. Trust me, I’ve tried. I’m just mad that the last few weeks, the redness at least was completely gone. I was just waiting for the open sores (from the last rash) to heal completely. But the skin all around the sores was fine and not red at all. Now she’s actually doing what I want her to do (sleep longer) and she’s back to a beet red butt.
I want to seriously pull my hair out but instead I usually just end up crying. And now I get to work two 12-hour night shifts in a row…sniff.
Suggestions are always welcome but I will give a prize for anyone who suggests something I haven’t already tried.
(I think I’ve spent more money on fixing her diaper rash than on the crazy expensive FORMULA she is on right now! Ridiculous!)
Oh, I’m so sorry. That sounds miserable. Have you tried taking her to a specialist? Maybe a pediatric dermatologist? Otherwise I have no idea. But I can pray for her and for you and M!
Could it be some kind of contact allergy or food allergy?
I’m just gonna off one more thing in case . . . do you use a wet wipe when she pees only? I don’t, and when I stopped using them back when Lil Pumpkin was in diapers her diaper rash stages and voila it helped big time. My Dad swears by unmedicated Gold Bond powder (I have a brother who is 22 yrs younger than me, so Dad was changing diapers a decade ago, LOL).
I’m sorry, this has to be SO hard
(
I rememebr when LP’s rash on her legs wouldn’t go away, and her skin was in second degree burns and literally falling off when it wasn’t scabbing, sniffle.
Hmmm, is it yeast? You might want to join a preemie forum – my little guy is a micropreemie and there are a lot of things that I would never have considered. He’d get yeast rashes at the top of a hat. For some reason Prevacid helped quite a bit with that. But, the best thing I ever came across was Magic Butt Cream. Your doctor has to write a script and you have to have it made – it has lidocaine in it. Hands down was the best thing for my kiddo’s open sores on his bottom. He would bleed when he had yeast rashes and then he had chronic diarrhea on top of that so he was always soaking the sores in poop. The MBC helped with the pain and kept the sores protected. She was pretty early and pretty small – off hand I would think food allergies. An easy way to tell if it is is to buy a case of Neocate off of ebay (you can google neocate to read about it – most doctors won’t write a script for it but you can buy a sealed case on ebay) and try it. If she responds well with better stools and less fussiness you can take that to your pedi who might want to run some simple allergy tests.
Just re-read your post – is the crazy formula Neocate? And also – when your baby is born that small and that early, sometimes you have to tell the doctor what you want. It’s the nature of the beast with prematurity.
I’m so sorry you’re having such a rough time with the diaper rash! OK, here’s a suggestion (that you’ve probably already tried, but what the hey)–our daughter had a diaper rash with an open sore that just wouldn’t heal. At the same time, our son had a diaper rash that was clearly a yeast infection, and it wouldn’t go away either. So our doctor suggested we try both a yeast infection treatment (Lotrimin or nystatin–we went with nystatin, but it’s prescription) and antibiotic ointment 2-3 times per day, because he thought it might be both yeast and a bacterial infection. We rinsed with water every diaper change (I used a bulb syringe to squirt the water and then patted them dry with dry cloth wipes) and used water and mild soap (Aveeno baby soap) after a poopy diaper. Then we’d put on the medication (if it was time for medication) and then slather them with desitin on top of the medicine (or just plain desitin if it wasn’t time for medicine). It took a while (and I know what you mean about the 20-step diaper changes), but it finally cleared up for both of them.
Oatmeal bath/soak. When needed we fill up the kitchen sink.pour some avenno oatmeal bath. Then soak the booty while he plays. Pat and air dry
I have two words for ya—
lotrimin
Lansinoh
If alternating these don’t clear the rash up fast, then you have a toughie!!
Generic lotrimin seems to do fine.
The diaper rash sounds awful. The only times that my daughter had diaper rash we let her go diaper-free (sometimes for days) and it would clear up, but it sounds like yours is much more serious. You mentioned not being able to hold your daughter as much as you’d like. I loved these waterproof pads: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001387H40/ref=oss_product (or you can search for organic waterproof pad on amazon) and we also bought a queen-sized organic waterproof sheet and cut the corners off to make it a big flat sheet for our bed/to drape over the couch/etc. As long as you can put something soft, absorbent, and waterproof underneath your little girl, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to snuggle her even if she is diaper free (we actually coslept even when she was de-diapered and while jumping up at 3 am because you’re cold and wet and need to rinse off is gross, I found it better than not being able to be close to my baby when she was not feeling well and the waterproof pads usually absorbed most of the moisture). At a minimum you should be able to drape a waterproof pad over yourself and carry your daughter around like normal during the day.
My doc recommended giving a probiotic drop. He said that a rash that lasts for days almost always has a yeast component.
Not sure how often you are using disposable versus cloth diapers, but I know several people who have had a HORRIBLE time with Pampers diapers with DryMax. If by chance this is what you’re using, I recommend stopping immediately. Evidently there is a class action lawsuit in the works. If it is possible she’s having a reaction to some of the chemicals used in disposable diapers (which help make them super absorbant), you might try using a natural diaper like 7th Generation or similar.
Good luck!