Thank you!
First of all, I apologize for the baby related nature of the last few posts (and this one following). I just have been out of my mind with frustration with Ella’s rash and I just need to vent and get some help and I knew I could count on my blog friends to help me out!
So secondly, I wanted to thank you all for your helpful comments on my last post (and even some on Facebook!). There were actually some things we hadn’t tried yet (I couldn’t believe it!).
What we ended up doing was a few things and it really seems to be working (Thank you Lord!).
1) We bought some bigger sized disposable diapers (Pampers Baby Dry (not “Dry Max”* since those have been known to cause rashes) size 3) so that they would be very absorbent and also be big enough to not be in constant contact with her skin when wet.
2) We still are using our homemade butt paste that seems to be working well.
Our “recipe” includes: Desitin, A&D ointment, Lanolin, Calmoseptine and plain cornstarch (added until it gets very paste-y)
3) We have stopped wiping/cleaning at all if she has a wet only diaper. We just dust her with a little cornstarch and then reapply gobs of paste and a new diaper (we also pull down on the crotch of the diaper to give her more air/room).
4) When she does have a BM, we wash gently (usually with our hand) with warm water and Cetaphil, rinse, pat dry, and then gently blow dry on a low setting before a new dusting of corn starch and reapplying more gobs of paste.
It seems to be working. The redness has really diminished (and disappeared in some areas, not as much in others). I have some Acid Mantle on order that was suggested at Dr. Sears website. I will probably try that at some point down the road to restore the pH of her skin. It is obviously very out of wack. I am also considering seeing a pediatric dermatologist to see if there is something more/different that we could be doing. We will see how long this lasts and if we can ever get to a point of NO rash.
I do have some Lotrimin on hand that I was going to try before this started working. It’s just that our doctor seemed to think it was not a yeast based rash last time when we took her in. This rash looked exactly the same as the other one. But if it continues, we may add that to the Butt Paste recipe. I just know that if it’s bacterial, Lotrimin could make it worse. If it’s yeast, antibiotic creams could make it worse. I find it interesting that one of you actually used both at the same time, this is not something I thought of and could potentially try.
So really, thank you! I hope we can go back to cloth again soon. I really like using them and just hope this isn’t related to cloth at all. I have read that some people use disposables at night only and cloth during the day. We will see what works. I’m just waiting for the day when she has NO diaper rash at all and I can start using cloth diaper friendly creams (to prevent another occurance) so we don’t have to use a liner anymore. I feel like the liners weren’t helping things this time around because it kept the moisture and heat too close to her bottom (even though I used fleece liners and they stayed pretty dry to the touch…who knows).
Anyway, sorry I didn’t post my thanks earlier. I had to work Friday and Saturday night and am just now getting some time to write.
My first nights back at work went pretty well and even though I missed Ella a lot, it was really ok. I struggled the most with being tired and I STILL don’t feel like I’ve caught up.
BTW, I want to do a post on Ella sleeping soon. We have managed a MAJOR turnaround in Ella’s overall mood and it was pretty much entirely a result of changing her sleep schedule and I thought I’d share.
* About the Baby Dry vs. Dry Max Pampers: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a24242039/baby_dry_vs_dry_max_-_pampers
I’m glad it is clearing up! I know how frustrating this can be.
We’ve used triple cream on Elizabeth when it’s been really bad (I was too busy to comment last post, sorry) and it’s made from neosporin, the generic antifungal (which I think is Lotrimin when you don’t buy generic, my tube just says “jock itch cream”, very suave), and hydrocortisone cream. So, that’s the antibacterial and antifungal together too, plus the steroid to help heal it up faster. Our pediatrician recommended it. If you decide to try that, you just mix it up yourself, from equal amounts of each.
Before you go back to cloth, if I were you, I’d do a strip on your cloth diapers, just in case it was a fungal or bacterial infection. That way you’ll make sure you don’t reinfect her.
Oh, so glad these changes are helping so far! I did want to share with you that we used the dry max pampers with Dommie when he was a newborn and they gave him a TERRIBLE diaper rash! So I cringed when I read that you were using them. I read a bunch of stuff online about other parents having trouble with them too. Anyway, just wanted to warn you. Hopefully it won’t be an issue with Ella but if things do persist, try a different disposable. We use Huggies (and always did with Mikey too) and love them. I didn’t even donate the unused Pampers we had, we just threw them out because we were afraid they’d make another baby rashy. Sorry, I would have shared that before but didn’t realize you might try disposables for a while!
Oh, no, we aren’t using the “Dry Max” diapers. They are the pampers Baby Dry. They are different. I had heard the same thing about the Dry Max ones.
So glad it’s working! I second Jen’s suggestion of stripping the diapers–we did that after it dawned on me (I blame the sleep deprivation!) that the cloth could be reinfecting the kids. I didn’t know that the antifungal could make a bacterial infection worse! Maybe that’s why my daughter’s rash hung around so long.