L.F. asks from Indianapolis, IN on January 26, 2007
Diaper Rash - Louisville,KY
My 4 month old baby has horrible diaper rash, and I am treating it. My question is can diaper rash keep a baby from sleeping well? My daughter usually takes 3 really good naps during the day. She wakes up crying and has a poopy diaper. I wasn't sure if this was connected at all.
So What Happened?™
Thanks everyone for all the great advice! I really appreciate it. Her diaper rash has cleared up. I can also see two bottom teeth beginning to poke through.
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M.H. answers from Lexington on January 26, 2007
L.
I know this will sound really weird but believes me, it works wonders. Used it on all 3 of my children when they had diapr rash. I used a yeast infection cream. Cleared up the diaper rash and it didn't bother them. Also, get some of the chuck pads hospitals use and let her lay on that without a diaper on..... Good Luck
J.N. answers from Indianapolis on January 26, 2007
My son used to have the same problem. Use a skin protection with Zinc Oxide in it. It's a better skin protector than white petroleum jelly. Usually the brand that works the best for me is triple paste.
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L.B. answers from Dallas on January 26, 2007
Aww! Poor baby! How old is your baby? She could be teething which is causing the diaper rash and sleeplessness. Its a vicious cycle! Try putting orajel on her gums, give her some Tylonal before naptime and pour on the cornstarch (pure cornstarch from the baking section, not the Johnson's powder with cornstarch)! Good luck! I hope this helps! It worked like a dream for us!
D.N. answers from Fort Wayne on February 01, 2007
Have you talked to your dr about it? it might be something more then a diaper rash. my daughter would get what i thought was daiper rash but then the dr gave me some cream to put on her beause she was having a recation to diaper rash cream. i know its old school but the only thing that would not break her out is corn starch. after i started using that she never got a rash again and she is 16 months old now. sometimes we need to think outside the box. lol
hope this helps
S.M. answers from Charleston on January 27, 2007
L., I pray your baby will not go through what my son did when he was about 2. Everything we were doing to help him was worsening his rash, which became scary to look at! Turns out, he had a FUNGUS that is encouraged by diaper creams, and so much else that everyone (including doctor's offices by phone) were advising us to use.
Here's the only thing that immediately gave him relief AND cleared it up lightening quick: Loop Pharmacy (where my husband works) makes something called FANNIE CREAM or something like that. Bill McFarland (pharmacist/owner) created this stuff, and I swear it should be marketed better. It has zinc in it, which I think is the active healing ingredient. But sweetheart, it is AWESOME. I used it later for any other kind of skin problem that any of us has had and most of the time with great success.
Loop's number is ###-###-####.
Let me know what happens. Wanting comfort for your baby!
D.V. answers from Bloomington on February 15, 2008
ABSOLUTELY! Oh my gosh are they painful! It is also connected to the poop. If she is waking up with a poopy diaper you need to try to keep her up until she poops and you can change her diaper before she goes to sleep. That's about 20 minutes after she eats. So you might try feeding her a little earlier so you can keep nap time on the same schedule. It is essential that you keep her bottom dry and clean. Change her diaper more than you think you need to. Let her go bare bottom as well for a few minutes at every change and after her bath. She may cut loose on a towel but that cleans up. Strait Zinc oxide ointment is the BEST before they get going in a bad way. I've also found that Butt Paste is EXCELLENT for seepy bloody rashes.
Lastly, I haven't read the other posts here about this but, if her poo smells like burnt rubber, change her formula right away to a gluten free formula and ask the Doctor to check her for Celiac Disease.
M.S. answers from Bloomington on January 27, 2007
You don't mention how old your babe is... but have you introduced solids recently? Sometimes new food will do that, in which case you have to figure out which food is causing that rash and eliminate it, temporarily. If it's not solids, it could also be teething- many teething babies end up with mysterious diaper rash.
Definitely use a good diaper cream, lay her on a towel so her bottom gets some air, give her a gentle bath with plain water.
Good luck!
L.C. answers from Terre Haute on January 28, 2007
yes diaper rash can be irritated from the stool in the diaper. Ideally it's best to leave your diaper loose and let air help heal the diaper rash faster. Diaper rash is from heat and sweat in the diaper and add stool to it, it begins the breakdown of skin. Since air is not getting to the skin, your baby feels uncomfortable. Try loosing the diaper, or changing the baby more often, adding medicated powder to the bottom after using a warm washcloth (instead of a wet wipe) instead of regular baby powder. The wet wipe has chemicals in it that can break the skin our more and make her rash worse. My daughter gets rashes around her ostomy stoma and her gtube and I treat it just like I would treat a bottom rash. Good luck and I pray it helps you as it does me.
A.C. answers from Evansville on January 27, 2007
If my son's bottom is raw, he will wake up early crying from his nap because the urine burned him. I always change his diaper right before nap and put on plenty of oinment to help.
S.M. answers from Indianapolis on January 27, 2007
The poopy can really irritate the diaper rash, for that's what causes it anyway. Make sure you change her immediately after she has a poopy. Try to keep it dry, let her run around naked for awhile (I know it's dangerous :)). Also, watch what she eats. That could also cause diaper rash... blueberries, citrus fruits, etc.
I use A & D ointment first, then rub Balmex over the A & D. The A & D heals the rash, the Balmex prevents any urine/stool from touching the rash.
Oh, and make sure you aren't dealing with a yeast infection which is very common in girls.
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