My 4 Year Old Daughter Has a Rash on Her Bottom. Please Help

My sister has/is going through this with my niece. She had to switch her laundry detergent to Dreft and and has to use white vinegar as her fabric softener (1/2 cup to a large load size--don't worry, there's no 'vinegary' smell after). She also has to feed her yogurt on a daily basis...Very limited on the bread/pasta/sugar intake...also, no juice, no sodas, no koolaid, very little milk...main drink is to be water. She is limited to cotton clothing and was told to do nothing but skirts/dresses on her during the warmer temps. My niece is not allowed to be in a swimming suit at all--cotton shorts and a shirt are it as the nylon is very bad for those prone to infections. Also, no bubble baths. Dove soap is what she's allowed to use on her. Hope she clears up soon!

1 mom found this helpful

Dr Smith ointment. You can get it just about at any WalMart and it's over
the counter.

Have you changed detergent or fabric softner? Tide is one of the harshest laundry detergents and if you are using that I would definitely switch to see if that makes a difference. Put your clothing through a 2nd rinse to make sure all of the soap is completely out of the clothing. Is this rash on her hips or in her vaginal area? You would treat each area differently. I would go with the suggestions of your doctor for a while and see if things don't get better. I see a lot of suggestions about different herbal and homeopathic measures...do some study before you go jumping into all of those...especially the things that they want you to give her orally.

I suggest taking her to a dermatologist. This appears to be a skin problem.

I also suggest that you not continue to change doctors. In reality, the second doctor said the same thing as the first. Lotromin is also a treatment for fungus and applying a steroid is an expected response to the other things not working. I suspect the first doctor would've been much in line with the second as to what to try next. Or, he may have suggested seeing a specialist after having seen you 3 times. Much of medicine is trial and error. The doctor often needs to try certain protocols before making referrals. BTW do you know what was in the burn cream? It may have contained a steroid too.

Find a doctor whose personality and ability to listen and answer questions and willingness to find answers fits with your personality and stay with that doctor. As you're learning, many times there is no easy answer and when you change doctors you are starting over in some ways. The second doctor made the same diagnosis. He did change medications but they were still in the same group as those prescribed by the first doctor.

Have you asked the doctor what he would recommend for the next step? Two have diagnosed fungus and have approached it from an internal and an external focus. That's assuming the Nystatin was a liquid which she swallowed. If she hasn't taken oral Nystatin that might be the next step.
Did either doctor take a sample of the skin? If not that is definitely needed. This may not be a fungal infection at all. I was being treated for a fungal infection that turned out not to be as discovered with a skin scraping. Still don't know what it is. I've had the rash for a couple of years. lol

Swollen with a warm feeling with seeping could be an allergic reaction. Sounds like the poison oak that I had a few years back. That is why I'd go to a dermatologist first. A dermatologist is more skilled at recognizing skin disorders and would more likely recognize an allergic reaction as a possibility as well as a condition caused by other causes.

My granddaughter has eczema and your description would mostly fit a description of a rash which she had scratched when she was that age. As a 10 yo her eczema rashes are now different.

Your daughter is not wearing diapers, it's unlikely to be an infected diaper rash tho if she had hives or an eczema rash which she scratched those rashes could have become infected. It is common for a baby wearing diapers to have a fungal rash but why a child wearing cotton panties?

Cortisone cream has always healed skin irritations for me and my family.

Please be patient with doctors. They practice medicine. They don't know everything but they do focus on finding a treatment. Sometimes it takes time and several visits If you don't feel comfortable with the way a doctor treats you then by all means change doctors but don't change because they don't know the answer in two visits unless you go to a specialist who will know more.

Hi J., You have received great advice, so I will only add things I have not read yet:
1. to help the healing from inside, i would try to get some omega 3 or flax oil into her diet. it is great for skin and healing.

2. use only cotton clothing, especially in vaginal area.

3. wash with cetaphil which i find is the gentlest cleanser and can even be used on hair.

4. where you can, try weleda diaper rash cream with calendula. not on any weeping rashes, but on other rashes. it may help heal and with the discomfort.

please keep us posted.

Jilly

Take her to a dermotoligist specialists, have allergy tests run on her, use only unfragranced detergents to bathe and wash, only white washcloths because they have no dyes in them, do you have pets? Have a blood work done for uric acid tests and balance in her blood for acid tests or lack of vitamins, ,,,potassium, whatever else they need to test. I am not a doctor, just throwing out ideas. They make sense to me! Don't give up. Also, sad to say, but be concerned about her safety with people you leave her with!Unfortunately, life is not so pretty at times, and safety of our children is the most important thing, monitor who you leave her with. All people!

there is a good Mexican product called maizena it is Spanish for corn starch this stuff works miracles on skin rashes and diper rashes too. try it u have nothing to lose it's only about a dollar for the box.

sorry about your little one's situation.. may I suggest trying a Bag Balm on her? it's very soothing, has an antibiotic in it, and helps my two kids at all times. imean with any irration they happend to have now and then. you can find it at most pharmacies, like CVS,or Target, or you local grocery store skin care aisle. You can read on it on the web, google it for a chance.
hope she is feeling better soon.

I know how frustrating it can be when our kids are hurting. My daughter also has allergies and eczema. For her, the rashes are usually caused by something in her diet. I have gone to a naturopath and had her blood allergy tested, and that has helped identify most of the culprits. But I also have to be aware of what I feed her because she has reacted to things not on the list as well. Peaches would give her a raw bottom and make her blink a lot..who would have figured? Although they don't do that to her now. It is trial and error and takes some time, but I have found a great naturopathic doctor that really helps look into different causes and more natural ways to help.....She also couldn't handle Aveeno because she was allergic to oats! The thing I use on her skin is raw shea butter.....esp. after baths! Hope this helps!:)

i have some info i can send you that may help - just email me at ____@____.com and in the subject put "rash post from mamapedia" to jar my memory. glad to help!!
J. B

Take her to a reputable pediatric dermatologist. Forget the pediatrician. The dermatologist will be able to figure it out. If it is a yeast related rash (which it kind of sounds like this to me) I wonder if she has an abundance of yeast in her body that her body is having trouble controlling. In the meantime, try cutting all sugar out of her diet (this includes hidden sugars like fruit, yogurt, cereals, granola bars, juice, etc.). Also, give her an probiotic. You can buy them at any grocery store. I buy my kid's at HEB.

Welcome to Texas... allergy capital of the world! It is anyone's guess what is going on - fungal vs. bacterial vs. allergic, but I second the recommendation for going to a dermatologist. My daughter had a fungal rash when she was little - nystatin did not work either, but lotrimin did. If a rash gets serious enough, it can get infected and then you will need antibiotics to knock out the infection. You need to continue to seek help from a medical professional until you get this knocked out.

Just out of curiosity, did they tell you to mix Nystatin w/diaper ointment? My son also got a bad rash and they prescribed Nystatin but didn't tell me that I needed to mix it w/diaper ointment and it really made things worst. Once I started mixing it w/Dr. Smith's diaper ointment, it started clearing up.

I agree it might be a reaction to certain foods. My DD had a problem with citric acid when she was younger and if she had any, it was an instant diaper rash. It took us a while to figure it out but in the meantime our pedi had me mix half Aquaphor and half Maalox. Heat the Aquaphor in the microwave a little to soften it up then gradually stir in the Maalox til you get a really creamy paste. Put this on her liberally throughout the day. When my DD would get a diaper rash, the "miracle cream" as I called it, would work within hours.

Also, I agree with previous Mom who said Bag Balm, however I would use that more as a protectant and not a treatment. It can be a little harsh if the rash is really bad.

Good luck. I know how hard it is to see our lil one's suffering.

my daughter gets continual rashes too. Seems to be yeast/fungal as it responds fastest to Lotrimin and cortisone. But heat makes it SOOO much worse. All it takes is one hot day and we're back to square one. Winter is better, summer is hard.

Is your daughter on the chubbier side? My daughter still has toddler chub and also sweats a lot, like her Dad. Bad combo for the yeast.

We survive the summer and hope she'll outgrow it eventually...

It could be a sensitivity to her bath soap or shampoo. Sitting in soapy water can sometimes help, or sometimes make it worse. I'm sure the heat this time of year isn't helping either. When my son was little, the only thing that cleared his skin up was pure corn starch. Not the baby powder kind, with added fragrances and stuff. The kind you buy on the baking aisle at the grocery store. It's an all natural drying agent, and it's very soothing on tender skin.

Try bathing her standing up, so that she doesn't sit in soapy water, then follow up with a generous coat of corn starch on her bottom and in her panties. I can also help you with your water situation. Message me privately if you'd like info on an affordable, portable solution to your water woes. This is something you can use in your apartment now, and move with you later.

Blessings, B.

Like others, I am so sorry to hear about your baby's bottom with the rashes and pain. I know it hurts you as much as her. I hope it improves.

If it were me, I would begin by changing your detergent. There is a special detergent for babies' clothing that doesn't have any of the fragrances, dyes, or chemicals in it. I'm allergic to Tide as are our girls. I only noticed the girls were allergic to it after my MIL washed some clothes at her house in Tide and they began having the mad itch. I had to tell my MIL again that if she washed their clothes to NOT use Tide.

As they got older, I was able to switch over to Gain or the detergent sold at Sears in the buckets for the HE machines b/c we have a matching washer/dryer frontloader HE machines w/ the add-on risers, which lifts the machines about 13-inches from the floor and the risers have a drawer in them so I can put my bottle of Woolite for my undergarments that can't be washed in anything but Woolite (my HE3T that came from Sears has a hand-wash cycle so I no longer have to hand-wash my matching undergarments (cami tops, bras and matching underwear).

Then, if it were me, I would have the carpet taken out along with the padding beneath, sweep and/or vacuum the flooring beneath and have fresh padding and carpet put in. You can usually get a pretty good deal from carpet installers who lay carpets for huge houses and they have all these left over pieces that will fit perfectly in rooms of middle-income families with houses that are anywhere from 1100 to 1600 sq ft (our house is 1600 sq ft but we have linoleum in the laundry room, kitchen, both bathrooms, and the spa room)

My thoughts are that it is something in the carpet or the padding that is not coming out with vacuuming or steam cleaning the carpet. A lot of crud gets caught in the padding and unless you have a high-end vacuum cleaner you're not going to get whatever is in that carpet out and sometimes even with a high-end vacuum and steam cleaner you're not going to get whatever is in that padding out.

If replacing the carpet is not an option, then considering having a professional steam cleaning service to come out to clean the carpet and let them know ahead of time about the baby and how you are not sure but there could be something in the carpeting that is causing the problems. It wouldn't hurt to have them clean any cloth furniture you have while they are there. Often these companies will give you a discount on cleaning the furniture if you have them professionally clean the carpets.

I would also make an appointment with a highly recommended dermatologist for your child. If ANYONE can get to the bottom, no pun intended, of the baby's tushie rash's origin, it will be a dermatologist as they are trained to recognize and/or send lab tests off to find the underlying cause of the rash then how to proceed with treatment.

The last thing I can recommend is allowing the baby's bottom to get as much air as possible. If you have a playpen for the baby, lay the baby in the playpen without a diaper so the bottom can get some air and help it begin to heal.

Often, rashes on baby's bottoms tend to worsen over time because the rash is covered in a diaper that allows any moisture - not necessary a wet diaper from pee or stool but moisture from sweating, is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. Let your child spend some time in their "birthday suit" for a little while each day. It may produce greater results than you might think.

The reason I believe it may be exacerbated at this point is the fact that there has been no true underlying cause for the rash diagnosed so of course, the medication is not working. Then there is the fact that you moved from an area of the country that has a much lower humidity to an area where the humidity is extremely high. I can relate because I've lived all over the south an lower south east during my life. The further south you go, the worse humidity will get. Ohio temperatures may rise but the humidity is nowhere near as high as say what it is here where I live in NC (100 miles inland from the ocean but still in a high-humid area; my children both had to go al naturale in order to clear up a diaper rash faster b/c no matter how frequently I changed diapers, it was hot and it was humid and the heat and humidity are generally about the same. It's sticky heat, if you know what I mean....

Plus, you are in a new home. There may be something in the house causing a problem and that problem could very well be the carpet or the padding beneath. if you have never had or never seen old carpeting pulled up before you would be amazed at the grime and grit that gets caught not only IN the padding but BENEATH IT where nothing short of changing the carpet and padding completely or possibly having a professional service come out though I am not 100% sure if they can even remove what is stuck under the padding and if not, eventually it will work it's way back up through the padding and into the carpet thus causing the same problems to return.

I hope you find something that helps. But please, do try to make an appointment with a dermatologist who can examine your child's bottom as well as taking swabs or scraping to send off to get the cultures tested so you can get to the root of the problem and start on the cure.

All my best wishes and hopes for a successful recovery for your baby.

Make sure its not impetigo. My kids had that. Look it up and c if the pics look similiar to your daughters bumps. They have to give you a perscription for it.