You know how it is, you agree to a post about nappy care ointment and before the product arrives your baby suddenly has the worst nappy rash of her life.
Most babies will get nappy rash at some point and we've just come out the other side. It was the kind of nappy rash that when people saw it as we were changing her nappy they would say "ooo that looks sore". Poor Little. Fortunately she seemed less bothered by it than other people.
So what causes nappy rash?
In our case Little had a lot of snot due to a cold/ teething and she had a lot of dirty nappies. Hard to tell if the increased bowel movements were due to the snot or something else, but her poor bum was very irritated.
Night times were the worst. We weren't going to wake her up to change her nappy (she seemed to poo just before drifting off and she was already sleeping really badly) so her skin got irritated overnight.
The NHS says the causes of Nappy Rash are:
- "your baby's skin being in contact with wee or poo (stools) for a long time
- the nappy rubbing against your baby's skin
- not cleaning the nappy area or changing the nappy often enough
- soap, detergent or bubble bath
- alcohol-based baby wipes
- your baby recently taking antibiotics"
How do you treat it?
I have found using a nappy cream is essential to provide a barrier to prevent further irritation and to calm the skin. We kept applying it at each nappy change and gradually her bum became less red. The ideal though is to not get nappy rash in the first place.
Preventing nappy rash
I'm not going to tell anyone they should put on a barrier cream at each nappy change. Life is too short and we have enough fun trying to keep Little still long enough to change her nappy. A typical nappy change for us goes like this:
- Pick Little up and place her on the changing mat (we generally keep the mat on the floor for safety).
- Grab baby wipes and nappy.
- Grab baby and place her back on the mat.
- Remove minimum possible clothes and nappy.
- Wipe bum as baby rolls around and tries to crawl off.
- Put baby back on mat while trying to distract her.
- Wipe babies foot as she has managed to kick it in the dirty nappy.
- Put new nappy on bum and loosely do up as she crawls off.
- Grab baby and sit her on my lap while I secure the nappy, making sure it's tight enough and the flaps are all in the right place.
- Replace clothing if I can be bothered.
- Have a cup of tea or chocolate bar to recover.
The time that a Nappy Care Ointment really makes a difference is at night. Disposable nappies are great at keeping bottoms dry, but 12 hours in the same nappy increases the chance of a sore bottom. I would also recommend using cream at all nappy changes at first sign of redness and when nappy rash is more likely e.g. teething or a tummy upset.
Little’s bottom is now rash free and we have managed to keep it that way by applying cream each night.
This post is an entry for #Bepanthen Bedtime Challenge, sponsored by Bepanthen. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/BepanthenUK or www.bepanthen.co.uk
Bepanthen recommend applying a thin layer to your baby’s clean dry bottom as part of the bedtime nappy change. Bepanthen offers additional comfort for your baby as it is non-stick and quickly absorbing formulation.
Brought back memories and good to hear how you got on. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.
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