Almost every newborn baby suffers from diaper rash. This is due to the fact that the skin of the baby is very delicate, and subject to high humidity and temperature. In addition, not all mothers adhere to all the rules for the care of a newborn.
Symptoms
- redness of the skin (often in the buttocks, groin, armpits, behind the ears and on the neck of the child);
- the skin is constantly wet;
- small cracks at the site of redness;
- itching and burning;
- in rare cases, small pustules may appear around the wound.
Causes, treatment and prevention of diaper rash
What if your baby suffered this misfortune? Treatment should always begin with prevention. Even slight redness of the skin requires the attention of parents. Check the skin in the buttocks, groin, armpits, behind the ears and on the neck. If you see peeling, rash, redness, then it is worth taking extra care.
- Bowel movements - The usual root cause of these troubles. Urine contains specific uric acid, which causes irritation after prolonged contact with the skin. And in contact with harmful bacteria from feces, its effect increases several times;
- Improper use of diapers. No matter how strange it sounds, but most parents make primitive mistakes in the use of diapers, and this leads to serious diaper rash between the buttocks and in the inguinal region. High-quality diapers cannot independently be a factor in the occurrence of diaper rash, on the contrary, they reduce the likelihood of contact of urine with the skin (see article on how to choose good diapers). But no matter how high-quality the diaper is, it must be replaced with a clean one every 4 hours, or immediately after a bowel movement. Otherwise, urine and sweat accumulate and the baby’s ass is in a kind of “greenhouse” of uric acid and salt;
- Untimely leaving. After each diaper change, the child needs to be washed under running water, and after defecation, it is imperative to use baby soap. If the need to change the diaper appeared outside the house - you need to cleanly wipe the baby's skin with antibacterial wet wipes;
- Do you use baby cream under a diaper? Before putting a baby diaper on, use a powder or a special cream. (See the article “nappy cream”(How to apply / rating popular products));
- How does swimming go? After bathing and washing, you need to let the baby's skin dry, gently patting it with a towel;
- Friction. Most often diaper rash occurs in folds or places of contact with the seams on the clothes of the child. Prefer artificial materials with natural cotton clothing (preferably with outer seams).Also, be sure to use a diaper of the correct size - and you can easily avoid a similar problem;
- Allergic reaction. No matter how strange it may sound, excessive parental care for the baby's skin can also cause diaper rash. Powders, creams, lotions, etc. - often irritate, rather than soothe, the skin. Children's cosmetics should be natural and hypoallergenic. But even if you use only proven means, it is not a fact that a child cannot have diaper rash (see TOP 10 baby care products) MORE and food allergies are quite common these days. Remember - food allergy in combination with diaper rash greatly worsens the condition of the child. Often in such situations, consultation with an allergist or dermatologist is required. Be extremely careful with nutrition mom, if the baby is breast-fed, and introduce complementary foods timely and gradually (see how to introduce complementary foods);
- Overheat. Diaper rash often occurs against a background of elevated air temperature in the room where the newborn is. The optimum temperature for the child is 18–22 ° C. Wear the child according to the temperature, he feels the heat in the same way as an adult.How do you dress your child for a walk? Many parents sin in that, being afraid of the baby freezing, they try to wrap him up as warmly as possible. It is not right – read an article on how to dress a child for a walk;
- Bacterial and fungal infections. Perhaps the only option when diaper rash must be treated with medication so as not to start the disease. But such cases are extremely rare!
As mentioned above, diaper rash very often occurs due to improper wearing of diapers. Any diaper is not recommended to be worn for more than four hours, and after you change the diaper, do not forget to wash the baby. It is very useful not to dress the child for some time, but to leave the skin open. Such air baths are very favorable for the health of the child, since, in addition to preventing diaper rash, they are also an excellent way of hardening.
Skin care for diaper rash
- After washing and air baths, you can treat wrinkles on the baby’s skin with oil or a special baby water-repellent cream (creams rating);
- Sometimes a child may have an allergic reaction to the diaper. This is individual and may be associated with the materials included in its composition. In this case, you should change the brand of the diaper (Read about diapers and how to choose them);
- Pay attention to the diaper. To maintain dry skin, they should be changed regularly. It is better to use disposable diapers or cloth-based oilcloth. This will help avoid skin debate;
- It is important to wash baby clothes with special detergents, rinse it thoroughly and iron on both sides (We recommend: how and how to wash things for a newborn).
Alternative methods of treatment
Time-tested remedies of traditional medicine will help to deal with diaper rash in newborns.
- Baths with oak bark. Prepare a decoction of oak bark, brewing it in the proportion of one glass of bark to two liters of water. Then pour it into a bath with warm water and bathe the child in it for 15-20 minutes.
- Wiping with iodine solution. For 200 milliliters of water should be 1-2 drops of iodine. Apply the solution to the affected areas, and then pat dry with a soft cloth. For maximum effect after such wiping should be air baths (about half an hour). Perform this procedure several times a day.
- Use powder instead corn starch or buckwheat flour.
- Vegetable Oil Against Inflammation. Pre-boil sunflower, olive or fir oil in a water bath and cool to 20 degrees. Lubricate diaper rash several times a day.
- Eucalyptus decoction. 2-3 tablespoons of eucalyptus pour a glass of boiling water and hold the solution for 5-7 minutes in a water bath. Apply a decoction on the baby's skin with a cotton pad.
- Yarrow against microcracks. If small cracks have already appeared in the inflamed areas, try the following recipe. Dilute two tablespoons of yarrow with two glasses of boiling water and leave for about an hour. Then strain the liquid and rinse the wounds.
- Bathing in a decoction of a series. Brew a string like oak bark and use it every time a child bathes - this plant has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects (see the article on bathing in a series).
- Tooth powder perfectly dries the skin. Dilute it with boiled water and grease the damaged places. Rinse the paste after drying with a herbal decoction of oak bark, string or chamomile.
- Manganese solution also dries the skin if added during bathing.
- Homemade antibacterial lotion. Dissolve in a liter of boiled or distilled water a few drops of lavender or calendula. Wipe the baby's skin with this solution every time you change the diaper.
- Birch buds - A good remedy for diaper rash if they are crushed and mixed with petroleum jelly.
- Effective will be a decoction of mixtures of crushed oak bark and string. Pour the mixture with a liter of water and boil for about 10 minutes. Such a decoction is added to the baths with warm water.
- Affected areas can be wiped several times a day. alcohol tincture of birch buds. To prepare it, pour five tablespoons of chopped birch buds with two glasses of vodka and leave in a cool place for a week.
- Will be effective plantain or fern juice, which is applied to gauze dressings and applied to diaper rash.
- Reduce inflammation and remove itching will help infusion of sage, valerian and horsetail. To prepare a similar infusion, mix 7 tablespoons of sage and 40 grams of horsetail and valerian. The mixture must be filled with a glass of boiling water and insisted for about two hours. After filtering, give the child three tablespoons inward twice a day.
- Traditional healers recommend get rid of diaper rash with honey. Mix 400 grams of honey with 10 grams of fish oil and 1.5 grams of chloroform. Apply ointment to damaged areas several times a day.
- A proven remedy for diaper rash - lotions using crushed leaves of coltsfoot, dandelion, violets, plantain. Compresses with brewed flax seeds will also help.
If diaper rash appears regularly, visible cracks, ulcers or pustules appear in their place, if due to redness of the skin the child does not sleep well, has lost his appetite and cries very much - in this case, you must consult a doctor (dermatologist or pediatrician) and do not self-medicate! In this case, just folk remedies can not do.
VIDEO: the most effective diaper rash treatment
Ointments, powders, herbs
You may find the list of commonly used diaper rash medicines helpful. At the same time, keep in mind that there is no uniquely effective remedy, since the result of treatment largely depends on the individual characteristics of the skin and body of the child.
Here is a list of the drugs most young parents use:
- Zinc paste. It is sold in any pharmacy and is inexpensive;
- Ordinary potato starch as a powder;
- Desitin;
- Bathing in a solution of herbs: succession, celandine or chamomile;
- Bathing in a solution of potassium permanganate;
- Boiled olive oil;
- Baby cream "Bubchen" (bubchen);
- Clotrimazole (1%);
- Bepanten (ointment or cream);
- D-panthenol;
- Cream Drapolen;
- Vaseline oil;
- Draft vegetable oil.
If diaper rash does not go away after a week, consult a doctor!
Never ignore the appearance of diaper rash. Immediately provide the skin of the child with the necessary care, otherwise diaper rash can go into a more serious stage.When an infection is added to redness, cracks and pustules appear on the skin. Then the usual means will not be enough.
Health to you and your children!
On the topic of skin care for a newborn baby:
- Proper skin care
- Proper Newborn Hygiene (hygiene products)
- Sweating in a newborn - how to determine how to prevent and what to do
Video gallery on diaper rash:
My oldest child had very sensitive skin. What is irritation, diaper rash, allergic rashes I know well. They were saved by a decoction of a series. It helped right away. No more drastic measures were required. True, she washed diapers exclusively with laundry soap.
Personally, I used potato starch and it really helped us quickly remove redness. The quality of diapers also plays an important role, especially if the baby's skin is extremely sensitive.
As a young father I can say the following - mothers, do not spare money on diapers and there will be no diaper rash. I don’t want to advertise brands, so I’ll say that the optimal diaper for a child is selected only by trial and error. And yes, change them more often, you don’t need to force the child to drag such a weight between his legs.
In my experience, for the treatment of diaper rash, it is necessary to apply a set of measures, which includes, first of all: daily bathing of a child in solutions of herbs of a succession, celandine, chamomile; the use of appropriate powders and baby creams.
Prevention of diaper rash is important. This is constant monitoring of the skin condition of the child in places of possible diaper rash, timely replacement of wet diapers and diapers, air baths.
repeatedly struggled with diaper rash .. and as soon as I didn’t smear and always came to a standstill, it wasn’t effective whatsoever until Kuma advised boroplus and then I was shocked when for one day the diaper rash went away and put on a diaper. and it’s worth three pennies. heal with boroplus and do not torment children
we smeared with dexpanthenol (an analogue of bepantene, but cheaper), and if it is completely ripe and wet, then zinc paste is best. Well, we refused diapers for this time, we wore only a skirt
A very common problem in young children. We also had it several times. Bepanten ointment helps very well. And we used powder, not cream under the diaper. So less likely that diaper rash occurs. In general, you need more often to give the child the opportunity to stay without diapers, and then everything will be fine.
Panthenolspray with dexpanthenol helped us from diaper rash. He was recommended to us by a pediatrician, as there were severe diaper rash on his son. Processed them with this tool. Healed the skin well then, no trace was left. The box shows a smiley face. Spray made in Europe. Now I keep it in my home medicine cabinet just in case.
Neotanin spray, and not folk remedies, will cope well with such problems. Plus, it is applied very easily!
And what is it better?
All these folk remedies are not ready-made solutions, they need to be mixed, brewed. The concentration there is not at all clear! Plus, no one has tested how safe they are for children. And Neotanin without alcohol and not hormonal, relieves itching and diaper rash at a time and is completely safe for children, it is allowed from 0!
Good advice, I will try.
You're welcome.