My 11 month old son has had a pretty bad diaper rash for a few weeks now - it gets better, then gets worse on a daily basis. It's gotten so bad his poor butt was entirely raw and blistery. I've noticed that he poops a lot - 4-6 times a day, a semi solid pasty stool. The diaper rash is definitely related to the pooping and I try to clean him off as soon as possible. After every poop I wipe off most of it with a soft paper towel, and then carry him to the sink and wash him off with warm water and soap. After drying him off and letting him play diaperless for a little bit, I put California Baby Powder and then cream on it. His diet is pretty normal too (i think). I feed him 4-5 6 oz bottles of Neutramigen a day, with 3 meals (baby food, rice cereal), some Cheerios or fruit as snacks, and water only. Is it normal to poop so much a day? Is there anything I can do/feed him that would make him poop less with harder stool?
Thanks so much in advance for your advice!
Emily,
I am not familiar with Nutrimagin, but I think if you haven't changed anything sudden in his diet, it is probably a stomach bug. If the nutrimagin is new, then it could be that, but I would call the dr to be sure its not an illness. Also, boudreux butt paste is wonderful for diaper rash and it also has a pleasant scent unlike the others I have found. Good luck~
Molly
My kids always poop more when they have more fruit or more juice than normal. They also were both prone to rashes with oranges- which they have outgrown. I don't know what Neutramigen is... but is it possible that it is stimulating his movements I think to firm him up, you'd have to do some of the BRAT diet they recommend for diarrhea: bananas, rice (or other grains, apples (or sauce), toast. Potatoes are also nutritious and starchy...
you would have to go back to the basics and then start adding in one item at a time to find out what the allergy is unless you want to do the ELISA ACT test. It's an allergy test done with blood instead of pricking all over the body.
Emily,
No one seems to know what Neutramigen is -- so I Googled it and it appears to be a type of formula for babies with colic or other tummy problems. Who has recommended you give this to him, your pediatrician? Have you seen a change in bowel movements in your baby since introducing this? Google Neutramigen and you'll read that some people think it thickens and can give food mixed with it a pasty aspect. So, it might be this formula that's causing him problems. You would only know if you took him off it exchanging for a different formula. At 11 months soon he'll be able to tolerate cows milk, normally, and for my son I mixed cows milk with Nestle liquid formula, since he didn't really like the taste (too sweet, I think).
To make him 'poop' less carrots, potatos, rice, bananas are good, and you can give this to him with other food items to harden his stool. On the other hand, having a hard stool is not really the goal, in fact it's not a problem to have a soft one, especially if you clean him regularly. But, there must be something in his diet that is acidic and causing the irritation to his skin. Could it be the Neutramigen?
As for cleaning and healing. First, don't use baby powder, it's very bad. Good to wash him off well with warm water. Pat him dry first then let him air dry a bit, if possible. Go to the pharmacy and ask for a red liquid drying solution (they'll know what it is) and a zinc oxcide based cream. Use a cotton ball to apply the red drying solution to his bottom, this will dry up the rash and skin cracks. Then, paste his bottom with the zinc oxcide cream, nice and thick. Do this for several days and at each change until his skin heals. Then, once he's better at every change continue to put the zinc oxcide cream on his bottom and wherever needed, perhaps no need to put it on so thickly, but do cover the skin so that when he does have a bowel movement it is not immediately exposed.
Maybe you'll need to work with your pediatrician on improving his diet, if you think think there is a problem with his bowel movements. But, it honestly doesn't sound like you're giving him any food item that is wrong, I only question the Neutramigen. In any case at a year you can introduce cows milk; even just plain yoghurt would be a good start. If you have the money, do give him vitamin enriched formula at least until age two. It's got much more iron in it than whole milk.
Good luck.
For the rash, use Calmoseptine (http://www.calmoseptineointment.com/).
You can order it online or ask your pharmacy to order it. Our pediatrician recommended it when our daughter was suffering with the rota virus for 35 days. It is the best cream. It coats the area and helps it heal. We kept a tube around until she six years of for irritations.
Stephanie
Hi. My daughter, now 2 yrs old, has always eaten high fiber foods and thus has some big pooping days. We use vaseline, it's amazing. Some people even use proactvely during every diaper change. She's never had it so badly that she blistered, so I can't help on that level. But do try the vaseline.
Could be a yeast infection. Try treating with Gentian violet. Just a caution, it will stain his butt and your fingers and anything you get it on purple. As it fades his butt will look bruised so warn anyone who changes his diaper. One treatment will work if it is a yeast infection. I used it on mine and my daughters and their sister-in-laws have used it on their babies. It works great. Mother of three and grandmother of 7. I bought it over the counter at Rite Aide last summer in Kerman.
Jeannie
I would stop the baby powder. Although most people think it is softening to the skin, it is actually like sandpaper to a rash. The pooping is totally normal as humans we are designed to eliminate after we eat. So that is actually a good thing. I would stop the cream as well until I had the doctor take a look at him. There is a product that worked well for us - Dr. Boudreux's Butt Paste. It is in most mainstream stores now, so you can probably find it anywhere. But definitely stop the powder, and I would simply use baby wipes to clean him off as the soap could be irritating him as well.
Good luck.
Stop the baby powder, and use butt paste, 1/3 desitin, 1/3 A&D and 1/3 % hydrocortisone cream. Apply to a clean dry bottom after each diaper change and you should see an improvement. If he is drinking neutramigin because the pediatrician recomended it, I would be cautious about any milk products and speak to your child's pediatrician first. At 11 months he still may have a bad reaction to whole cow's milk.
I think that is a bit much and the rash could be a food allergy. If you are giving him citrus fruit that may be it. I would give him only rice cereal for a few days and see if that helps. Try some hydrocortisone cream for the rash. He may also have a virus that just needs to run its course.It could be the formula also. Its a guessing game with babies and you just have to stsrt from scratch with food slowly adding things back in.
I agree about a possible food allergy, but his rash sounds like a yeast infection. My son's pediatrician told me to use a thin layer of Lotrimin AF, then Neosporin for the sores, and finally a THICK layer of Desitin original (like you would frost a cake). This is tried and true for us because my son gets a yeast infection after every round of vaccinations. Thank goodness he's 2 now and doesn't have the series at every appointment! Good luck with finding the allergy and soothing the rash!
Hi Emily. My twins had the same exact thing happen when I'd feed them any fruit or certain veggies (like zucchini). I could only give them like a tablespoon worth at a time. But they don't need more than that at a time anyway, at that age. It happened until they were potty trained. They are 2 1/2 now and I haven't seen it happen since they've used the potty. Unfortunatley, the doctor prescribed medication and treated them for yeast infection and staff infection--because the sores got so bad and were so consistent, like you said, a daily waxing and waning--but neither actually seemed to work. I knew that it was diet related, but I guess they don't make money off writing prescriptions for "watch what they eat". I feel bad that I gave them the unnecessary meds, but I didn't know what else to do at that point. I would try using vasoline to help protect the skin, baths, and giving the butt some good air time. Cut down on proportions of the fruits/veggies. I know you might feel guilty about not feeding him a "balanced diet" but what matters more to you? You can always supplement with some vitamins; they have liquid drops if you can get him to take them. Don't forget, it will go away--it will pass!!!
My little one is 10 1/2 months. He was diagnosed with yeast infection type diaper rash. This is when the rash has red bumps instead of bright red "areas". If yours is yeast type rash there are specific ointments that will clear it right up.
He may be sensitive to the soap you're using. Have you tried any other kinds? Also, there are some baby wipes with botanical ingredients at Whole Foods, perhaps that would be easier on your son than the paper towel/soap? Good luck. That must be painful for both of you.
I know most of your posts think it could be a food allergy. And it very well could be. So definately get that checked out. But when my daughter was the same age she started getting molars. It was horrible. We had the same kind of diaper rash and frequent bowel movements. I thought it was food at first but nothing in her diet had changed. Then I realized that she was teething. As soon as the teeth finally broke through everything went back to normal.
The only cream that works on my kids is the heavy duty desitin. But I don't recommend using it if he has blisters and sores on his bottom. Just let him go diaperless as much as you possibly can. Also to try to decrease the frequency of the poop try the BRAT diet. Bananas, rice, applesauce and toast.
Hi Emily,
I'm so sorry for your little guy! Plain cornstarch works the best. Hands down! Right out of the nice yellow box already in your cupboard. :o) I bought a box for the changing area and kept a long handled spoon in it. Whenever my girls (or my niece, the rash queen!) had a sore bottom the starch would clear within a day.
Having said that, this may well be yeast as others have said, but please do not try to self-diagnos this. Have the Ped check him. He will prescribe a suitable cream that will clear it up quickly. Also, you mentioned trying to get him to poop less and/or with harder stool. My oldest daughter pooped after eating. Always. As a new born that was every 3 hours! So frequent pooping is not a problem, just your little man's norm. As for consistency, poop should be semi-solid and pasty. It is only yucky in diaper wearers. Once he's on the potty it will appear as one long, soft 'log'. That is how our Ped described it to our girls to help them know what healthy poop looked like. So don't try to harden it up. It's just right!
Good luck with the cornstarch. Really it was a miracle around here!
the rash is most likely a yeast infection, both of boys had it...to get rid of it...apply a thin layer of clortimazol (in the athletes foot care isle at the store) and then coat with A&D...keep this up for a few days after the rash is gone. It likes to stay around undetected so make sure to use the creams after....
Lots of good advice has been given... but these things can be so tricky to pinpoint. I recommend that you really look at what you're feeding him in the way of fruits and veggies. Eliminate as much acid in his stools as possible by feeding items that are low in acids. I also recommend eliminating the powder... for years pediatricians have been saying powders are not good for babies for several reasons: as one person mentioned, they do have a sandpaper effect on the skin, but even more important, in my opinion, is that the powder can get into the nasal passages and cause allergies or other respiritory problems. My preferences for creams are the Boudroeaux's Butt Paste or plain vaseline.
I would definitely recommend that you don't use paper towels to wipe him off. I don't think there are any paper towels made that are soft enough for that job. We use Pampers baby wipes for sensitive skin, and those seem to work quite well. If you need something for a preliminary wipe before using the baby wipes, We've found some disposable wash cloths at the Dollar Tree store...(not sure where else you can find those) that are great for many uses and would work well as a wipe for the bottom too. They come in a pack of fifty but are large enough that you could possibly cut one in half and make them go even further. To give you an idea how good I think they are, we use them to wipe the kids' hands and faces after meals or snacks. Then I save all of them (usually four at our house), rinse them well, and use them to do the initial wipe off of the table to get the food that the kids have used for "artwork" and the big spills, before the final table cleaning. After doing that, I once again rinse the cloths well, and use them to wipe up spills from the floor. The cloths are sturdy enough that they hold up for all of that and rarely break through.
Do you think it might be a reaction to the powder/cream?