Babies Worldwide

Babies and diaper rash go together; if you have a baby you will have diaper rash that’s for certain. Mind you there are some wonderful products on the market that will help ease diaper rash, but like all commercial products the costs adds up over time, and well can you be completely sure what you are putting on your babies’ skin? Well why not have a go at a natural cure?

The suggestions below are all natural, they are safe and quickly prepared. You will find that with the majority of these remedies that you will have the products needed in the house and that will cut way back on costs.

But first let’s be clear what is meant by diaper rash. Diaper rash is an inflammation of the skin around the buttocks, thighs and genitals. Diaper rash product symptoms of red or pink skin which tends to be tender and sore. If not treated then open sores can form and these can be bloody and/or oozy, they can also form blisters. Not at all pleasant for a new born!

There are many causes for diaper rash and to be fair parents can do little about some of these e.g. there can be little done about the diaper rubbing against the skin, or about the urine and faeces that baby produces. You can have some control over products like laundry detergents, lotions, wipes and other baby hygienic products.

There are of course some very simple steps that can be taken to avoid the worst of diaper rash. Change the diaper often and before putting on a new diaper be sure the skin is completely dry. When you are changing babies diaper wash the area the diaper covers very carefully and be sure the skin is completely dry before putting on the new diaper. Stay away from plastic covers. If you are using a liner use fleece or wool and place it between the diaper and skin this will have the affect of pulling moisture away from the skin. Don’t be tempted to use a diaper that is to large, it really is a false economy.

With the cost of commercial diapers rocketing, with many young mums been more aware of the danger commercial diapers are doing to our environment there has been a marked shift to cloth diapers over the past number of years.

If you are using cloth diapers then it is always a good idea to give them an extra rinse in your machine just to be completely sure all the soap and other chemicals are gone. If you are able to dry them in the sun then that great, the sun will help kill of any bacteria there is.

The first home remedy I’d like to suggest takes many by surprise it’s breast milk applied at each diaper change. There seems to be something in mums milk that just works wonders.

Now if you don’t mind a bit of mess why not let baby go natural? Leave the diaper off; this is especially true if baby already has a rash. You’ll be surprised just how quickly clean air will clean up the rash. When baby is asleep why not let it rest on an open diaper or towel?

Aloe Vera sap, gel, or juice can be applied at each diaper change and is a very effective natural remedy for diaper rash.

Homemade wipes can be made quite easily and they have the added advantage of not containing chemicals. Wash cloths, thick paper towels, flannel, are all great for wipes, just cut them into wipe size pieces. Before use wet them with warm water.

If baby is very small then why not forget the wipes altogether, just wash its bottom in the sink, gently dry it and maybe let baby go natural for fifteen or twenty minutes just to let the air circulate. Massage babies skin with a little olive oil at each diaper change, a little goes a long way.

When you are washing babies water you can add: baking soda, oatmeal or tea tree oil to the water in small doses. If using baking soda add enough to let the water start to go cloudy. With tea tree oil a couple of drops is all that is needed.

A lot of mums use baby or talcum powder but I prefer to avoid it as it can be breathed into the lungs and can cause medical problems. I’m also avoid corn starch for if the rash is caused by a fungus then the corn starch will feed of it.

Don’t use plastic diaper covers they are designed to hold moisture in and that’s bad for baby, moisture is one of the major causes of diaper rash.

Hopefully the above will have given you some ideas of how to avoid diaper rash in a natural safe way. There are, however, occasions when you will need to seek medical advice. Has your baby shown no improvements over a period of five days, are ulcers forming? Is the rash spreading to other areas of the body? Is the child developing a high fever? Is there an infection present? If there is a colored ooze then that’s a sign of infection. In all of these cases seek medical advice.

Tags: diaper, diaper rash

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Childhood Illnesses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.