My wee baby girl has a rash. A diaper rash. Apparently, she has a yeast rash though I don’t think it’s entirely yeast’s fault. It’s just yeast that is causing it from healing. She’s had this, off and on, for WEEKS now. The pediatrician has prescribed her nystatin cream which has done pretty much NOTHING to heal it. Your average, run of the mill zinc oxide cream has helped, but just when I think I’m winning the war, the rash rears it’s ugly head again.
I’ve tried naked time, which works almost better than anything else. But at this point, I’m pretty much at a loss as to how to rid ourselves of this beastly rash once and for all.
So I turn to you, oh women of cloth diapering. What can I do? What has worked for you? Is there anything I need to do with the diapers? Should we bathe more? Less? This rash is almost entirely located on the front of her person, rather than the rear. Her rear has been a little red, but nothing major and is pretty much rash free. No, her issues are all up front. HELP. I beg of you; I need help here, sisters!
Tags: diaper rash, Diaper Woes
NYSTATIN!!!! - that’s what it is. I completely forgot. Hey that *was* 13 years ago. You think you’re brain-dead NOW wait, haha
Ok. So here goes. Have YOU ever had a yeast infection? Well, yeast is a natural inhabitant of our bodies. There are also other natural and health bacteria - namely *lactobacterium acidolphilus”. Sounds fancy but it’s the simple bacterium found in any yogurt with live cultures. Try eating more yogurt. And although I don’t every think it’s a great idea to start solids in a baby younger than six months, a little plain yogurt in her mouth prolly would be ok.
When I was preggers with Kelly I had horrible yeast infections. My midwife would never allow OTC meds (and I wouldn’t have taken them) - she actually told me to put a teaspoonful of plain unsweetened yogurt in my (::you know::) every night before I went to bed.
ya know what? it worked! I’m not saying to do that to your daughter — EGADS! NO — just eat some yourself and maybe feed some to her.
But in the end it’s probably more alarming to you than it is annoying to her, so don’t worry too terribly much.
As for more bathing? Naw. No need. Keep her as dry as possible, as yeast likes nothing more than damp and dark. Change ASAP, and I have to tell you that will mean MANY more changes with the cloth but it will pay off in the end. Oh and skip the powder too. Not helpful.
ok wait — lactobacillus acidolphilus — my bad
When my daughter had this a few weeks ago we put the monistat topical cream on it and it cleared up in a few days…BUT the cream the doc prescribed should also work…I would call the doc back.
I’ve heard diluted apple cider vinegar swabbed over the area will work, or spreading plain (NOT vanilla!!) yogurt on her bottom might help too. If you’re going to do that, I would spread on the yogurt and then let her be diaper free for a bit. The vinegar you can put on then put her diaper on once the vinegar dries.
Don’t forget to clean your diapers really well, with either bleach or grapefruit seed oil. I think you just put a few drops in the wash (of the GFSO), and that’s supposed to help… but I’m all for using bleach when necessary (just remember to rinse well, and only use about a 1/4 cup in the wash).
Yeast infections are SO annoying. I hope that you’re able to get it cleared up!
Oh yeah - When you change her diaper, make sure she is COMPLETELY dry before strapping the new on one. I keep a dry cloth by her change pad to make sure that Kitten is absolutely dry before she gets her new diaper. Wet skin is weak skin, so you want to make sure that you’re helping it as much as possible.
My LO got one of these too. Boudrauxs, Desitin, Aquaphor wouldn’t touch it. Our family doc suggested any topical cream with a particular active ingredient; she said look for antifungal stuff in foot care, but I finally found it in jock itch cream. It started healing very quickly and we never had another problem.
I would definately call your Ped’s office back and let them know the prescription isn’t working.
I had this same problem a few months back. It lasted about six weeks. By the end of it, I had given up on cloth and was using trashies because I had stripped everything and was afraid of getting yeast back in the diapers, plus it was just so much easier to not need to worry about liners and creams. Anyway. I was also given nystatin, but it didn’t help much. The doctor said if it didn’t clear up with that, to try a little hydrocortisone cream (but just on the skin around the area, nothing inside the area itself.) That helped some, but it didn’t keep it gone. Zinc oxide and A&D helped, but it came back. I also tried neosporin cream at the recommendation of some CDing friends.. that also helped, but didn’t eliminate it. Breastmilk helped as much as anything else–that actually cleared it up for a day or two, but again, it came back. The very last thing I tried was baby powder. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or if it really helped, but it was gone within two days, and stayed gone. It is SO frustrating, and she was so itchy from it. Good luck in getting rid of it. I basically just had to wait it out.