What to do when the red rash beckons

It is a side-bonus to cloth diapering that my children have had far less rashes since I started using cloth.  When my oldest was a baby, he had rashes all the time and they were BAD rashes.  I became familiar with all the different creams and ointments out there and used them all.  All the time.  In fact, that was our big push towards potty training.  I was tired of having to “hurt” him when changing his diaper.  Poor kid.

These days?  Rashes are few and far between.  But they DO happen.  Every once in a while.

My daughter has had a couple of yeast rashes.  I’ve found the best and quickest way to deal with these is to use an over-the-counter yeast infection ointment.  I learned that from our pediatrician!  Changing often and regularly applying the ointment clears up that sort of rash in a jiffy.  Oh, and be sure to wash the diapers thoroughly and with very hot water to make sure to kill all those rash-y bacterias!  We’re lucky that our hot water runs REALLY hot so killing off bacteria just hasn’t been a problem.  Hot washes are very effective around here!

My son has had a few of the good old fashioned diaper rashes.  If it’s just a red bum from a particularly virulent dirty diaper, I use a medicated diaper powder.  That clears it up in one change every time.  I’ve used Johnson and Johnson’s Medicated, but have had the best luck with Gold Bond Triple-Medicated powder.  My poor son also combats moisture rash on his tender parts.  It’s because he wears pocket diapers most of the time and they’re not 100% effective at keeping things dry.  And once a rash is present, it doesn’t take much moisture to irritate it.  Short of giving him a lot of naked time (which is just in direct contrast with my personal parenting philosophy), the best solution I’ve found is constant application of both diaper rash cream and powder at EVERY diaper change.  And changing OFTEN.  It may take a day or two to clear up completely but it does clear up.

Now, diaper rash cream tends to stain cloth diapers so what I do when I need to use that or the yeast infection cream or even the powder, is I put down a simple fleece liner that I’ve cut from a yard of fleece fabric myself.  I have a bunch of these.  Not only do they save diaper inners from stains from nasty dirty diapers (handy for those diapers that I hate to see get stained!) but it keeps the inner from getting in contact with the ointment or cream and therefore remains stain free!  I hear so many people who have kids with bad rashes and their answer is to switch them back to disposables so they can use the creams to combat the problem.  It’s just simply not neccessary and disposables can even aggravate the issue.  Stick with the cloth, use liners and cream and change often!   You’ll beat that rash in the end, guaranteed!

If you’re getting rashes and are not sure why (you’re changing diapers often, no one is teething, no yeast present, etc), take a close look at your wash routine.  If you’re not rinsing the diapers enough (until there are no bubbles in the water any longer), you could have some detergent buildup and that can sometimes cause and aggravate a rash.  Conversely, if you’re not using enough detergent to get the diapers clean, the bacteria that remains on the diapers can cause and irritate a rash.  I recommend striping your diapers with regular blue Dawn dish detergent every so often and lots and lots of rinsing.  And don’t be afraid to use plenty of detergent!  Just be sure you rinse enough to get all the detergent out.  Sometimes this means adding an extra rinse cycle or two.  Trust me, it’s worth it!

What’s your best solution when the red rash beckons?

Tags: diaper cream, diaper rash, liners, rashes, yeast