My husband and I pride ourselves as very careful in keeping our baby’s bum rash-free. We would diligently change his nappy frequently and would not wait for it to be full. We also have a diaper routine to help prevent those nasty rashes. Unfortunately, when Koa was around 5 months old, there was a week that he would poop almost every after feeding. That would be 6-8 times a day. He was pooping frequently when we started him on solids with his body trying to get the hang digesting food. This episode lasted for a week and our daily nappy routine and products could not catch up on the redness that eventually turned to rashes. So by the time he went back to his regular poop routine, we were faced taking care of mild to moderate diaper rash.
Our daily diaper rash products at the time were Mustela Diaper Cream and Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy Skin Protectant. I still highly recommend these for daily use if baby is not pooping frequently as our baby did.
READ: Tried and Tested – Effective Diaper Creams in the Philippines
I am blessed to have friends who are very sharing with their tips and tricks on taking care of a baby. My husband and I were able to treat our baby’s diaper rash. Here are some effective tips to help you treat your baby’s diaper rash and prevent it from worsening:
Effective tips to help treat baby’s diaper rash and prevent it from worsening
- We stopped using baby wipes and went back to using cotton pads and balls. This is a similar routine for cleaning a newborn’s bum – just water and cotton balls. But since Koa is already a bigger baby, we used Moby’s Cotton Pads wet with clean water to wipe poop off his skin and we use either Swaddles PH or Moby’s Large Cotton Balls for the folds and crevices.
- Eventually we decided to wash his bum with water and a mild and moisturizing baby wash/soap during his wake hours. We used Johnson’s CottonTouch or Aveeno Baby Wash which glides on the skin pretty well.
- Patting the skin dry before adding diaper cream or ointment is important. Since creams and ointments locks in moisture, you do not want moisture to stay trapped on the skin. We would pat his skin dry with a clean cloth or cotton pads.
- After a day or two, we also figured he was not pooping during his long nap time early in the afternoon. So we would let him sleep only in his onesies without any diaper on to air out his bum while he sleeps.
- We used three products that were really helpful in this condition. We used Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy Skin or a combination of Calmoseptine for the folds and Sudocrem on the outer skin or the cheeks of his bum. Make sure to also place diaper cream on the thigh folds (singgit) and under the balls if your baby is a boy. It can be tempting to lather a good amount of cream on your baby’s bum but Calmoseptine and Sudocrem is effective with minimum use (thin film) on the skin. But since baby already has redness and rashes on bum, we would cover the skin generously since some of the products would be rub off with the diaper.
- You might like to read our post on Tried and Tested – Effective Diaper Creams in the Philippines and check the diaper creams we use and swear by.
- The general rule when cleaning a baby’s bum is downward motion – this is to prevent spreading bacteria to the genitals that may cause UTI. This same rule also applies when applying diaper cream on the baby. It is also important to use only one finger in one direction in one area when applying the cream. Example: Use middle finger when applying on the folds near the genitals, ring finger on the baby’s anus area and right pinky finger on the bum cheeks all in downward motion.
- Also remember that diaper rash tends to worsen when baby sits on a wet or dirty diaper for too long. If your baby has diaper rash, change his diaper at least every 2 hours. It can be energy consuming and expensive but it will definitely lessen the diaper rash length.