How to Get Rid of Diaper Rash and Keep it Away

When Tom was a little over 2 months old he got his first diaper rash. It would not go away. We tried changing his diapers diligently every 2 hours. We tried using a variety of different ointments. We tried several different brands of disposable diapers. We tried putting a little bit of baking soda in his bath water...

After a couple weeks I called the pediatrician and she looked at his rash, and suggested that we continue what we were doing and wait it out. Nothing changed.

I talked to another mother who had a similar prolonged rash, and was convinced that Tom had thrush. I went back to the pediatrician and talked her into prescribing some anti-thrush ointment. Nothing changed.

After Tom had had his diaper rash for almost a month I attended a class about cloth diapers, and went home with some loaner diapers to try out. They did not seem to bother Tom, looked really cute, and I liked the idea of using cloth for environmental reasons so I purchased a full set of pocket diapers (sized diapers with a pocket for the absorbent material). Tom's rash diminished but did not go away.

I started giving Tom a lot more 'naked time.' Every day we would bath and then I'd let him lounge around in his skivvies for a while. The diaper rash was greatly diminished but not gone.

In an effort to create less waste I decided to start using baby wash cloths instead of wet wipes. I put them in an inexpensive wipe warmer with some water (and used Cetaphil with that when the need arose), and Tom's diaper rash was gone within a day! In the seven months since then Tom has only had occasional diaper rashes, and with the use of a zinc diaper rash ointment the irritation is always gone within two diaper changes.

The winning combination was using the wash cloths instead of diaper wipes, using cloth diapers, allowing some naked time regularly, and using zinc diaper relief ointment when a rash did show up.

In my mom's group the other moms that do not struggle with diaper rashes on their babies all use this combination of things (most importantly the wash cloths), and the moms whose babies have prolonged diaper rashes are the ones that are using wet wipes and / or disposable diapers.

I wish I had known about this combination earlier, but I am really glad I know it now! I hope this helps you.

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