Treat Babies' Diaper Rashes With These Remedies

Do you breastfeed your baby and think that the rashes will never go away? Also, with fall here and cold weather just around the corner, we all know that when we start bundling up our babies for this weather, rashes happen.

Try not to worry, parents; you are not alone. I have had plenty of personal experience with this as I breastfed both of my children. The oldest child had the worst diaper rashes, though in saying that, I have to admit that my second did not have the rashes as bad. His poor little bum would get so raw it would bleed. I took him to the doctor numerous times and was given prescription creams and ointments which never really worked that well.

Breastfed babies have very loose stool. When they use the bathroom, it reminds you of mustard seeds. Because of this, breastfed babies are more prone to many painful diaper rashes. These will drive you crazy...afraid to wipe them properly, listening to their poor screams and cries from the painful rawness, it makes you want to cry yourself.

When you think you have reached the end of your rope and ready to pull your hair out, try not to worry because here are a few helpful suggestions to try when the prescription cremes don't work. Hopefully one of these will put an end to your little baby's rash, or at least help, because let's be honest...when you are looking at a rash that is spotted with little bleeding dots and raw skin, anything that will help at all will bring you a world's worth of relief.

One thing to remember with a rash is that it's best not to use store bought baby wipes to clean your baby's rash with. These will irritate it even more. Us a washcloth with warm water and instead of wiping, gently dab and pat the area clean. You may use mild baby soap as well as long as this does not irritate your baby.

Here is the recipe for the concoction that first helped my oldest child's diaper rash when he was a baby:

-Mix half and half of Desitin diaper rash cream and Hydrocortisone cream. Apply this mixture to your baby's rash and then sprinkle alot cornstarch over that.
This sounds pretty simple, but it actually worked.

You can use this mixture to help while you're cleaning your baby's diaper rash:
-In your bowl of warm water that you're using to clean the rash with, sprinkle a little bit of vinegar, about a teaspoon but not too much. Too much would burn a little on the rash, so make it very mild.
The vinegar will kill bacteria and neutralize. Continue to apply your remedy of choice.

This is a good, simple way to maintain that healthy little bottom:
-Every time you clean and change the diaper, put some ointment like A&D Triple-Antibiotic Ointment or Petroleum Jelly on your baby's bottom and then very generously sprinkle cornstarch or baby powder over that.

Also, when you're at home, let your baby go without a diaper as much as possible. Don't worry if your baby pee's on the carpet or furniture because an infant's pee is pretty much equivalent to water. Just let it dry and it shouldn't smell. Of course if you prefer you can spray some fabric freshener over the spot if you're worried that it will smell. Drastic rashes call for drastic measures!

An Interesting and odd tidbit : The oddest "remedy" I have heard of so far was told to a friend of mine who's baby once had a horrible diaper rash. One of our other friends is a nurse. The nurse told her to crumble a dirt dobber's nest (those annoying dried mud sticks you find attached to your door) into a fine powder. She told her to sprinkle this powder over the rash just as she would baby powder and keep it changed regularly until the rash started going away. My friend tried this "old wives tale" remedy and surprisingly it actually worked for her baby.

I hope these suggestions from my personal experience with breastfed baby diaper rashes help you with your baby's rash. Don't get too down in the dumps about this situation. Trust me, you are not the only one going through this, it about drove me insane until I finally found what worked with my babies.

Good Luck!