# VERY Persistent Rash



## katydid5 (Sep 30, 2014)

Hey There!,
I have a baby boy that will be seven weeks tomorrow. 

We've been struggling with a diaper rash for over a month now. 

It will heal and come back time and time again. 

We have used cloth, huggies, honest company, and seventh generation disposables. Cloth wipes with just water. 

Lots of air time. Making sure he is bone dry before applying ointment. 

Ointments we have tried: 

Antifungal (since his on call ped thought it was that. Didn't do much of anything after 72 hours) 

A+D: Nothing

The high oxide butt paste: I felt made it worse 

Homemade: coconut oil, shea butter, chamomile

Calendula salve with calendula, coconut oil and beeswax 

Bentonite Clay: Redmond's as a powder to help soothe

We have had the most success with calendula. 

Change diapers every hour except at night. Not necessarily worse in the morning. 

Here yesterday it was 98% healed and is now back after a poop. 

Since it has come back so fast and with a poop it makes me wonder if he's not allergic to something. But I wanted to post everything because an elimination diet is no small fete. But obviously something I'm happy to do if it helps him. 

Our diet is gluten free, our meats are organic. Mostly raw dairy with the occasional not raw. Dirty dozen produce. Soy free except a very rare case. I do eat nuts and legumes, eggs too. 

I'm really discouraged and frustrated. I just want my baby better!

He has no other symptoms to my knowledge. He's gassy once in awhile but usually if we don't burp during night feedings. Otherwise he's a very happy little guy. Not colicky. No other rashes. 

Could REALLY use some help. Thank you!!


----------



## Nemi27 (Mar 11, 2015)

You could try cotton cloth diapers for a while or even just don't put a diaper on him (you say he gets lots of air time, but maybe try more if possible). Try cutting down on or out with acidic foods - oranges and tomatoes. We had to do that with my daughter, her poops get really acidic. She never had it that bad though. If you are nursing are you completely emptying out each side? Usually too much foremilk causes other symptoms, such as gassiness, but you could try that just to see (whatever side you stopped at last feeding start on that side again to make sure there is lots of fat hindmilk). It sounds as if your little guy has some inflammation issues since it is so prevalent. Does he have any other inflammation symptoms? Eczema? You could try eliminating dairy and see if that has an effect. Usually raw milk is less likely to cause issues, but he maybe more sensitive. Also, maybe just rinse him off after pooping and don't rub the skin. Good luck! Hope you find some help.


----------



## marilyn612 (Feb 11, 2014)

If the doc thought it was fungal did you treat systemically? I found with my son I had to nake sure the yeast was out of his GI tract as well as his xloth diapers to get long term relief from the yeast rash.


----------



## usually-lurking (Feb 10, 2015)

That's quite a list of what you have tried.

My son has a zinc allergy, so anything with zinc in it gave him a rash. 

I would go very plain : plain diaper, no cute printing; plain water wipes; no ointment of any kind ; no powder of any kind; use a plain soap for washing (Era Free and Clear worked best for us,Tide was the worst). Keep this up for a week. See what happens.

If there's no improvement, then try diet changes.

When changing anything, make sure you are giving it time to work before moving on. And change only one thing at a time when you try new things.

Hope this helps.


----------



## katydid5 (Sep 30, 2014)

@Nemi27 @marilyn612 @usually-lurking Thanks for your responses!

I held off on cloth when it was possibly yeast, as I didn't want to worry about reinfecting him. Really the only time he's in a diaper is overnight (and we usually have 2-3 changes), and if we're out and about, so not really able to have more air time.

I cut out tomatoes and citrus since I posted this, and not a ton of improvement. We backtracked though on Monday when he was in a diaper for a longer period of time (we drove over an hour to see my midwife, so there and back, and then had to right away go over to our new house for the inspection) so even though I had him in 100% cotton clothing, and Honest diapers, he got bad heat rash, which just aggravated everything. We've been doing baking soda baths twice a day. Making sure he is super dry, and no ointment, only time we do powder (bentonite clay) is when he has a diaper on so that way he isn't hot and clammy. So kinda doing the "plain" part. Been doing more active rinsing with my peri bottle for changes and patting with cloth wipes that have been soaked in water.

I'd be shocked if it were yeast, and I totally understand about it being treated systemically. I've upped my probiotic, and I'm seeing how it goes if it is something on my part with my gut that he's getting through breastmilk, and seeing how that goes. I have a baby probiotic for him that I can give him, too. I haven't had antibiotics for years, and have been actively trying to heal my gut for the past two years. He didn't have any antibiotics either.

Our laundry detergent is homemade, just oxyclean, washing soda, and borax. We have an "old fashioned" top loader washer, and I wash all his clothes on hot with an extra rinse. 
@usually-lurking how did you know your son had a zinc allergy? What were his symptoms? Just curious since my son's rash seemed to get worse with the use of the high zinc butt paste.

I had my midwife look too and she was super puzzled as well. He has his 2 month check up on the 11th, so I'm hoping his ped will have some insight...

Thanks again for your responses and thoughts! Appreciate the support


----------



## usually-lurking (Feb 10, 2015)

It seems to me that you are washing with too much stuff. Borax is washing soda with stuff added. At least that's what I remember from my research. I'm not sure what's in oxyclean.

Zinc oxide gave my son really red, almost raw, skin. Snaps that touched his skin gave him a rash. We still have to be careful with metals, most of which contain some zinc and nickle (another possible allergen).

If it were me I'd stop using the clay. I'm not familar with Honest diapers, so I can't comment on those.

I react to Tide, but could tolerate Era, so that's what I used. Then Era changed their formula, so now I use liquid castille soap and washing soda with a vinegar rinse. If the rash is limited to the diaper area your laundry choices may not be contributing. If, however, there's also slight rash under clothing, you may want to make some changes.

Identifying the cause of a rash is detective work and trial and error.

Good luck!


----------



## hfranco (Feb 3, 2016)

We stick to one brand of diaper and baby wipes, as a change of texture of texture too often will cause diaper rashes. Sudocreme is very good for dealing with diaper rash.

H x


----------



## philomom (Sep 12, 2004)

More naked time! This always helped my littles.


----------



## secretwrestler (Jul 22, 2014)

philomom said:


> More naked time! This always helped my littles.


I agree and I use Drapolene cream btw it works well and really fast.


----------



## littlebear3 (Jul 1, 2014)

I know you mentioned using lots of different creams andc loth diapers. Have you stripped the cloth diapers yet? To my knowledge, most of those creams arent good to use whole cd. They adhere to the cloth and prevent proper absorbtion so the diaper actually stays feeling wet on the skin. 

if the rash is only arounnd the area where poo is touching, then id lean towards diet. If its widespread throughout the diaper area, then id think reaction to the diaper. 

For the first few months my dd couldnt tolerate any huggies products, only the pampers swaddlers and peri bottle water rinse. once we stripped the cloth diapers and started washing them correctly, then she could wear those again. Her rash was always fairly widespread. There was a second occasion where she had a rash only after bm, just a reddened area and we know that was a food sensitivity.


----------



## TerryMoorman (May 16, 2017)

I resolved this issue when i found best diaper rash cream and my baby can rest more comfortable even me and my husband.


----------



## ndoretha (May 4, 2017)

A zinc and castor oil cream is good for healing the rash. I always used to put this on every time I changed a diaper and this helped to prevent a rash.


----------



## ajpense (Dec 8, 2011)

Try going diaper free for just a few days. Also my daughter got terrible diaper rash the time we used Huggies but not pampers. I did EC with several of my children and it worked out great! They were 90% potty trained by eight or nine months old Also with EC they never got diaper rashes


----------



## hillymum (May 15, 2003)

Are there any signs of yeast in his mouth? If there isn't, then he probably doesn't have an issue with systemic yeast infection. If you are nursing, you would probably also have infected nipples. You would be in quite a bit of discomfort, but you haven;t mentioned that. I would ask a doc to take a swob of the rash as I would suspect something along the lines of MRSA if it isn't healing after all that you have tried.


----------



## busywittymom (Sep 10, 2020)

As a mom , i would recommend don't DIY anything and go for a natural diaper rash cream. And if that doesn't work consult a doctor to know the reason behind the persistent rash. My little one had diaper rashes very frequently and i tried the natural diaper rash cream by the moms co. and fortunately it worked for me.


----------



## Liam Johnson (Feb 22, 2021)

Do not just put anything on the baby's rashes. Consult a doctor who can recommend you the best rash ointments. 
Also, keep the kid diaper-free on some days.
Use disposable diapers, because they absorb more and keeps the area dry.
And when shopping for diapers, I highly recommend to shop smartly. Choose diapers free from latex, parabens and TBT; these are the ones that bring up the rashes.
Hope you find this helpful.


----------

