Preventing Diaper Rash

As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. For all that we may fear the onset of diaper rash in our children, there is no certainty of absolute and total prevention, but there is a lot that can be done to make it far less likely, and it revolves mostly around keeping your baby dry and clean as far as is possible. Your baby will not be shy about letting you know when it is in any discomfort. This can prevent diaper rash from developing, but would obviously not be a way of preventing it before it begins.

The prevention of diaper rash is something that requires no small amount of diligence, as well as some luck. But there are some simple rules which can make the process a lot more straightforward. Firstly, you must change your baby’s diaper as soon as it is obviously soiled. This will prevent the infection from having somewhere to live. In the same spirit, it is important to clean your baby in the affected area after it has become soiled. Allowing the area to dry before putting on a fresh nappy is essential. A thin layer of ointment on the affected area will kill off germs while preventing others from taking hold. And applying the fresh diaper loosely will give room for the skin to breathe. Finally when your baby moves on to solid foods you should take a few days between introducing new items. This will help you determine if the infection is down to a food allergy.

How to Treat Diaper Rash

A baby with diaper rash will not be shy about letting his or her parents know that they have a situation on their hands. This, along with the readily decipherable signs of the problem, does mean that it can be treated at an early stage, and hence treated effectively and decisively. Treating diaper rash is not something that takes too long, and the results tend to be swift. Of course it could be almost instantaneous and any parent would still feel that it was an eternity, but it needs to be said that a parent who has a child with diaper rash is not a bad parent at all, just unlucky.

In cases of diaper rash, it is important to change your baby even more regularly than you currently do. It is something inside the diaper that has caused it, and this same thing will either aggravate it or retard its eradication if left unchecked. Keeping your baby clean and dry will prevent the conditions in which diaper rash thrives. If your child has scope to play outside or on a surface that wipes clean, you may even leave their diaper off for a time, as the flow of air around the area will speed the healing. If you use disposable diapers, using a different brand free from fragrance and additives may also help, especially if the rash is a symptom of an allergy.

After three days the diaper rash should be more or less gone. If it still persists, then a cream for treating fungal infections will be well employed.

Why do babies get diaper rash?

Diaper rash is something that parents hate to see on their child, however common it may be, and even for parents who remember having it themselves (less common now, but in the not-too-distant past variations of diaper rash could occur even into late infancy) it is something that no-one wants to see on their newborn child. The reasons for it are quite simple and entirely commonplace, but it is preventable and treatable. If your child does develop a diaper rash, quick treatment is advisable. And prevention is a matter of following some simple rules and showing diligence at key points which might lead to infection.

The major cause of diaper rash is wetness. This is no big surprise. The reason that it does not occur with any regularity in adults, after all, is that we are able to perform our bathroom rituals ourselves and know what needs to be done, essentially, what feels right and what we have learned. Babies, however, urinate quite often and will sometimes be in a dirty diaper for a while before changing. In addition to this, their stools are generally quite loose and their bowel movements are more frequent than those of adults. Unless they are changed with a regularity bordering on the obsessive, there is a chance of infection. Even then a baby with sensitive skin can become infected.

In an older baby, a time of sickness which is treated with antibiotics can be a risky time, as they are prone to diarrhea and the higher risk of diaper rash that that can bring. In short, even the best parents can have a case to deal with, and it is how they respond that is important.

Diaper rash and how to recognize it

New parents have a lot of cause to be concerned about their baby’s health. Visiting any page with even just the regular things that can and do happen to most babies is enough to drive someone to distraction. Even non-parents would be hard pressed not to shudder in sympathy. Something as common as diaper rash, which affects most babies at some point in some measure, is still too much for any parent to bear with real composure. Knowing how to recognize diaper rash, and prevent it getting worse, is something that all parents will be well served by in the early life of their baby.

The diaper area of a baby will, unavoidably, come into contact with some bacteria on a regular basis. Even regular changes and cleaning can sometimes fail to pick it up. You will know when your baby has diaper rash, as it is characterized by skin in the diaper area appearing red and inflamed, and in some cases coming up in pimples. It will irritate the child and if left unchecked can develop into something worse, including a number of infections. As well as this, it will be obvious to any parent that the child is in quite some discomfort. They will cry more and louder, and show general displeasure. Keeping your baby clean will, however, keep diaper rash from occurring in a severe manner or too often, and swift corrective action including treatment with a gentle, pH neutral moisturizer will make a real difference, quickly.

Other Blogs of Interest

• The Alternative Medicine Chest: Doing Away With Diaper Rash – Fierce and Nerdy
• California Baby Diaper Area Wash – Non-Burning & Calming, 6.5 oz (Pack of 3) (Health and Beauty) newly tagged “baby” Review, Rating, Price, Shop | Deal4Wish
• BabyBearShop Organic ‘Appreciate’ Gift Set for Mama + Baby – Diaper Rashes
• A Fun Book to Read Together | The New Parents Guide Blog

How should you bath your baby?

To give your baby a decent bath there are a few rules that you must stick to. Other than that you have more or less free reign to do as you wish. The potential for mishaps is always possible, and no parent wants to take undue risks when washing their baby, so staying away from obvious hazards is more or less self-explanatory. For simplicity, it is necessary simply to avoid lifting the baby as much as possible. To much soap and water do not make for easy handling, and dropping your child is a constant and terrifying fear for parents. Prevention is, in this case, a straightforward matter.

In the first six months of your baby’s life, a water depth level of approximately five inches will be fine. The temperature should be somewhere in the region of body temperature, slightly above is best (around 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) as the water will cool from the moment it is in contact with the bath. You can then put your baby in the bath, using one hand to hold up his or her neck and head and avoid it getting bumped. You then wash him or her with a soft handcloth and a small amount of soap. Moistened cotton wool should be used to clean their face, and to moisten any dried mucus before wiping that away.

Rinsing away all soap and any remaining dirt requires a clean facecloth, and then you can dry him or her with a small towel which you can use to wrap him or her. Then you can use a mild moisturizer in order to keep his or her skin soft.

The right material for baby clothes

It is all too easy to spend a lot of money on baby clothes, especially as there is a tendency for manufacturers at the cheaper end of the market to guarantee itself a profit by spending less themselves on making the clothes. This is regrettable and says a lot about the nastier end of the human condition. Although human beings have made great advances in manufacturing over time, the fact is that synthetic fabrics, though cheaper than naturally made ones, are not as kind to the human skin. If you want to be kind to your baby, who will, it is certain, have softer skin than yours, it is important to buy baby clothes made of cotton, or wool.

Synthetic fabrics are known to be harsh on the skin, and also have a tendency to be more allergenic than natural fabrics due to the chemicals used to make them. The processes used to turn natural ingredients into natural fabrics require a little bit more work, and less chemicals, so they will be more expensive. But set next to the medical bills which can result from a child’s reaction to cheaper fabrics, it could be said that the more natural fabrics you clothe them in are an investment.

The right mix to go for, then, is clothes in a natural fabric which are dyed in a relatively gentle way to be brightly colored. It is well known that children react well to bright colors as a visual stimulus, and consequently they will be happier in such clothes.

The right baby clothes

There is an entire industry devoted to baby clothing, and it goes without saying that it does a lot of business given the numbers of babies born to new parents every day around the world. As a new parent, you will naturally want to do everything right, so the question of how to clothe your baby in a way that benefits them will be one of the many at the forefront of your mind. That you are thinking in such a way reflects good parenting instincts on your part, so you are doing things in the right way. And usually, following your instincts will be a good idea.

There is really no way to be absolutely 100% sure about everything before you do it, but there are without doubt certain conventions which, if followed, will increase your chances of getting things right. Apart from anything else, you need to make sure that your baby’s clothes are the right size. Too loose and they will lose out on the warmth which the clothes are designed to give. Too tight and your baby will be uncomfortable, plus you will need to change their clothes more frequently as they outgrow them. Somewhere in between is the best answer.

This is why, at an early stage, it can be highly beneficial to have the good fortune to inherit some older baby clothes. As long as they are clean, they present no health risk, and they will enable you to get a measure of what kind of clothes you will need to buy for your child when you inevitably need to do so.

Feeding a premature baby

When it comes to dealing with a premature baby, the rules change somewhat from the typical ones for dealing with a baby where everything has happened more or less on schedule. Sometimes you will find that, due to their reduced size and strength, your baby has less of an appetite if it has been born prematurely. In order to mitigate against this you may need to pay more attention and encourage him or her to feed. Even though their natural desire to feed may be reduced as compared with a stronger baby, they will still need to feed in order to gain some of the strength that they lack.

A newborn, fully healthy baby will want to feed between eight and twelve times a day. They will automatically wake up in order to do this. A premature baby may prefer naturally to sleep, as they will tire easier due to their lack of strength. This may mean that you need to wake your baby and persuade him or her to feed. After a time this will become a more natural process as they gain in strength and consequently in appetite. While you are waiting for this to happen, it may be necessary to wake without “fully waking” an alarm clock set to a gentle chime will mean that you can wake, feed, and go back to sleep, which is much better for your own health. By keeping your baby in the same room as you, you can simplify this matter a great deal.