Diapers chafing newborn inner thighs, and diaper rash

[Shandelion]

Regardless of brand, the diapers are wearing away all the skin in the crevice of my 3 week old's inner thighs. It's red and raw looking and breaking my heart. I'm starting to fasten his diaper more loosely. What else can I do???

Also, his poor diaper rash isn't going away. I'm inclined to think it's from my wiping him, actually, not from acidic contact. He goes through a LOT of diapers, he's almost never sitting in a dirty one. The rash is right where I wipe most, so I think it's my fault...but how do I fix it? Zinc oxide based creams aren't helping. I wipe as minimally as I can while still cleaning him. Help

 

[CaptainMummy]

Make sure he is completely dry before putting a new nappy on him. I always left my newborn nappy free for 10 minutes after each change to allow for air to get in and to dry conpletely.
Maybe the nappies are too small, even if it's looser at the waist, it might still be snug around his thighs, so possibly move up a size?
Neither of my girls have ever had nappy rash so I don't have any 'cures' for that, but if you think it is from the wipes, you could try plain water and cotton wool for a while to see how it goes?

 

[Akayj]

I only clean my boy when he has poo. Pee is sterile. I'm a ftm so not sure this correct but it works for us.

 

[sheldonsmommy]

When my son's diaper rash was really bad in the first few days I used either a cloth with water or put his bum under running water. Then dab to dry or air dry.

Could the diaper be too tight or too loose?

 

[MumToEva]

My daughter always had very sensitive skin - like akayj I found it best only to use wipes when she was dirty and not wipe her at all when she was just wet, plus we changed to a brand of wipes called "Water-wipes" - not sure if they have them where you are, but since changing to them she has never had the same trouble with nappy rash. They are just water plus a small amount of fruit extract - even most of the "sensitive" wipes have a long list of chemical ingredients.

Another thing to try might be cloth nappies?

 

[britt1986]

Are you in the UK or the U.S.?

 

[zorak]

I'd try changing the size of diaper.

Re. the rash. You don't need to wipe at every change if it is just pee. My LO is very sensitive so for a while I used a wet wash cloth or made my own wipes. (if you google it I am sure you will find a recipe using kitchen roll). Make sure LO is dry after wiping - I keep a cloth in his diaper tub specifically to pat him dry with. Also, try a different brad of wipes. My LO can only use pampers sensitive; other brands give him a rash.

And don't forget loads of diaper free time.

 

[Cyan]

I found my daughter was very sensitive to even the most gentle of wipes, even the ones that claimed to be 'just like cotton wool and water'. I had to use actual cotton wool and water for a good couple of months. Like others have suggested I made sure she had plenty of nappy off time to dry and also used sudocrem religiously at every nappy change.

As for the chafing on the thighs that's a mystery, we never had that. Only thing I can think is either the nappies are too big or maybe whatever he's wearing is causing it to rub. Perhaps just cotton babygrows would be a good idea day and night for a while?

 

[MelliPaige]

For the thighs I'd try a size up, that's only happened to my boy when he was ready to go up a size.
As for the rash, Leo had a bad allergic reaction to a certain brand of diaper and we had to switch, while it was raw I'd clean him with a water bottle or pat it clean, let breastmilk dry on it, then Vaseline. As it healed I kept Vaseline on it to protect it and it was all the way healed in a few weeks..it was a really bad reaction though.

 

[Pearls18]

Lots of nappy off time and I agree with not being too zealous with nappy changing/wiping if only pee

 

[Pearls18]

Also using cotton wool and water will probably be gentler than wipes just while it's healing, there's a lot more chemicals in them than you'd realise (I'm not preaching we use them too, but if I thought he was sore I would go back to cotton wool like we do in the first 4 weeks which is often recommended for new borns)

 

[nevernormal]

I'd probably try switching to cloth diapers honestly, especially if moving up a size doesn't work. My son is allergic to one brand of diapers and I use even one of those on him he gets red anywhere it touches him, including the elastics and it can look pretty bad. Also, take some extra baby washcloths and just use those as wipes w/ water.

Also lots of diaper free time!

 

[adrie]

If ever my LO has a bit of redness, I make a habit of rinsing the area with water and patting dry rather than wiping with a cloth or disposable wipe. I also try to give as much diaper off time as needed. My LO has only had mild-moderate redness, and I find that the less I do, the better. I tend to use diaper cream as a treatment/extra moisture on occasion rather than to clear up any redness.

I read a really good tip that stated to nap babies without a diaper, on top of a towel or you can ensure the mattress has a plastic sheet underneath to protect it.

Lastly, what kind of diapers are you using? Maybe baby is allergic to something in the diaper? We use cloth and it is not as difficult as people might think. Best of luck.

 

[LindsayLucas]

My lo had a diaper rash that wouldn't go away on his inner thigh- right in the crevice. Turns out it was a yeast diaper rash. Got a script and it went away. But itwas soooo angry looking I felt so bad. I didn't use wipes only a moist cloth and I bathed him after ever poo and let him dry complelty before putting a diaper on him.

 

[mummytobe_93]

Try bigger size nappies, water and cotton wool and morhulin cream for the mappy rash! We tried all sorts even steroid cream from the doctor and nothing worked apart from that. Nappy free time is good too

 

[Shandelion]

Thanks everyone! I've always intended to go cloth, then do elimination communication, but wasn't prepared yet. I started a bit of both yesterday and followed what I could of the advice here. I've already had success in rash reduction. Just a couple hours of elimination communication yesterday was super successful

 

[Lady_Bee]

My newborn had a raw bottom for a couple of weeks. I have oversupply and he was having bowel movements every half hour! In the end we used Triple Paste (waaaay better than the other diaper rash creams), cleaned him with cotton wool and water instead of wipes and gave him loads of diaper-free time. It cleared up and his skin looks fine now two weeks later.

As for the chafing, we had that too because he has such big chunky thighs We moved up a size and that solved the problem.