newborn nappy rash: tales of sore bottoms & sleepless nights.

Because, unlike other parts of the body, baby’s bottoms do need a lot of cleaning. Unfortunately, that regular wiping on your baby’s sore skin can cause them to feel even more uncomfortable, which can make you feel really guilty for doing it, and then everyone’s just really not happy.

Nappy changing becomes more difficult

“When Tommy’s nappy rash was bad, I used to really dread changing his nappies,” says mum, Niamh. “He would cry and squirm so much that I worried I wasn’t cleaning him properly, which of course would have only made it worse! So it used to take two of us - one to clean him and one to comfort him as much as possible, and I hated it, I always had tears in my eyes.”

Watching your baby in discomfort is horrible, so when yours has nappy rash, understandably you want to get to the bottom of it (pun intended) as quickly as possible!

Potential causes of nappy rash

“We did a lot trial and error, thinking maybe the food he was eating was too acidic, as he had a real thing for tomatoes around that time!,” says Niamh. “But we realised he was just doing more frequent, smaller poos, which we couldn’t always smell so were accidentally leaving him in a dirty nappies for too long. We started being extra-vigilant at checking and also tried to let him have more nappy-free time to let air to the area, it actually cleared up pretty quickly.” So whatever you do, don’t panic. It’s incredibly common and while there’s no ‘cure’, there are things you can do to help.

Bad nappy rash: Care

Using only the purest products on your baby’s bottom is important to treat nappy rash and try and prevent it worsening, so before you buy anything, turn it over to read the ingredients list and make sure you know what each one does. Where wipes are concerned, that’s easy. WaterWipes are made from 99.9% water and a drop of fruit extract. That’s why they’re the world’s purest baby wipes. We know nappy rash is a bum deal (ok, we’ll stop now), but honestly, it will clear up. If you’re ever concerned about your baby’s skin however, do speak to your doctor or pharmacist.