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.
Diaper changing becomes more difficult
“When Tommy’s diaper rash was bad, I used to really dread changing his diapers,” says mom, 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 diaper rash, understandably you want to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible!
Potential causes of diaper rash
“We did a lot of 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 realized he was just doing more frequent, smaller poos, which we couldn’t always smell so were accidentally leaving him in dirty diapers for too long. We started being extra-vigilant at checking and also tried to let him have more diaper-free time to let air 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 diaper rash: Care
Using only the purest products on your baby’s bottom is important to treat diaper 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. If you’re ever concerned about your baby’s skin however, do speak to your healthcare practitioner.