There are, in parenting, a few things that are rarely avoided, like sleepless nights and sore bums. Nappy rash is one of those things that just occurs, there is usually no avoiding it that’s why the title of this blog post isn’t ‘3 ways to avoid nappy rash’ because it’s not like you can stop their teeth coming down ha!! At the moment little Miss Alice is suffering, I have no idea why, she’s not really teething so I figure it’s just one of those things that happens especially once they start on their weaning journey. And nappy rash can really hurt babies, it’s an awful thing to see any small baby suffer so I’ve put together this post which covers the three ways I deal with nappy rash to firstly make it as comfortable as possible for the baby while they’re suffering and secondly how to get rid of it as quickly as possible. I usually find I can get it to clear up within about 24 hours using these tried and tested (on four kids now!!) methods.
Avoid using wipes – I find the texture of wipes is quite abrasive, the hugely detrimental environmental aspect aside, I try to use as few wipes as possible anyway day to day preferring to use cloths and flannels to wipe the girls faces and hands and bums when possible. Anyway, I’m rambling when a baby a baby’s bottom is red and inflamed I find a really soft damp flannel or microfibre cloth is the best thing for the job, much kinder to the skin (and the earth!).
Leave their bottom out to air – leaving their nappy off is a great way to speed up the healing process, if I have a day where we are at home lots I try and give my lady a break from the nappies at every nappy change. Pop down a towel on the ground, sit with them and let them roll about, it’s a great way to get in the all important tummy time too.
Barrier cream – once the nappy goes back on in my experience there is no escaping the fact that they need a cream on their little bottoms to ease the discomfort and help them heal quicker. I have tried lots of different creams but honestly Bepanthen is my favourite and yes this is an ad but I only agreed to it because I have actually used it over the years and I know that it works! I usually squeeze a good lot of it from front to back and if I can avoid it I don’t use my fingers to rub it in just to avoid irritating her more than necessary. I like Bepanthen because there are no fragrance, antiseptics, colourants or preservatives. The big tube lasts a long time even when you are generous in applying it and the company has been around for over 70 years so I figure I’m not the only Mum who swears by the stuff!
So those are my three tips for getting rid of nappy rash. If I could tell you how to avoid it altogether I would but I don’t have the answer to that and I would be interested to know if there has ever been a baby who has avoided getting nappy rash altogether. My next port of call is to switch to reuseable nappies, but that’s a discussion for another day!
This blog post is sponsored by Bepanthen!
