See our diaper rash page on AskDrSears.com (click here) for a full discussion on identifying what is causing your baby’s diaper rash. Here are some first steps you can take with any diaper rash:
- Realize that babies are supposed to have some diaper rash. So don’t panic. Every baby will get a diaper rash from time to time.
- Applying a zinc-based white diaper cream (I don’t have a favorite brand) to any diaper rash will often solve the rash so you don’t even have to figure out why the rash happened.
- Almost all toddlers will have dry, raised patches of diaper rash on the buttocks or the rear waste-line due to chaffing from crawling and walking. So will older kids who use pull-ups at night. You likely won’t get this to go away until baby is done with diapers, so just minimize it with a clear-type diaper ointment as best you can.
- For yeast diaper rashes (see AskDrSears.com) try dabbing on a solution of 1/2 ounce white vinegar in 8 ounces water a few times daily, air it out for as many hours a day as you can have baby diaper-free, and apply zinc diaper cream when you put a diaper on. If this doesn’t help, try OTC clotrimazole cream twice daily instead of the vinegar.
- If you see red pimples or boils that have white heads or blisters with crusty ooze, this may be bacterial. Call our office for an appointment for a prescription antibiotic ointment called mupirocin.
