How we dealt with our first real diaper rash.

In Adelaide's nearly 8 months, we've only had to deal with diaper rash a couple of times. It's always been really mild, and one application of Beaudreaux's Butt Paste does the trick at clearing it up. (We use a disposable liner when we use diaper cream so that it doesn't affect the absorbancy of our cloth diapers... otherwise we'd have to strip them and that's a long process that's even longer with a forgetful, busy mama.)

Well, Tuesday night we experienced a very hurting baby with a very red, inflammed diaper rash. I saw the rash, which still looked pretty mild, before I put her night diaper on, so I put some Butt Paste on her and assumed it'd clear up like usual. We put her down for bed around 7:30, and I attempted to cut her nails as she slept. I've done this every couple of weeks forever and she's never woken up, but of course this time she did. And she was AWAKE From that moment on, she was extremely fussy.

She'd been pooping a little with every diaper change... I guess just still trying to figure out her system. But she started screaming every time she peed or pooped. Like I'm-in-pain-and-I-HURT kind of screaming. I changed her diaper and noticed the rash was bright red and warm. And by the time I went to wipe her, she was red in the face, shaking because her bottom hurt so bad.

I felt terrible. I had no idea what to do to make her feel better. She couldn't go back to sleep. Didn't really want to nurse. I ended up wearing her in the Boba and taking a walk to try and lull her to sleep. Kevin came with me and I couldn't help but remember all those walks with Adelaide in the Moby so many months ago, trying to get her newborn-self to take naps. It didn't work this time, but she was at least content in the Boba.

She finally went to sleep around midnight. But woke up again around 2 and was up until almost 4. Then we were able to sleep in until 10, thankfully, and her rash was a lot better in the morning, but still definitely red, inflammed, and sore.

I did some research and although I don't know for sure what caused it, it's either a) my eating dairy for the first time in over two months, or b) a Carrot-Tomato blend of Earth's Best Organic jarred food. I knew that tomatoes were acidic, but I thought since the jar said 6+ months and tomatoes were low on the ingredient list that it would be fine. Maybe it was a combination of the two. Her rash wasn't what was described for an allergy reaction, with the "allergy ring" around the anus, but instead red from front to back.

And as the days passed and it started to clear, I saw little blisters. They're almost completely gone now, but geez. I felt so bad for my little girl.

Here's what we did to clear up the rash:

1. LOTS and LOTS of naked, diaper-free time. Heat and moisture are a diaper rash's enemies, so by letting her "air it out" we were preventing the atmosphere to worsen the rash.

2. During a diaper change, we didn't use wipes. Instead, we used a bottle filled with warm water to wash her off, then we patted her bottom dry with a clean cloth. I can only imagine how sore her bottom was. I just know that after childbirth when my bottom was so sore, I didn't wipe either. Just spray and pat dry.

3. Every time I put a new diaper on her, I made sure to reapply the diaper rash cream, to protect her rash from any pee or poo. I went through a bunch of cream, but it did help.

4. Lots of love and cuddles. Of course, when your kid isn't feeling good, you instinctly give them more attention... and that's what I did. I don't know that it made the rash any better, but I do know that it made Adelaide happy to have extra attention from mama.

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Here's a good resource for diaper rash information: Dr. Sears website.

Have any of you battled a tough diaper rash? Any tips in case this happens again?