Beki's list of lists

Nappy rash in a newborn is horrid. I remember looking at my first born’s bum and thinking I had broken him!! Now with number 3 we have some ways of reducing it.. I use the word reduce because we still have it at 4 weeks old. I am not sure of the science but I believe their bums have to go through a toughening up period. Here is what we now do to make this easier on the little ones bum.

1. Airtime- this is sooo much easier said than done. All of my little ones hated it but I do think this is about timing. When they are happy just let their bum have a little air to dry. Yes they do wee and poo but maybe leave a nappy or bumlin (see below!) Under them to catch it from running up their back. We don’t have a certain time or put any pressure on this but I definitely find a bit of air on the bum helps.

2. Bumlin – this was literally the best tip I was given as a first time mum and I would shout it from the rooftops if I didn’t sound like a weirdo!!! We buy pretty muslin for all the sicky, milky needs but we buy plain white muslin for the bottom end (and plenty of it!) Then we use it as an extra changing mat. It stops the bottom getting cold. But most importantly, we use it to dry the bottom after wiping. Those wipes or cotton wool are great but once you put the nappy on you are leaving a moist bit of skin to soften or rub! Yes the bumlin gets covered in poo and we do have to chuck some bits away but generally a soak and dry on the line (UV) they are fine.

3. No soap. This might sound obvious but once the skin has those signs of damage we don’t use soap or any fancy wash stuff. To be honest we don’t use this anyway as we don’t think it helps their skin at all when they are super tiny but any sign of a sore bum we are even less likely. So many lovely ppl buy us fancy baby wash or lotion but we don’t use it and it does seem to reduce that inflammation on their bottom.

4. Creams- this is a tough one. I have friends who swere by metanium (we found it too sticky and thick) and bepanthem (not so bad but quite expensive!) But we tend to use sudocrem when the nappy rash is bad and then zinc and castor oil (really old fashioned, it’s cheap but it works!) in the healing phase. Creams don’t seem to be as magical as people may tell you so don’t assume they will heal everything on their own.

5. Nappies- this time around we have a little more money and one of the things I have always wanted to do was use biodegradable nappies. I tried the washable ones and they were great but just soo time consuming and only for summer months. We have been bulk buying Naty ones this time around and I genuinely think their material has helped keep our little ones bum clearer from nappy rash. Who knows I could be wrong?!

What have you tried that works? I do hope this helps if you have a little one with a bad bum, just feeling like you are trying something helps. I am not an expert and I guess if it gets really sore or infected you will need to get some proper medical advice. I was so embarrassed and felt like I failed when the health visitor wrote it in my son’s book about his bad bum but that’s their job to watch out for these things and make sure we are doing our best to make it better and not let it get worse. Good luck to you and your little ones bottoms!!