Don’t rush the diaper rash!
Useful tips and tricks for taking proper care of your baby’s skin in the diaper area.
1. AIR. Can you imagine your sensitive parts being wrapped up in many layers all day (and night!) long? In case you use conventional disposable diapers for your baby, let us inform you that those contain a not-very-breathable LDPE foil (which basically means plastic) - would you want to wear that on your bum? Cloth diapers score remarkably better in the area of breathability (they’re made of similar materials than modern activewear like i.e. waterproof jackets) but still. If YOU spent the entire day wrapped up in layers of textile, you would definitely look forward to taking it off at the end of the day. What do we mean by that? Air the bum! Let your baby be naked for a while every time you change their diaper. Just five minutes is enough and don’t worry, your baby won’t catch a cold in such a short time (provided you perform this activity in room temperature). Apart from being good for the skin, this “naked bum” approach has other benefits too! Your baby can kick around freely, thus preventing tummy aches and being beneficial for healthy psychomotor development. So: Air is key. And one recommendation at the end of this part: Use a waterproof changing mat (preferably washable) under your baby during this activity. You never know.
2. Non-irritating fabrics. Because you don’t want to irritate your baby! Babies’ skin tends to be sensitive, sometimes more, sometimes less, but it’s good to take precautions in any case. Even with less sensitive babies, we would recommend choosing natural materials like cotton (ideally organic) or bamboo for cloth diapers; when choosing disposable diapers, try to look for the not-bleached and perfumeless kind – and if they’re made from eco-friendly materials, even better. Moreover, we recommend you focus on other possibly irritating factors. Like your detergent, for example, regardless if you use it for cloth diapers or just baby’s clothes. In our look, it’s best to choose an eco-friendly, non-toxic detergent as it can affect the state of your baby’s skin (not just in the diaper area). Also, we highly recommend to add an extra rinse for your baby’s clothes when you do laundry, thus eliminating detergent residues.
3. Changing interval. We recently wrote an article about how often you should change your baby’s diapers but it’s so important we need to mention it again! Skin just doesn’t like being exposed to wetness and urine for a longer period of time. And don’t say commercials for disposable diapers tell you that your baby’s bum will stay dry for 12 consecutive hours. It might FEEL dry but the urine doesn’t magically disappear, it’s still there. Change your baby’s diaper every 3 hours or right away after poop, regardless of what diaper you use. The only exception being the night (more on changing during the night in this article) but make sure the diaper at least feels dry (you need Stay Dry layer in cloth diapers).
4. Reasonable use of diaper cream. Don’t build a facade of many layers of cream on your baby’s bum. That can have the opposite effect – skin won’t be able to breathe under the cream and then... well, welcome, diaper rash. Users of cloth diapers will most likely agree with us when we say that the risk of a baby’s bum being suffocated in cloth is much less common than in disposable diapers (cloth is more breathable than “plastic” disposables). Which means cloth diaper users usually use diaper cream very sparingly or not at all. And by sparingly we mean e.g. for the night, for just the most exposed parts, only when there’s a problem etc.
5. Thorough but gentle bum hygiene. According to our experience, the most ideal way to wash your baby’s bum is the old-fashioned trio: soap, water and a towel. However, you don’t have access to those every time you change diapers so you need other options, too. In case you prefer wet wipes, make sure you choose the less toxic alternatives (ideally without perfume, not bleached, maybe even bio-degradable). The gentler (and more sustainable) way of washing your baby’s bum on the go is our Happy Bottom Oil – natural cleansing oil that it gentle to the skin as well as to the environment. Happy Bottom Oil comes either separate or in a Happy Bottom Kit that contains, besides the oil, cloth wipes (bamboo or muslin), Spray Bottle, small laundry bag and a wetbag.
After washing your baby’s bum thoroughly, repeat point No. 1 a let it air for a while.
To wrap our recommendations up, we would like to add that it’s not the end of the world when diaper rash appears!
Like during a hot summer day or after a long car ride (sometimes, even the driver can have a sweaty bum after a drive).
A lot of children get diaper rash when teething and there’s nothing you can do you about it. It usually disappears once a tooth is out. We actually have no idea why this happens, but it certainly does.
Diaper rash can also be caused by food intolerances or allergies.
In general, every baby develops diaper rash at least once.
Just follow our 5 tips and it’ll be over soon.
For happy and healthy bums and happy and healthy babies.