Diaper Rash

Most babies born in US develop rashes due to the usage of diapers. Diaper rash appears as a patch of red skin on your baby's bottom. It is nothing but a type of skin irritation which is very common in babies. Even though its not a factor of parents neglectance, every parent should look for a sign of it when babies cry or feels very dizzy. Most diaper rashes are mild, so parents need not worry much about it and these aren't the real challenge in raising your child.

Causes

While the rash may occur in first week of the baby's life, the most frequent period is between 9 and 12 months. But in most of the cases, it is caused due to continuously wet diaper. It occurs mainly in the summer season due to the suffocation. Some people say that the rash may also develop when breast feeding mothers take certain foods. Hence allergic reactions are a very less cause for the diaper rash.

Symptoms

Identifying a diaper rash is fairly easy. A very common sign is that the skin appears red or irritated underneath the diaper area. It may also look like a tiny water blisters or pimples in clusters. It may appear all over the baby's bottom or the genital area or only in certain places. 

Your baby may feel better throughout the day and starts crying all of a sudden and doesn't stop at all till the irritation gets subsided. This is because they feel this irritation whenever they urinate. And most likely when you wash the area underneath the diaper, they won't let you keep your finger there as it may irritate them. These are the best signs if you fail to notice it every time you change the diaper.

Home remedies

Coconut Oil is the best natural home treatment for diaper rash since it doesn't have any side effects. But continuous usage of coconut oil may darken the skin in certain babies. The best home remedy that I follow apart from the rash creams is that applying the coconut oil and massaging the area gently till they feel better. I used to do this very frequently when my kid suffers from it. Babies usually poop 1-3 times a day. If your baby doesn't stop crying for more than 10 minutes, then after cleaning let the skin exposed to air, leaving the diaper off for several hours if possible. This will make your baby feel better.

The best way to get rid of this is to avoid wipes whenever your baby poops. Try to wash it and dry the area using a damp cloth instead of using wipes to clean. This will help avoiding rashes to occur mainly in the summer season.

Treatment

Do not use wipes on the affected skin as this may worsen the condition more. Try to give more fluids in order to avoid the urine more concentrate. 

Do not rub the skin after washing the area instead let it air dry or patted dry.

Try to avoid certain foods which cause irritation. You need to know this if you have introduced a new type of food to you child's diet and after that if that has created the rash.

Applying a petroleum jelly(vaseline) or zinc oxide cream(desitin) will help healing the irritated skin apart and also minimizes urine and fecal contact with the skin.

If the rash does not improve after three days of home treatment better consult your paediatrician to set up an appointment.