Staph Diaper Rash

My son was ultra sensitive to any pee on him at all-- instant rash. So we got into the "diaper free" thing and basically only kept a cloth diaper on him without any cover so we knew right away when he peed and could change him after the first pee. Other times we kept him on a pad that he could be naked on.

Hi C.,

ask the pediatrician if you can use lidex instead, it is 100 times better in my opinion.

My son had diaper rash really bad the first 5 weeks after he was born. He was miserable, crying all the time. I tried prescription and all the different diaper creams, but nothing cleared it up. I finally looked on the internet for some ideas and got this one. Use Mylanta and Aquafor. I just dabbed the mylanta on with a cotton ball, then applied aquafor. Within a few days it was cleared up. Not sure if would help your child's case, but it helped my son's. I did ask the pediatrician first to make sure that it would be okay for me to use.

Dear C.,
Cloth diapers are best for sure, but the trick is to keep a diaper off of your baby as much as possible. I know it's hard when you work, but it really is the best help. Get some of the potty pads like they use in hospitals and lay them under her in case of accident. Use cotton training panties as much as possible. If you're already used to using cloth diapers, the clean up isn't much different. If you know approximately when she potties, put her on the toilet and hold her. It's not about potty training really, but my daughter associated diapers with a sore hiney and she was super easy to potty train because she HATED diapers and didn't want one on. Obviously there are times when you have no choice, but keeping their tushies bare as much as possible works wonders.

I wish you the best!

Hi this happened in my house too about 4 yrs ago, on top of the bactoban, we were given oral antibiotics, they needed to find the right one since the staph tends to resist antibiotics. BUT we were also told to bathe in antibacterial soap. When we started doing that we have not had it come back into the house. Good luck to you!

We haven't experienced this but I have had a problem with 3 bad diaper rashes in 5 weeks at a new daycare (they no longer go there for obvious reasons). The only thing that prevented any more before we switched daycares was making them use Aquaphor with every change. Aquaphor creates a great barrier without the strong medicines. I don't like using anything strong w/medicines if I don't have to. Good luck.

We've had bacterial diaper infections in the past but not sure if they were staph. Two things I can suggest is let her go diaper-free as much as posssible. If you can put a waterproof pad on her bed and let her nap diaper free there isn't that warm moist environment for the bacteria to breed in. The other is make sure it isn't actually a yeast infection. We've had instances of bacterial infections leading to yeast infections. Taking a probiotic supplement (either you if your breastfeeding or give it to her with her bottle) can help prevent that.

C.,

I am just going through this for the second time with my son, who is 15 months. He got his first staph infection at 2 weeks ( it was mrsa, which was a little more serious). This time around I just tried to stay on top of it, anything you could think of that she comes in contact with wash or sanitize. I washed all of my son's clothes in hot water and bleached his whites (I would just wash them twice, once with bleach and hot water, than a second time without to get the bleach out and away from her sensitive skin). I thoroughly sanitized toys, bathing areas, we made sure he never wore the same thing for more than a day (meaning I would change a new onesie for bed and change it in the morning). Also for the rest of the family lots and lots of handwashing/ hand sanitizing and also going through your own bedding and clothes to make sure it isn't on anything. And for the diapering just staying on top of her changes and letting her bottom dry before putting the diaper back on since staph loves moist and hot areas to grow. Hope any of this helps.

My Sons and I have been battling that since my now 5 year old was 6 months old. There are many things you can do to prevent staph (which we all have) from spreading; wash all clothes and linens with bleach (color safe or otherwise) and never share or reuse any towells or wash cloths. Wear cloths only once and if jammies get sweaty or dirty, wear them only once.

We went through 3 years of almost continual antibiotics with my oldest, from the time he was 6 months, till he was three and a half (and ruined his teeth because of it) but never got "rid" of it till he got a perscription for Septra. Now a month or so ago, my 1 1/2 year old got his first outbreak. I went to the doc and requested Septra and it was cleared right up. I'de suggest trying Septra as your antibiotic.

When the infection has cleared, try to start using WELEDA's Diaper Changing Cream (in orange tubes) available from Whole Foods and other good natural products shops. This cream has Calendula which is great for sensitivities, particularly diaper rashes. I hope it works.

ET

We had problems with this with our son, but had disposables. The only thing that worked was to move him up diaper sizes to give him more room. I had a 2 month old in size 4 diapers, but no more sores.

S.

We dealt with this too. It sounds like you only used a cream antibiotic? If so, then you may need to use an oral one. That's what finally did the trick for my daughter's staph rash. I think it was a 2 week course.

My first son also had a lot of diaper rashes. None of them turned into staph infections, but they were so bad that they sometimes bled, and would go on for weeks. We also cloth diaper, make our own baby food, breast feed, etc. (BTW, I actually found with both my sons that diaper rashes were less in the cloth diapers than in disposables when we travel.)
My suggestion is not the most natural, but worth the $10. It's a product called ILEX. It is a hospital product used to prevent infections in surgery sites. It simply seals out all moisture and allows the skin to heal. It is so tacky that you have to add a layer of petroleum jelly to keep the diaper from sticking to it and causing further irritation. Sounds a little crazy, but it truly was the only thing that worked.
So, what we did was use Desitin for each diaper change as prevention and also as treatment when it was a minor rash. When the rash would get terrible like it did, we would give him a good bath in the evening, put on the ILEX and petroleum, and then we would just use the petroleum for the next 24 hours.
This is the trick: it's hard to find. Try a medical supply shop. I think you may also be able to find it on Amazon.
Good luck!

C.,
It's C. again. I just noticed this post. Susan actually has dealt with rashes like this before too. She's a wealth of information.
Take care,
C.

Another idea beyond those posted is to add baby probiotic like acidophilus to either her food (like yogurt) or her bottle if she takes one. It's specially made for babies, really has no taste and can help balance the bacteria in their systems, which helps on the "way out" too. My first son battled diaper rashes as well as yeast infections everytime he was on antibiotics and this really helped. They sell them at Whole Foods in the refrigerated vitamin display or at probably any natural food store. Good luck! Here's a link to the one we used:
http://www.jarrow.com/product/201/Baby_s_Jarro_Dophilus

Hi C.,

Did your daughter start eating a new baby/toddler food around the time the rashes started? Our second child used to get really bad diaper rashes like this, from certain foods. Tomatoes and other citrus food were the worst. But even peaches, plums, berries and grapes did it to a certain extent.

Is she eating the diced, canned peach/pear combo (Dole probably)? That caused our son's first really bad reaction. When I looked at the ingredients, I found that pineapple was listed. The pineapple wasn't noticeable, looked just like pear unless you look up close.

I would try backing off of all fruit (except banana which should be fine) until it clears up, then try them one at a time again (several days apart) and see if there is a connection.

For diaper rash ointment, our doctor recommend "Triple Paste". It is REALLY thick and sticks well and stays on a long time. This would help it heal faster. (You'd put it on after the antibiotic ointment.)

Good luck!
-D.

My son always got a horrible diaper rash every time he got an ear infection. The amoxycilian gave him diahrrea which resulted in diaper rash. What really worked for him was Caldescene cream and powder. The cream is no longer being made, but the powder is available in a round tubular pink plastic container. The powder really helped keep his bottom dry.