Diaper Rash - What Kind is it?

Diaper rash is painful! I remember my sons getting it and they would cry when I would change them. It really broke my heart.

There are many things you can use that help. It's very important to know what kind of rash it is. That's right there is more than one type of rash.

They can get a rash from a yeast infection, disposable diapers they are using, commercial wipes, new foods and teething. That's a lot to think about!

Here are step by step things to try:

1. Ditch the commercial wipes. At least while they have the rash. They put a lot of chemicals in those things that can give them a rash. Alcohol is in many of them. Alcohol dries the skin out. 
2. Make your own wipes. I have many recipes for making your own wipes, you can find them here. I often used just a baby wash cloth and water to clean them.
3. Check the ingredients in your diaper rash cream! Many contain a moisture barrier. Little baby parts can't breathe. They can actually make a baby's bum worse. Have you ever used a deodorant that didn't work? It's the same type of thing with diaper rash cream. Check for scents used. This stuff stays on their skin. It shouldn't have added ingredients to make it smell better.
4. Mom4Life carries a product called Magic Stick. It's a petroleum-free formula that is safe with both disposable and cloth diapers. It's made with natural and organic ingredients. All the ingredients I have heard of! Remember they have free shipping!
5. There is also a homemade recipe that my doctor told me about that worked GREAT. It's one part Milk of Magnesia and one part Ponds Cold Cream. I would just mix a small container 1/2 way, pour the other ingredient in up towards the top and mixed it with a popsicle stick. My babies never cried when I used this. It's more for a yest infection. A really red, inflamed bum. 
6. Sometimes they can get a rash from introducing a new food. Berries are so good for you, but can be hard on the system at first. Introduce them slowly. Even with toddlers and preschoolers, when berry season has started. Nursing moms may need to watch spicy foods. Just watch the amounts. Introduce foods slowly to babies.
7. Cutting teeth is the worst! Many call it "Battery Acid Poop". It smells that bad! Change them often! Let them have naked time. I had one blanket I could care less if they soiled it. I just washed it. They could hang out naked, while getting some needed tummy time.
8. Is it their diaper? If they are allergic to chemicals in a diaper they will be red all over. Sometimes it's a band of red that goes across their belly. That when you know to switch brands. Every once in awhile babies are allergic to every brand that's put on them. I have a nephew that was like that. She moved to cloth diapers. They sell some great cloth diapers here. Their diaper products are all marked down right now!
9. If in doubt call your baby's doctor. They should be able to answer your questions. 

Cloth Diapers

If I could change one thing about my kid's babyhood, it would be that I should have used cloth diapers.

"Disposable diapers contain traces of dioxin, and extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is a carcinogenic chemical, listed by the EPA as the MOST toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. In small quantities, dioxin causes birth defects, immune system suppression, skin and liver diseases, and genetic damage in lab animals. It is banned in most countries, but not in the U.S." - Mother Herb Diaper Service

Want to start using cloth diapers? My Baby's Going Green has a great giveaway going on right now to get you started!

One grand prize winner will receive 2 pocket covers in sage plus 2 micro terry fleece toppers and 3 hemp-organic cotton inserts. Value-$85. Two winners will receive 1 pocket cover in sage plus 3 micro terry fleece topper inserts. Value-$46.50 each.

Diapers

My Guilt:

I have to admit that I feel super guilty about one thing. That is that I didn't used cloth diapers! Every month that I was pregnant with my two sons I'd buy a pack of disposable diapers. I figured that cloth diapers use a lot of water to wash, they are messy and stink. The two last things I said were true. The water thing, not so much. They use a lot of water to make disposable diapers as well!

The chemicals in disposable diapers did not even enter my mind until my sister had her son that was allergic to all the main brands of disposable diapers. Her son was potty trained much earlier then mine {they only were 2 months apart}. My nephew could feel when he was wet. My nephew also had a lot less rashes then my son.

The Down and Dirty on Chemically Loaded Disposables {Found Here}:

• Disposable diapers contain dyes, sodium polyacrylate absorbent gel, and dioxin, a by-product of bleaching paper that is banned in most countries other than the U.S.
• Scientific research has found a link between sodium polyacrylate and toxic shock syndrome and allergic reactions.
• Sodium polyacrylate is harmful enough to be deadly to pets.
• The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has found that the dyes and dioxin used in disposable diapers can cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys and liver.
• The FDA (Food & Drug Administration) has received reports that fragrances in disposables have caused headaches, dizziness and rashes.
• Problems reported to the Consumer Protection Agency regarding disposables include chemical burns, noxious chemical and insecticide odors, and babies choking from pulling disposables apart and ingesting pieces of plastic. Plastic tabs can also tear skin if the diaper is not properly put on the baby.
• The use of disposable diapers can increase incidences of diaper rash. According to the Journal of Pediatrics, 54 % of one-month old babies using disposable diapers had rashes, 16 % having severe rashes.
• Scientist’s link male infertility and testicular cancer to disposable diapers: As reported in the
• Archives of Disease in Childhood,
• disposable diapers raise the temperature of baby boys’ reproductive organs, affecting their development.
• Disposable diapers are harmful to the environment: The untreated waste placed in landfills by dirty disposable diapers can contaminate ground water. On the other hand, flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine allow the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill. It can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing.
• The process of making a super-absorbent disposable requires more water and cotton than simply washing a cloth diaper.
• It is estimated that it takes a disposable diaper at best about 250-500 years to decompose, long after our great, great grandchildren have inhabited the earth. 

Being Out and About:

• While it is true that disposable diapers are better, they are not always easier. There are disposable diapers that are chemically better then other main brands of disposable ones.
• Bamboo Nature is one brand. There are other eco friendly brands out there as well! The key is to find diapers that have a lot less chemical use and to use cloth diapers as well. 
• 2 lucky readers at One Savvy Mom! will each receive a case of Bamboo Nature Disposable Diapers! Additionally 4 will each receive a BAG of Bamboo Nature Disposable Diapers! 

Daring - No Diaper

My son has been going on this diaper strike.
He'll turn 3 years the middle of May.

My oldest son was much easier to train. He would stop what he was doing to go; my youngest is too busy. He'll even tell us that!

I've been setting our youngest, Isaak on the toilet since he turned 1.
I never treated it like a serious thing. It was pretty casual. 
He's been standing to go. He wants to do everything himself!
He's gone back and forth this whole time.
He sometimes doesn't want to stop playing to go potty.

I have found new tactics to get him to go. I say like, "Hey Isaak do you want to go look in the mirror?",  "Isaak do you want to go make bubbles in the toilet?", "Lets go look at some pictures in the hallway." Anything to get him in the bathroom.

There are a few things in my mind that get in the way of potty training:

1. Cutting teeth. Both of our kids cut teeth on the later side.
2. Getting sick.
3. Pull-Up's.
4. Lack of consistency.

Isaak would do great with training; then he'd get sick, or cut a tooth. Downhill he'd go, and we'd have to help him back up. Much like how they eat well for a week, and then go through a time where they just don't eat much because they aren't growing.

Pull-Up's are wonderful because the other people that watch him have carpet. Many errands are run throughout the day where Isaak is in a car seat. At home he wears underwear. We have wood floors. Pull-Up's are horrible because toddlers feel like they are wearing a diaper; they pee in them. There lacks the consistency.

Isaak told us that he doesn't want to wear a diaper anymore {even at night}. We're being super daring, and we're giving him what he wants {no diaper}.

He has a toddler bed, so it's a plastic covered mattress. I put down a pee pad, crib sheet, pee pad, crib sheet. That way when he has an accident in the middle of the night I can hopefully remove the top two layers instead of make a bed.

This is something new, so we will see how the no diaper thing goes. Last night I went in at 4 am, and he was wet and cold. He didn't wake up after peeing his pants. It may take awhile, and lots of laundry.

Daddy's Help

• One thing that I've heard some people say about breast feeding, "I really wish I could of breast fed, but I wanted Daddy to share some responsibility and be able to bond with the baby as well."
  
• A breast fed baby can bond with the father. It may be a different type of bond, but everyone bonds in different ways.
• Some of the things my husband did to help out are:
  

1. He got me drinks of water while I was nursing.
2. He changed diapers.
3. He fixed some meals while I was nursing.
4. He burped the baby.
   
5. He cuddled with the baby.
   
6. When the baby was old enough Daddy gave him bottles during the day while I was at work.
   

• These are all important things.
• I really would of had more trouble nursing if it were not for all my husband's help.