Diaper Ointment Benefits for your Baby!

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Most men seem okay with changing diapers until the wife or whomever is changing the diaper whips out the ointment and squeezes it on a man’s finger! It can be intimidating – what do you do with this ointment and why is it so important? Well here are some of the benefits of diaper ointment and making your wee-babe as comfy as possible. Did we mention Le Top makes a baby collection in boy, girl and unisex styles? They are awesome for gifts too – and super soft on the skin, another benefit to keeping your baby comfy! 🙂 

The BASICS:
Skin wetness is the common denominator underlying the various causes of diaper rash. Urinary wetness increases skin friction, raises the skin pH, makes the skin less cohesive, and makes it more permeable. These effects combine to intensify the action of stool enzymes or other irritants that then inflame the skin. Diaper rash ointment prevents, treats and comforts your baby’s bottom after it becomes sore, red, itchy or irritated after a wet diaper. There are two types of ointment, petroleum and zinc oxide, and both are useful for certain symptoms. Keep the area dry and healthy with a generous dose of diaper ointment every few diaper changes.

TYPES OF RASHES:
Friction Rash: This is the most common form of diaper rash, and affects almost all babies at some time. It’s common on areas where friction is most pronounced; such as the inner thighs; or under the elastic of diapers that are too tight.

Irritant Rash: This is most conspicuous on the exposed areas, such as the round part of the buttocks. It tends to not appear in skin folds and creases. It’s generally the result of contact with stool enzymes or irritants such as harsh soaps, baby wipes, detergents, or topical medicines.

Intertrigo: Moist heat causes this common type of diaper rash that occurs deep in the skin folds. The skin looks thin, as if it has lost several layers.

Allergic Rash: This rash looks like poison oak! Ah!

KEEP THE RED AWAY!
Petroleum jelly or zinc oxide ointments are useful for preventing diaper rash. They protect your baby’s bottom by creating a barrier between the diaper and the skin. The ointment may not have disappeared by the next diaper change, but it is important that you don’t remove the ointment. Cleaning the diaper area is fine, but excess cleaning can irritate the skin. Allow the diaper ointment to do its job by not rubbing it off at each diaper change.

Some popular over-the-counter ointments are:

• A + D
• Balmex
• Desitin
• Hydrocortisone
• Zinc Oxide Paste
• Butt Paste
• Aquaphor

To aid the healing of diaper rash, do what you can to increase airflow to the diaper region. These simple suggestions may help: 

• Let your child go without a diaper for short periods of time.
• Avoid using plastic or tightfitting diaper covers.
• Use larger than usual sized diapers until the rash goes away

While your baby has a diaper rash, avoid washing the affected area with soaps and disposable, scented wipes. Alcohol and perfumes in these products can irritate your baby’s skin and aggravate or prolong the rash.

What does it treat?
Diaper ointment is also useful in treating diaper rash. Diaper rash can present itself as red, scaly, bumpy, and may even include blisters. Applying diaper rash ointment at the first sign of diaper rash can prevent the rash from getting worse. If a diaper rash is ignored and left untreated, it can worsen quickly. Diaper rash is especially prevalent in babies who have diarrhea or who do not get frequent diaper changes.

Take note!
Talcum powder and corn starch are not beneficial as diaper ointments, although they are considered traditional cures. The talcum powder can disperse when shaken onto the baby’s skin and can make its way into the baby’s lungs, says Baby Center. Cornstarch will sometimes have the opposite effect on a diaper rash, making it worse. This is especially true if the baby has a yeast-based rash, frequently found on babies who are taking antibiotics, nursing babies whose mothers are taking antibiotics, or babies struggling with oral thrush.

Another non-ointment natural tip to ease diaper rash?

How to do it: Instead of cleaning your baby’s bottom with premoistened wipes, hold her over the sink and let warm water wash over her inflamed skin. Then dry her off using a blow-dryer set on cool.

Why it works: Washing with plain water and drying with air feels good on sore skin. In addition, it speeds healing by decreasing friction on the area. Exposure to the chemicals in baby wipes will only make the irritation worse.

If your baby does have a rash and you’ve already used the suggestions above, they may have a yeast infection and need a prescription from your pediatrician.

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To Use Cloth or Disposable Diapers – that is the question!

It is estimated that new dads and moms will change between 5,000 – 6,000 baby diapers during the first few years of their infant’s life.  Which brings us to the great parent debate between cloth versus disposable diapers.  The reusable cloth has come a long way, long way and now even have double or triple layers and a multiply, fiber-filled strip, making them more absorbent than older styles. Some styles of cloth diapers now come with Velcro strips, eliminating the need for those large archaic safety pins.

On the other hand, there are various types of disposable diapers, ranging from simple plastic covered paper diapers to the newest high-tech, cartoon covered, absorbent gel material filled, elastic legged disposables.  It almost seems like these days they are pretty comparable! Here are some facts:

Cost: The price of disposable diapers is easy to calculate. Any mid-range diaper at a big box retail store will costs 25 cents and 35 cents. Multiply that by 5,400 (the number of times you’ll change that diaper) comes to around $1300 to $1900 total cost for your diaper.  Calculating the cost of cloth diapers is a little bit trickier. You’ve got a start-up cost of between $300 and $500 for your initial 12 to 24 cloth diapers coming from a brand like FuzziBunz, or Rumparooz, or bumGenius, depending on the brand. Then you’ve got laundry. Let’s for sake of argument presume 10 diaper load washes per month for 3 years until the baby is potty trained. You’re looking at a total diapering cost of around $1,000. A diapering service will cost you about $75. 
End thought? Cloth and disposables are about the same price!

Comfort: Again, there isn’t that big of a difference as long as your change your child’s diaper when it is soiled. Cloth diaper advocates believe cloth diapers cause diaper rash less often because people tend to change them more often, but then it comes down to convenience. Who is going to do the laundry? Bottom-line, if you leave a soiled diaper on, your child can get a diaper rash (it’s also not that comfy!).  However, your baby might like the softer feel of cloth diapers. Disposable diapers are considered more breathable, but their moisturizing, absorbent chemicals can irritate some babies.

Environment: A lot of parents make the decision between cloth and disposable based on the impact to the environment. Over 2% of American landfills are disposable diapers, but 40% are biodegradable. Disposables also use resources like trees and plastics during manufacturing. But, when we’re talking about the environmental impact of cloth reusable diapers, you must consider water and energy. Manufacturing cloth diapers requires less energy and raw materials than disposable diapers, BUT moms and dads need to realize the process of washing cloth diapers uses tons of clean water and energy.  Final answer? This is hotly debated topic and there are plenty of variables.

Convenience: Cloth diapers now come with easy Velcro or snap closures, various shapes fitted to all types of babies, waterproof bands around the waist and legs, and removable linings, making the cloth change just as quick and easy as a disposable. Downside? Cloth diapers are not as absorbent and you have to change them pretty often.

Travel & Baby Daycare: Go for the disposable! It reduces the risk of infection in a group setting and many daycares do not allow cloth.  When traveling, disposables are simply more convenient and can be heavy in luggage (unless you have easy access to a washer). 

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The Diaper Dilemma

Parents face many dilemmas – picking a preschool, piano or violin lessons, soccer or baseball…but parents today are faced early on with a difficult choice – cloth or disposable? I have friends that made the decision to use cloth, but I just jumped in and without much thought started with disposables. I thought it might be interesting to do some research and share the options.

First priority: Baby’s Health

• One of the pluses of disposables is the ‘wicking’ properties that keep baby’s bottom drier and more comfortable – however any diaper you choose should be changed every 2-3 hours whether it seems wet or not since any wet diaper can cause diaper rash if left unattended.
• The absorbent filler in many disposables has been linked to health problems in mice when exposed at high levels and some children may have an allergic reaction to the filler in disposables.

Convenience

• No doubt disposables are easy to use – one use and you throw them away. They also generally provide better leak protection. One negative to disposables – Some say it’s harder to potty train since the kids don’t feel the moisture.
• There is an additional level of work with cloth diapers – they need to be washed and ‘handled.’  Some daycares and preschools do not allow the use of cloth diapers.

The Environment

• Disposable diapers are bad for the environment; it is estimated that around 5 million tons of untreated waste is deposited into landfills via disposables every year. For slightly less impact, dump the “organic waste” in the toilet before you throw them in the trash.
• Cloth diapers can lessen the impact on the environment – especially if you choose organic cotton (no chemical spraying.) Pre-rinse diapers, and then wash in warm, not hot water using non-toxic detergents.

Cost

• Cloth diapers can save you about $700 per child over 2½ years. (I know I spend about $100 a month in disposable diapers.)

Newer Options

• There are now disposables that are non-toxic, containing no dyes or fragrance.
• Some new disposables are corn-based, less harmful to the environment but not as effective for overnight (because they do biodegrade well) and some are made with wood-pulp and natural-blend cotton.
• Various new ‘hybrids’ have cute form fitted covers with Velcro or snap closures with snap in liners that can be washed. Also you can use absorbent biodegradable inserts that can be flushed – the result is minimal laundry and less going to a landfill. (One caution: some waste disposal plants say they do not degrade well, so check with your local waste management district for more information.)

I did find an enormous amount of information about the cloth versus disposable dilemma. In the end everyone needs to weigh out what works best for their baby, the environment, the associated costs and their personal lifestyle. I hope this information helps with your decision! Happy Diapering!

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Joys of Motherhood (wherein hefty turds lie in wait)

….submitted (last night) by mom and reader: Jess

Poor Sienna (15 months) has had very loose stools all week from taking antibiotics for an ear infection, and along with that pleasure comes the most horrible diaper rash I have ever seen. She was in such excruciating pain that I thought I’d let her roam free for a little before bed, figuring that with 95% tile and wood floors in our house, she shouldn’t be able to do too much damage. Never underestimate toddlers, as some of you probably know much better than I do because…

She found a nice, comfortable spot on the rug to lay a hefty turd! I didn’t see her do the deed, but my nose led me straight to the evidence. It was a clean break, which was definitely a change from her usual this week. I was so relieved and glad that I could just pick it right up with no stain, that I didn’t think to look around for any lingering mess. I thoroughly (and probably too obsessively) cleaned the spot and slapped a diaper on my little angel! A few hours later I remember my side-tracked laundry basket waiting for folding, next to the couch, on our…rug….

Too exhausted and just so ready for bed, I decided that I’d leave the folding for the morning and selectively grabbed our freshly clean (and only set of bedsheets). I scooped them up in my arms and held them to my face to smell the freshly laundered scent, as fresh, clean sheets happen to be one of my favorite things! I couldn’t smell the bounty freshness and figured it meant the poo smell was lingering in the rug and possibly permeating the rest of the house still?? I now see the flaws in my naively wishful thinking, but like I said, I love climbing into a newly made bed of fresh and clean sheets. I mustered the last stretch of energy to make the bed, and at approximately 10:45pm, I got to our bedroom and began neatly tucking the corners of the fitted sheet, when I discovered the rest of Sienna’s  “present”  smeared right in the center of the white valley of freshness!

My motherly intuition tells me that after working hard on her great release,  Sienna took a seat in the nearby laundry basket to rest. I’m writing all of you because something inside me knows this must be absolutely hilarious, and I hope that I’ll read this tomorrow morning and be able to laugh too. But after a crazy week of little sleep and nasty colds, right now I just can’t stop shaking my head and pathetically chuckling, as I sit here waiting for the sheets in the wash cycle. I did mention we don’t have a spare set of sheets, right????

Sienna and her mom, Jess, in earlier and cleaner times!

I do have to say that my one silver lining here is that I think I now have a very convincing argument to make to my dear husband  as to why we really should have a spare set of sheets!…And for little Sienna, who always keeps me smiling even when I’m beyond my point of exhaustion!

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