Diaper rash typically can be treated effectively at home and without the need for professional intervention. Home treatment is effective for treating diaper rash, provided that you begin treatment upon the first signs of the condition. There are a number of home treatment strategies for diaper rash that have proven effective time and time again.
Diaper Changing
The most fundamental element of properly treating diaper rash at home is making sure your baby's skin is kept clean and dry. The strategy requires that you do everything possible to ensure that your baby's skin does not come into extended contact with either urine or feces.
Keeping the skin dry and clean necessitates changing a diaper immediately after it has been soiled. You simply cannot delay a change when a primary objective is eliminating diaper rash.
During the daylight hours, you really must check a diaper at least once every three hours. You also need to take the extra effort of monitoring your baby's diaper at night. Odds are it may need to be changed at night as well. You may end up changing your baby's diaper up to eight times within a 24-hour period as part of your efforts to clear up diaper rash.
Types of Diapers
As part of the frequent diaper change regimen, it is also important to select an appropriate type of diaper for your young one. When combating diaper rash, it is important that you use a super-absorbent disposable diaper. This is necessary even if you normally use cotton, washable types of diapers. If for no other reason, you will not want to be left laundering upwards of eight diapers during the course of a day when addressing diaper rash. In addition, super absorbent disposable diapers are better at wicking away moisture from a baby's skin.
Cleaning Your Baby
Do not use baby wipes when your little one has diaper rash. A baby wipe may not only burn the skin, but it can also spread bacteria when a diaper rash condition exists. Once the diaper is removed, you gently wash the diaper area with warm water and using a soft cloth. Do not use soap unless the area is particularly soiled. Soap tends to aggravate a diaper rash. If you really must use soap, select one that is particularly mild.
Additional Care
One strategy you can employ is keeping a diaper off your baby as much as possible. This allows the skin to breath and the affected area to better heal. Of course, this is not always practical, but it is beneficial.
If the diaper rash does not heal within a couple of days, begin soaking your baby in warm water three times a day for about 10 minutes. You can add about two tablespoons of baking soda to the water in a baby tub for additional soothing of the diaper rash condition.
If the diaper rash condition does not clear up or worsens after treating for about week, contact a health care professional. Your primary care physician or a pediatrician can provide alternatives to home remedies if absolutely necessary.
