Keeping Your Baby’s Bottom Healthy
You may not always be able to protect your baby from diaper rash, but there are steps you can take that can help significantly reduce the occurrence.
- Keep baby’s skin clean and dry
- Allow diaper area to dry before reapplying diaper
- Protect your baby’s tender skin with a diaper rash treatment
In addition, here are some diapering tips that can help prevent your baby from developing diaper rash.
Clean Your Baby’s Skin
First, it’s important to keep your baby’s skin as clean and dry as possible. That means changing wet or soiled diapers right away. Since you may not always know when your baby needs a change, check the diaper at least every two hours. In newborns or babies with diarrhea, you will need to check even more frequently.
If you use wipes during diaper changes, make sure you choose ones that are mild, gentle, and designed for baby’s special needs. Your best choices are wipes that have been clinically tested or proven mild to the skin.
You may prefer to use a soft, wet washcloth to gently clean the diaper area. Warm water should do the job; use a mild baby cleanser only if the stool does not come off easily.
Whether you use wipes or a washcloth, it’s important to avoid irritating skin. Use your wipe or washcloth to gently pat skin, being careful not to rub.
If you have already applied a diaper rash treatment at the previous diaper change, don’t worry about removing the ointment. Clean the soiled, outer layer and leave the ointment on the skin to avoid damaging skin as it heals.
