Daddy Clay: There are very few things that can cause a more visceral reaction for a new
dad than peeling back a diaper to reveal a bright red, spotted baboon butt.
Daddy Brad: Today's episode is all about diaper rash.
Daddy Clay: So to get the full 411 on diaper rash prevention and causes, we spoke to our
favorite pediatrician and Baby 411 author, Dr. Ari Brown.
Dr. Ari Brown: Diaper rash is an irritation of the skin when it's been wet or soiled.
If you sat in a wet or poopy diaper, your skin would probably get irritated too. So
garden variety diaper rash is just red. If you put some cream on it, any type of barrier
cream, whether it be Vaseline or a zinc oxide based product like Balmex or Desitin, that
should do the trick. It should start to get better and as long as you're staying on top
of diaper changes, keeping moisture away, it should clear up on its own. Yeast diaper
rash is a little bit different. It looks like raw meat with little pimples around it. And
that's not going to get better with your regular diaper rash cream and so that, you actually
need an anti-fungal cream for. Brand name will be Lotrimin AF, it'll say it's for jock
itch, but it treats the same stuff because yeast is very similar. So you use that which
is an over the counter product and it should get better on its own. But in either case,
if the rash is not improving in the next few days after you have been treating it, that's
when you need to call your doctor. If your child is really sensitive to moisture or poopy
diapers, then you can put a barrier cream on the skin. Anything to protect the skin
really works well so Vaseline or any basic diaper rash cream should do just fine. Just
put it on at every diaper change and then you can protect the skin. For disposable diapers,
the advantage is your child might have a wet diaper and there might not be as much moisture
on the skin. But if you don't stay on top of a disposable diaper and the child's been
sitting in a wet diaper for a while, the problem is still the same. Some children are actually
sensitive to some brands of disposable diapers and so sometimes kids will come in with some
irritation, not in the genital area, but actually along the sides where the elastic is on the
disposable diaper or where the tabs are and if that problem arises, then you actually
may need to change brands or go to cloth diapers. One thing parents should know about is that
when their baby is taking antibiotics, it leaves them susceptible to getting a yeast
infection in the diaper area. So if your child has been on antibiotics recently or is still
taking antibiotics and your baby develops a rash and it looks a little different that
your usual diaper rash that you've seen before, that's when you should think about it being
a yeast infection. When garden variety diaper rash heads really south, where the skin gets
so raw and irritated that maybe it's even bleeding, that's when you need to call the
doctor because it's possible that you need a prescription antibiotic cream or a thicker
cream that they can prescribe to put on that diaper rash.
Daddy Clay: Some really good points there from Dr. Ari Brown and I agree. I would say
there's more than just two kinds of diaper rash. I mean there's like sub-categories and
multiple branches of the diaper rash tree. Daddy Brad: Yeah. The inferno is the worst.
The other day, I peel back the diaper, poor little Myers, steam coming out. Steam.
Daddy Clay: I'm not sure that's going off a diaper rash. But you can tell there's just
redness, there's the spreckles, there's sometimes it looks like a burn. It's almost like when
you have that newborn and you kind of can categorize the poop. I think you can categorize
a diaper rash as well. Daddy Brad: Lava.
Daddy Clay: You know what, that's all for this week in The Lab. If you've got thoughts
on diaper rash prevention, stories about baboon butt in your family, join the conversation
at DadLabs.com. Daddy Brad: You know baboon butt, my aunt
had that. But it wasn't about diaper rash, it was just kinda wide.
Daddy Clay: We'll see you next week here in The Lab.
Daddy Brad: Really wide. Daddy Clay: Why are you? That's not nice.
She watches the show. Daddy Brad: I'm sorry.