Diaper Rash and Eczema

Diaper Rash

Colin has had a diaper rash almost his whole life.  It wasn't always bad, and sometimes it didn't even bother him.  It would clear up completely, but would be back a few days later.  I noticed that his little bum was affected by only some of his poo.  I could tell because when I would change his diaper, it would be red only in the places that the poo was touching.  While other times, I would wipe his bum and there wouldn't be any redness at all.  It had nothing to do with how often I changed his diaper.  If he pooed, I would change it immediately and some of the poo would still burn his poor bum.  I guess Colin started to associate a diaper change with pain, so every time we came close to his changing table, he would start to cry and try to wiggle out of my arms.  It's very hard to change a diaper when your child won't stop kicking and screaming.  It was to the point that he would even do this when his rash was gone.  I began using a wet washcloth instead of wipes for some of his rashes because his skin was so raw.  He is allowed to be in the buff for a little bit after his baths to let it air out.  We knew that certain foods would affect him.  He can't eat strawberries... and he LOVES strawberries. Unfortunetly they are either too acidic for him, or he has a slight allergy.  The rashes were so stubborn and even if I put cream on them every diaper change, they would still flare up most times he pooed.  My poor boy.  And the doctor just keeps telling me to put the cream on it....

Eczema

Another thing that has been flaring up is Colin's Eczema.  He had it on his arms when he was a few months old.  After putting medicated lotion on it every day, it completely cleared up.  Several months ago he began to develop some on his left ankle, which began to spread up his leg.  The doctor described it as a "dry skin rash."  I did the same thing as I did before and put lotion on it every day.  It just kept getting worse.  It became so red and inflamed I thought it was going to bleed.  Not to mention it itches, so he was creating sores by scratching it.  I started putting the lotion on the rash every diaper change and right before bed.  It helped a little by keeping it from getting any worse but it never looked like it was going to go away. 

The Cure!

Kevin was concerned about the diaper rash and started brainstorming about what might be causing it.  Yes, diaper rashes are normal, but not when they are consistent.  Since it seems to always be present, it had to be caused by something he ate every day.  We wanted to remove something from his diet for a few days and see if the diaper rash would start to clear up.  If it didn't, we would know it was something else causing it.  He has a cup of juice at meal times, so we decided to  start with that and switch him to water all day and take juice completely out of his diet.  Within 24 hours I noticed his poos were not burning his bum at all and his current rash was starting to get better.  It was amazing!  Now, about a week later, his bum is almost completely clear!  And to top it off, he no longer cries at diaper changes!!  It gets better, his Eczema is also clearing up!  I'm only putting lotion on it twice a day now and its about 80% better already.  There is something in the mixed berry and tropic punch juices that Colin's poor little body can't handle.   It makes sense, we know that the strawberries affected him, so there must be other berries that he can't have as well. We didn't even put two and two together that the diaper rash and Eczema could be cause by the same thing.  By figuring out what was causing the diaper rash, we figured out the cause of his Eczema also!  I should have known the Eczema was caused by some kind of food allergy because I remember my friend Kelsey telling me back in November that her son's Eczema would get worse depending on the things he ate. 

So we are very grateful that our sweet little man is on the mend!  It's awful when your child is in discomfort and you can't figure out why and how to help him.  I'm sad that he can't have juice, because it is one of the things he loves.  But I think he would rather drink water and have clear skin and bum, then drink juice and be miserable!  Once everything is completely cleared up we are going to try giving him a little apple juice with dinner.  But if his bum burns from it, we will have to stop.  Hopefully it is just the berries that are causing it and the apple juice won't affect him.  :-)