Babies Tale

When you are bathing or changing your baby, you are likely to see signs of diaper rash; almost all babies have it at one time or another. Diaper rashes may be caused by moisture, urine, irritating chemicals in diapers, whether cloth or disposable. These rashes can usually be identified by their appearance, their location, and other typical symptoms of different types of rashes.

Simple diaper rashes are red, slightly rough, and scaly. The rash may appear over the whole area touched by the diaper. The skin may be irritated by chemicals used in laundering cloth diapers-detergent, bleach, whitener, water softener, or soap. Plastic or rubber pants worn over cloth diapers sometimes affect the skin. The skin may also react to the chemicals used in manufacturing disposable diapers.

Ammonia rash is a form of diaper rash caused by the urine itself. The skin is literally burned by the ammonia that is formed when urine is decomposed by normal bacteria on the skin. Not surprisingly, ammonia rash is worse after the child has been asleep for a long period of time without a diaper change. It is identified by an ammonia smell, noticeable when you change the diaper.

Besides these two basic diaper rashes, a variety of other rashes may appear in the diaper area, including those caused by an allergy to a food or drug, by a skin infection, or by a contagious disease, such as chicken pox or measles.

If your baby develops a rash in the diaper area, look for the signs that indicate these different types of rashes. The appearance and location of the rash, an ammonia odor, or a rash elsewhere on the body are all clues. Asking yourself a few pertinent questions can help you and your doctor find the cause of the rash. For example, have you recently switched from cloth to disposable diapers, or changed brands of disposables? Have you made any changes in your laundry products? Has the baby been given any new food [a change in formula, perhaps, or the addition of cereal to a feeding], or medication?

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