Diaper Cream

[hmlove1218]

My daughter came down with some kind of bug that upset her stomach and has developed some irritation to her bottom. I've been researching a homemade diaper cream and really just want some pointers or advice to help me narrow down the final recipe.

I'm thinking something like shea and coconut oil infused with either lavender, chamomile, or calendula. A tiny bit of beeswax to firm it up, and 1% lavender EO.

I personally find coconut oil too oily, so I was figuring a 50/50 or 75/25 ratio with shea butter - shea being more. And then maybe 1/8th of beeswax for firmness and a barrier. Any thoughts?

 

[houseofwool]

I would be hesitant to use EO's directly on the skin, depending on the age of your daughter.

I vaguely remember most of the effective barrier creams having zinc oxide in them, I think. Thankfully we are long out of diapers...

 

[hmlove1218]

She's 14 months and most things I have found say not to use under 6 months, which is why I was wanting to include the EO. I keep reading about zinc oxide as well, but alas, I don't have any.

 

[houseofwool]

I am super cautious about stuff and given the proximity to mucus membranes and the potential for open sores (even if they aren't readily visible to your eye), I would hesitate to use a homemade product.

My daughter battled yeast rashes and regular old diaper rashes all the time. It sucked. Even now at nearly 6, she still gets bouts of folliculitis, which is quite uncomfortable for her

 

[hmlove1218]

Oh poor baby my daughter was probably about five months old when she caught some bug that had her pooping every 30 minutes. Her poor bottom became one giant open sore. So would you suggest nixing the EO?

 

[jules92207]

I would say no eo's, I find the best is the madela cream they give you for breastfeeding, that stuff is amazing on bum rashes. You may want to check if its hand, foot, mouth too - it can show up as rash/boil looking blisters. Wish her much comfort!

 

[bodhi]

I thought of hand foot and mouth too Jules... Madela is easily reproduced though. Someone made up a great salve for my little ones bum when she had hfm. If you want their info, send me a pm as i dont think i can post it.

 

[Dahila]

Infuse calendula and camomile and plaintain The weed, a bit of beeswax and not eo for children it should help her My granddaughter is 8 and I still do not add a lot of eo on stay on products. Better save than sorry
What I used when had nothing else was , just oat water to wash and camomile tea, and i use potato starch as a powder.

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

when my kids had bad diaper rash, the pediatrician suggested a paste of Malox (it's an over-the-counter liquid medicine for acid reflux and sour stomach) and baking soda. BEST. STUFF. EVER.

 

[CanaDawn]

The problem I foresee with all the choice you list is that they are "melty" and won't stay on to make a barrier, which is why the zinc oxide is so useful..you need something that won't melt off, wash off or rub off easily to form a barrier between the skin and the irritant/moisture. I would go with calendula, of the three choices for infused oil (but if you have time to infuse oil, can you not pick up some zinc oxide? Maybe you have some infused oils on hand though...)

If you're talking about Medela, like the breastpump company, their nipple cream contains lanolin, which is also an option for bum cream, but unless you have nipple cream around still (lansinoh, etc) it's harder to come by than ZO

I used to prepare a custom bum cream at the pharmacy that was zinc oxide based but had a couple other ingredients that included treatment for yeast, and for the redness and irritation. Simple to make but as you say, you don't have the option of ZO.

I'd suggest skipping the EO as well, it can sting/irritate, and won't do anything to heal, imo.

 

[jules92207]

Why have I never thought of making my own lanolin salve?! (smacks head)

 

[steliyana]

My daughter had bad diaper rash when she was 5 months old and it lasted 2 months. It only went away when we stopped using diapers and let her be bare bum or with panties. It helped our potty training as well. I did use a mix of coconut oil with lavender, camomile and even geranium EO on her. She had no bad reaction but they didn't help much either. She would be better and then bad again. Zinc oxide didn't help. But every case is unique. The EO mentioned above are considered safe for babies, esp camomile but you have to do a little test before you cover her whole bum, just on her leg, some carrier oil with a drop or two of the EOs. The zinc serves as a barrier but also blocks air which prevents the growth of fungi. The EO have a anti fungal effect but be careful. Best let her bum breath as much as possible.

 

[CanaDawn]

Fungi can be aerobic and do just fine with air. Yeast, as it turns out, is anaerobic, but that's not the case for all fungi. "luckily" yeast is the most likely one in a diaper rash situation.
I think the non-nutritive zinc oxide is useful because it also won't "feed" anything. This is why some things, like cornstarch used for powder, make things worse, I've read.
You could check with a pediatrician/doctor to find out what is the likeliest cause of the rash, and they might suggest an anti-fungal cream. If they did, I would personally suggest mixing it in equal parts with ZO to get the barrier from the irritation AND the treatment for the yeast. I think yeast is more likely when there's been a gut upset that disrupted the gut flora, but a tough case of rash is worth having checked out in case it's some other primary cause.
If the baby is eating solids, I might consider keeping a food diary as well. If it's not an illness, it could be a reaction to diet.
I dislike the notion that every case is unique, simply because almost all diaper rash responds to only a few treatment options, and if they truly were all unique, nothing like a "diaper cream" would exist because it would only work for one case. It's more a matter of sorting through a few likely causes and picking a likely remedy, and tweaking the treatment for best results. JMO.

Good luck, I hope something works soon for her. It's sad when their little backsides are hurting them

 

[gaerwen]

I made one with 50/50 co and shea. added 1 tbsp. of cornstarch or arrowroot per 4 oz of combined oil/butter. Then added one tablespoon of oo infused ( well strained) with calendula and chamomile flowers. It worked well.

 

[snappyllama]

It's not a diaper cream, but my oldest constantly had rashes when she was little. One thing we found to be really helpful: baking soda in bath water.

Her pediatrician and three different southern grandmas said to try it, so I knew it must be good.

Poor munchkin... I hope she feels better.