The Dreaded Diaper Rash!

The dreaded diaper rash... You will face it, regardless of the amount of care you take diapering your baby.

Diapers do not cause diaper rash. It is wet nappies and soiled diapers that do. So stop blaming diapers for diaper rashes. Now a days diapers are softer and even help babies sleep better. My little one wakes up so frequently while wearing cloth nappies, but sleeps like a log while wearing diapers. And I sleep much better knowing my baby is sleeping comfortably and I also get to sleep longer- waking up only to feed her.

Every time your baby poops frequently, or more importantly, stays in a wet/soiled diaper, your little one is going to develop diaper rashes.

It goes from a redness, you might not notice, to angry red spots along with an angrier red background in the bum area.

This is why it is extremely important to check for rash at every nappy or diaper change.

And this is also why you need air time to your baby's bum.

As expected, my baby also developed diaper rash, and would cry so miserably every time we tried to clean her bum (it's very very heart-breaking to have your little kid crying their lungs out the first time).

And though that first time was over, I was scared of rashes developing again. So after a lot of research and some great advice from 'the baby book' gifted to me by a senior, I found ways to reduce the occurrence and severity of rashes in my baby.

Mind you, I cannot prevent diaper rashes from happening, but I did successfully reduce the severity and frequency of rashes. Now even if my baby has a diaper rash I don't have to stop travelling/ stop using diapers completely, and my baby does not become uncomfortable through the duration of diaper rash.

You just have to manage better. And prevention is better than cure. And yet, even after all your preventive strategies and planning, the baby will end up having a rash.

It's normal. It's a part of being a baby.

Pathology of a diaper rash:

• Baby poops
• Baby pees
• Bacteria from poo breaks down urine to give ammonia
• Ammonia attacks baby's sensitive bum skin to cause redness
• That is why anything that keeps the skin protected is good for prevention of a rash- like a film of vaseline or ointment
• And obviously, if the causative agents- pee and poo are not in contact with the skin, the issue will not arise!

Preventing a diaper rash:

• Change your baby's diaper every 2-4   hours, regardless of your assumption about the amount of poo or pee in it, especially in very young babies
• Clean the baby
• Remember to air the diaper region/ let it dry every time you change the diaper
• As much as possible, let your baby wear cloth nappies between diaper changes
• I do this twice a day with my kid
• Apply Desitin/ Sebaderm/ Vaseline petroleum jelly to your baby's bum after every diaper change
• I use vaseline when there's no rash and desitin when there is even the slightest rash

Managing a diaper rash:

Yeah, so this is the tough part

• When your baby does develop a diaper rash- STAY CALM
• It is going to be alright. Yes, your baby will cry and squeal
• Do not blame yourself, and do not feel hurt when others blame you for your baby developing a diaper rash (it's not your fault!)
• AVOID DIAPERS/ WET CLOTH NAPPIES as much as possible
• I use diapers when my baby has rashes only while she is sleeping and when we have to travel- and only and only for that duration
• Use cloth nappies the whole day - you will see improvement by the end of the day
• Apply ointments specific for diaper rash on and off- one nappy no ointment, next nappy no creams at all
• And definitely change wet nappies as soon as possible, remove the wet cloth or mat underneath the baby too
• Any wetness is going to cause rashes. Wetness = rashes!!

Last of all- stay calm. A diaper rash should not take away your ability to play with your baby, carry on routine activity or cause you to worry endlessly. Its a rash- and like most rashes- it is manageable.

Happy Diapering!

Cloth napies and their management!

Cloth nappies, a bane and a boon for all of us. Boon- because they help prevent diaper rashes and a bane for all the cleaning up we have to do after using a cloth nappy!

As I have mentioned in my blog about diapers, I use cloth nappies in the following situations:

• 2-4 nappy consecutive nappy changes in the morning and 1-3 consecutive nappy changes in the evening on a regular basis- that comes to a few hours in the morning and the same in the evening.
• When my poor baby has diaper rash- just using cloth nappies and immediately changing them when they are soiled helps.
• When there is not much time between a diaper change and her bath or if I have to travel with her, and there's still time left before we leave.

Cloth nappies- we got a set off the net, there were 24, and I received another 6 as a part of a gift set. I assumed this was the most useless product as she was comfortably using diapers constantly for the first 3 weeks- without diaper rashes- because she soiled her diapers so frequently that we had to change them frequently- just like cloth nappies.

The problem started when she first got diaper rash. And her bum was an angry red with red splotches! It was horrible to have her crying and screaming every time we cleaned  her. But then, after I spoke to a friend who is a paediatrician, I used cloth nappies along with a suitable diaper rash ointment and in a day it had settled to just a visible rash without the baby being too uncomfortable.

Yes, cloth nappies are a blessing! And they are very useful, especially the ones I bought online- they are neat, and easy to handle.

But how do we use cloth nappies such that we don't soil the bed/ mattress, our own clothes and the babies clothes.

Steps in managing a cloth nappy-

• Cloth nappies are quite obvious, they have the tying strings and loops to hold the strings over the closed nappy.
• I place a plastic mat, and a folded old dupatta/ folded towel/ cut and folded pieces of bedsheets/ pillow covers/ or 'godadis' over the mat
• The reason for using folded cloth pieces is for easy absorption of pee (due to all the layers) and also once the cloth is wet, just unfold the cloth, wash it in water, wring it, and hang it as spread out as possible on a clothes line! I collect all such clothes in the morning and wash them with detergent the next day, all set to be used for the next cycle- which i call nappy program!
• 'Godadi' is a special type of a very thin mattress, although the term is not specific to this. My mum in law got 6-7 of these made by a tailor friend of hers. Its just layers of soft old clothes and covered with another soft cloth. You can use it as a little bed you can keep the baby in while handling the baby. Especially when the baby is sleeping or is in the arms of guests etc. I leave the wet godadi hanging by its edges on a clothes line, these absorb much better, but take a little longer to dry. And the best part is you can wash these like any other cloth. So along with the cloth pieces, this too is washed with detergent!

 

• Coming to the nappy!
• Nappies are worn the same way taped diapers are. They are just a little loose!
• Sometimes, when it is a little colder, i just tie a folded cloth piece round and round her, like a lungi!
• once the nappy and underlying cloth are soiled (my baby starts wailing if she dirties the nappy even a little bit), I simply discard them into a small bucket. It is in this bucket that I collect the next few nappies and collectively manage them as follows.
• A nappy soiled only with pee, is dunked into water, wringed and hung to dry, and washed with the other clothes from the nappy program the next day
• A nappy that has even the littlest bit of poo on it, is washed in cold water (apparently cold water removes poo stains better) and i have a small hard plastic brush for washing clothes that I use exclusively for washing off poo from any cloth. This nappy, with its stain but not actual poo, is left hanging till the time to wash it comes. Along with the other nappies, these stained nappies are also washed (mostly the next day morning or the same day evening)
• I have noticed that leaving these nappies in the sun after the detergent wash, completely removes the stain! And even if a stain does remain, I just wash it again with the next load. Repeated washing will take care of even the worst stain.
• The point here is to reduce your work load as much as possible. Once you set a routine or a protocol for managing such things, nappy change, which seemed cumbersome to me earlier, feels like a piece of cake. OMG, that sounds gross. Ok, not a piece of cake, but certainly not tiresome!

Sometimes I feel all my neighbours must know when my baby has rashes... There's a series of 20-25 nappies drying in the sun on those days!

On the days that i have to travel and my baby has worn a diaper for a longer time, I just let her wear cloth nappy in between diaper changes, so she gets the airtime she gets everyday, atlast after we come home.

Just this doesn't prevent diaper rashes for my kid. But it has reduced the frequency. Now she gets a rash only when she poops much more frequently or when, obviously, she has stayed in a soiled diaper much longer. The latter I can control!

  

Changing diapers and keeping your baby's bum rash free!

Diapers!!

I had no idea this, of all things, would cause me the most confusion!

At the hospital, when my baby was a tiny mewling bundle of joy, that kept sleeping, 'Teddyy' diapers were used. They were the smallest size and were provided by the hospital. These were taped diapers. More on that below....

But once I got home and the stock I had brought with me from the hospital was over I had to get new ones.

So I called the local pharmacy for new born diapers. And by a stroke of luck they did not have 'Teddyy' diapers, but they did have 'Pampers New baby' diapers.

Here's something you should know, till my baby was about a month old, I preferred taped diapers.

Taped diapers are better in the early stages because we, as new parents are more comfortable handling these diapers as compared to diaper pants. You know, with all the delicate little hands and legs! 

Taped diapers are easier to put on, and take off and they provide a snug fit- which diaper pants may not considering the very variable size of new borns.

So here's how I used diapers for my baby in the first 2-3 months.

• 0-30 days: Pampers new baby diapers 
• 30-50 days: Huggies pants size small
• >50 days: Pampers diaper pants size small
• >4 months: Huggies pants size medium

Once the huggies small size diapers started leaking or leaving red marks (the same as ours if we wear a tight clothing for a long time- where the elastic causes red imprints due to it being tight), I thought of changing to huggies medium. But- that would have been a bit too large for my baby. So we tried changing brands. And because we had tried Pampers before, it was the obvious choice. It was a perfect fit! 

What i intend to say is, sometimes, instead of waiting for a baby to fit into the next level of the diaper, try switching brands. The sizes of different diapers differ from brand to brand. Though not much, but enough to be used in the transition from one size to the next.

Once my baby turned 3 months, she would only pee regularly, she poops once in 5-8 days- which is normal. I just wonder why there is only input and no output sometimes!
My friends have told me that once she starts taking liquids and semi solids and not just breast milk, she will poop like a normal human being ;)

Coming to changing a diaper!

This is how I change my little one's diapers.

Follow these steps and in no time you'll be changing diapers like a pro!

No, seriously, it should be a calm and peaceful process. I will tell you why-

Steps for a diaper change:

• Place a plastic mat on an even surface (Eg. The bed, the back seat of your car, the grassy ground in a garden, an even surface on the way to the mountain top or wherever it is that you are!)
• Place a folded cloth covering the bottom half of the mat (This is how I make a changing area, I am not sure the diaper changing table is a huge trend where I live) So in case your baby does pee or poo, while changing diapers, you just need to take care of the folded cloth piece!

• Lay your baby on the mat, with the lower back and bum on the cloth
• Remove soiled diaper (Taped diapers- just open the tapes and open it, pant diapers- tear the seams at both sides and open it)
• Do not immediately remove the diaper, use a wipe to clear any major poop you see, discard the wipe in the diaper and gently remove he diaper while lifting your baby's bum by holding his/her legs (Be careful if you're changing after a feed, lifting a baby's bum too high or folding it over the abdomen can cause baby to throw up a bit)
• Take a fresh wipe and gently clean the entire area, including the folds (Poo often gets stuck in the folds, even if you cant see it)
• Clean from the back as well, taking special care to wipe off the lower back, the natal cleft and the region around the anus
• Check for redness, rashes and any new poo the baby might have done after you're done cleaning
• Let the area dry, completely. It takes a minute or to- just cover your baby for a bit and play with them (in case i am running late, or i dab the area with a soft paper tissue, but only if I am in a hurry)
• Apply a good amount of vaseline petroleum jelly/ or whatever cream you are using for the baby to take care of rashes) in the entire bum region
• In case of taped diapers: Carefully place the diaper below the baby's bum, close it over the front and pull each end and tape it shut for a snug fit

[Images are from Pampers]

• In case of pant diapers: Slide the diaper over the babies legs, as if making him/her wear knickers or shorts, pull up from the slides, lift the baby's bum and pull up the diaper from behind, finally check from the front and back to see that diaper is worn well
• See to it that the frill at the sides is not poking your baby, and should be comfortably snug, not too close, not too loose, so gently pull the diaper outwards once you've finished putting it on the baby

Chances are, if your baby is sleeping, there is not going to be much pee or poo during the nap. This holds true particularly for babies well into the second month. in the first one to one and half months, the baby is going to pee and poo much more frequently, regardless of sleep. My baby who has recently started sleeping a little longer (5-6 hours or good days) does not soil her diaper too much while she sleeps- I don't need to wake her up to change her diaper every 4 hours in such a situation.

Diapers are preferable when traveling or when the baby has to sleep a longer time (3-4 hours)

For my baby, I let her wear cloth nappies for a couple of hours in the morning and then again for a few hours in the evening, and I change her diaper once every 1.5-2 hours, if she is active and, once she is done feeding and burping after a nap.

Don't worry though, you will find your own schedule when it comes to diaper changes. Cloth nappies are going to cause you grief if you try to get your baby to sleep while wearing a cloth nappy - it will get wet- and it will most certainly lead to disturbed sleep- and that is going to leave you with a very cranky baby!

Happy Diapering!

My next post will be about how I manage cloth nappies!

The diaper rack- the key to your sanity after a baby is born!!

The diaper rack:

I hijacked my mother's veggie shelf with wheels to use as a diaper rack. (Obviously after cleaning it very very well)

It is good to keep diapers and other baby stuff organized and makes life easier for me. Especially since it lets me be independent and not have to yell or walk around with a bad back or a hungry baby. I keep this little shelf a hand's distance away from my bed. Also, i have set up a toilet roll, (so important!) in one of the poles on the second level.

And if I need it, I take it with me when I take her for a bath. Also, you can change her in any room by dragging it to wherever you go. (Of course, inside the house)

The rolling wonder that this thing is, has 3 levels.

On the first and most easily accessible level I keep these

• Diapers (8-10 I keep refilling before they run out)
• Wipes
• Hankeys - to use while feeding or to just wipe anything my baby might throw up
• Baby lotion, Baby cream, baby massage oil, baby hair oil, baby powder
• Hairbrush, nail clippers
• Baby medicines
• Diaper rash management tools- DESITIN ointment, Himalaya diaper rash cream, Klinoderm DPR cream, Vaseline petroleum jelly
• Vaseline hand and body lotion for myself
• My kindle- for easy access when i feed her

On the second level:

• Plastic changing mats, with the top one being the current mat in use
• Cup containing my medicines
• My massage oil
• A comb for me
• Baby's nasal aspirators
• Pacifiers (Which she is yet to learn to use)

On the last level:

• Baby powder puff
• Baby toys
• Small cloth pieces to place beneath my baby's bum when I change her diaper 

You can organize your diaper rack however you like. This is just how I have arranged it.

As your baby grows you can keep adding or changing the things according to your convenience. For example, the cup containing my medicines returned to my bedside (post 3 months after delivery I don't have to take the regular meds anymore), instead I keep a stack of cloth nappies. Another example is the toy box which has been replaced by a larger tub to keep my baby's growing number of toys (Which I wash and sterilize every 4-5 days)

Hope this helps!

Feeding the Bitey Monster

You're home from the delivery. The house has settled into a somewhat chaotic routine, what with everyone wanting to hold the baby.

Breastfeeding (BF) is a stressful aspect post delivery.

Here's a fun fact- I read novels on my kindle, play games on my mobile, read for my sex counselling course, eat, fold clothes, organize the millions of pics of my little one, among other things, while feeding. As a matter of fact I am feeding her as I type this. It's just a bit slower!

Since I had a Caesarean section delivery, I could not feed my baby well in the first 2-3 days. The reason for this being the C section wound. Resting a baby in your lap can be painful for the lower abdomen. However the kind nurses at the hospital fed my baby Nan pro/ formula feed every 3 hours. I think it gave me time to come to terms with the fact that for the next 6 months i would not get more than a few hours of sleep at a time. But I do sleep 5-6 hours at a stretch, at nights, if the baby sleeps that long (this started around 2 months).

Anyway.

The things you'll need as you breastfeed a baby include these:

• Feeding pillow (A blessing for all mothers! Or you can use a bunch of pillows too, whatever is comfortable. If you're in doubt about a feeding pillow, trust me- it will give you so much peace! Regardless of the position you feed your baby in- I use the football position- recommended for C section mums)Feeding pillow
• Hankeys- small ones, to keep dabbing the little mouth of your baby, and to wipe off your nipple in between feeds or at the end of it (Be extra careful with hygiene, especially with the breast and nipple)
• Bra pads (disposable and cloth pads)- these will help you prevent the leakage, if any, from spoiling your shirts and having to change again and again. Sometimes you can simply stuff a folded hankey or cloth, whatever comes in handy. Leaking is more common if the baby has not fed at a breast for a little long. The leaky problem will fix itself as you and your baby settle into a demand and feed cycle. 2-3 months is all it will take. No harm having a bra pad on when you are out, regardless of leaks or not. disposable bra pads
• Always keep a bottle of water nearby when you feed. Or see to it that someone, who you don't mind seeing you feeding, is in hearing distance and can bring you water. I prefer keeping a bottle with me. Bottle of water. Not the other thing of course ;)
• Feeding cover (Lots of easy DIYs on the net for this one)
• Nursing bras 

Things you can talk to your doctor/ lactation consultant about:

• The proper latch of a baby's mouth to your nipple (It should not be painful)
• Sore nipples (Babies are Bitey monsters) and how to avoid them
• Nipple shield
• Nipple confusion and bottle feeding
• Natural feeding bottles (Philips avent natural feeding bottle)
• Breast pumps (Pigeon breast pump)
• Pacifiers
• Positioning

You can also read about all of this from books and the net. Although a session with a lactation consultant will be very helpful. Also, there are tutorial videos about proper feeding.

Now remember, depending on the climate, cover your baby with a blanket.

Check for a wet nappy if baby keeps crying during a feed

Stuffy nose (Dried mucus in the baby's nose which will need to be aspirated after a few drops of saline) can also make a baby cry

A sleepy baby can also be fussy at the breast

What to do if your baby falls asleep while feeding?

(Other than questioning whether baby fed well or not!?)

• Try gently scratching or rubbing the area behind your baby's ear
• Try calling out to them
• Wipe baby's forehead or cheek with a wet wipe
• Use a slightly noisy toy to wake them up - I used a super annoying squeaky toy to wake her up- with disastrous results- she would cry and cry and cry and that would be the end of the feed

I found that feeding time reduces as your baby grows older, possibly because of the baby's increasing efficiency at getting what the baby needs. And trust me when I tell you, you'll be feeding your baby in the light of a little lamp without struggling soon enough. It gets easy. Practice makes man perfect. So, having to feed your baby so frequently will make any woman an expert at feeding. We don't need practice to be perfect, women are born perfect ;)


The following is extremely important!!

• Do not worry about your milk not being sufficient
• The baby will take care of drawing out sufficient milk
• If the baby is pooping, peeing and gaining weight adequately, you do not need to worry about milk being insufficient
• Do not let anyone tell you otherwise- do not get stressed when people say- Oh! You are not getting enough milk! They do not know any better than you do.
• Do not allow people into the room unless you are absolutely comfortable with them seeing you feeding. Find a comfortable, cosy place to feed. It is not only your bonding time with the baby, it is your me time too!
• You can talk to your baby, you can sing, play songs or do whatever you want while feeding. Many often advise to not talk to the baby while feeding- it is now recommended to keep talking to your baby while feeding- it helps in mother- baby bonding- Duh! Obviously!!
• Follow your gut and most important of all, consult your doctor if in any doubt.

Remember every mother has her own way of feeding and this short tryst with breast feeding will make you a better human being. It made me feel like a goddess! And even if you choose not to or are unable to feed for as long as recommended (6 months of exclusive breast feeding is highly recommended BTW), don't let it or any other person make you feel any less. A mother is a mother. The type of delivery or the duration of breast feeding does not make one mother better or lesser than the other. Do not compare yourself with all the stories you are going to have to listen to about this stuff. It is your experience that matters. It will always be yours, so make it special.

Bringing home your new born

The big day has come and gone and your are leaving the hospital with a list of the do's and don'ts. Easier read than done though! There's tonnes of advice being thrown at you from all angles. 

i am not contributing to it. I am sharing with you my experience- which made life quite easy for me. 

I had a lot of support from anyone who was with me after the delivery- don't be afraid to share your baby with your family, your in laws, siblings- you will bond with the baby, but you also need to rest after such a huge event!! 

So here's a small account of the things you might need when you bring your baby home.

• Let the unpacking remain for sometime later... Get some rest, catch up on your sleep, feed the baby (breast feed BF, or formula, whichever the baby is on) and let everyone in the house calm down. It can get quite chaotic with the arrival of a puny human being in the house!

• Preferably have your husband or mother or a friend help you out with the unpacking. (this is where you start ordering people around- do not feel guilty about it, they will happily and lovingly do it for you)

• List of things you need to have when you bring the baby home (the links to the stuff I got off Amazon or the link that would show you what i mean, attached):

• Muslin wraps or just old, clean soft cotton cloth pieces to wrap the baby in or lay upon, you can use sot pillow covers (They are the perfect size, or folded towels)

• Plastic changing mats, to place beneath the baby, you can use the plastic side while changing (especially if you are using cloth nappies, more on that later) Plastic changing mat

• Dented baby pillow to place baby's head (Shoulder should rest on the lower edge of the pillow)Baby pillow

• Baby blankets (these are so soft, i feel like using them for myself, except they just cover one knee for me)Baby blanket

• Wipes, wipes, wipes, wipes (Cannot impress upon you the importance of wipes!) I use Himalaya wipes- wipes are important and you should not compromise on those. 

• Diapers (Obviously, there's a whole other post on that later)

• I used the pampers new born diapers for the first 30 days Pampers new baby diapers pack of 24

• Cloth nappies CLoth nappies for new borns

• Baby clothes (So cute, but the size is often a miss)

• Sleeveless baby shirt

• Full sleeves shirt

• Baby bonnet/ cap

• Cap, mittens, socks set

• Pajama with foot and Pajamas/ leggings

• Sweater sets

• Onesies

• Footies Will be requored a little later, when your baby has put on a little more weight

• Baby mattress with mosquito net

• Baby nest (A blessing in those first few days when I was yet to develop the confidence to hold my baby) Baby nest/ sleeper

• Soft, handkerchiefs (tiny hand towels, super absorbent) baby hankeys

• Baby grooming kit (Hair brush, nasal aspirator, nail clippers) Baby grooming kit

• Baby bath kit (shampoo, soap/ body wash, baby massage oil, baby lotion/ cream, diaper rash cream) I use the one by Himalaya and Johnsons'

• Medicines (these are the ones I use, please consult a pediatrician before administering medicines to your baby)

• Colicaid (for a colicky baby)

• Nasal saline (Otrivin spray or Salin drops by West Coast) these are to be put in, just a drop in each nostril, before you aspirate the goo from your baby's nose- and voila the crying stops (Again crying babies will be a different post)

• Other medicines prescribed by your doctor. Do not ignore the doctor, regardless of what others say.

• Well, since your baby is going to be sleeping most of the days, especially in the first few weeks after birth, this is the time you can use for yourself, to rest and relax, and stay close to your baby

• Above all, do anything and everything you can to stay happy

• Every problem has a solution, you need only look for it.

 If there are any suggestions you'd like to give, please post them in the comments, so it may help others!