How do you know if your baby has a yeast diaper rash? Well, one of the tell-tale signs is an angry red rash that is surrounded by a distinct border. Yeast diaper rashes are also unusually persistent and may resist your best efforts to give your baby relief. It's VERY important to identify a yeast diaper rash because it needs to be treated differently than ordinary diaper rashes.
Also, if your baby has a yeast-related diaper rash it's important to make sure this doesn't evolve into a chronic, low-level system yeast infection in your child. Due to the several common factors, but especially the extremely prevalent use of antibiotics during the child labor process, more and more infants are prone to yeast/candida problems, yeast diaper rashes being just one of them.
As you may know, yeast cells are quite resilient and can lead to or worsen a wide variety of health problems over time, including:
*colic
*weakened immunity
*general toxicity overload
*ADD/ADHD
*food allergies
*learning disorders
*asthma
*etc.
This is not to scare you, but if your baby has a yeast diaper rash, you want to not only treat the rash but also the underlying imbalance that allowed the yeast to grow out of control in the first place. Otherwise, you may get rid of the rash but meanwhile the yeast is growing unseen in other parts of your child's body.
So How Do You Get Rid of a Yeast Diaper Rash?
The first thing to realize when it comes to yeast diaper rashes is you DO NOT want to put ANY of the traditional diaper rash lotions, creams, etc. on your baby's bottom! These are ALL greasy/oil in nature and will only worsen the problem! The yeast LOVES the moist environment created by these creams and will continue to grow.
Next, if you're using cloth diapers make sure you're using only the most mild, chemical free detergent. (Please, no Dreft or other chemical and perfume-laden "baby" detergents! The chemicals will irritate your baby's skin and compound the problem.) Even mainstream brands like "ALL Free and Clear" contain harsh enzymes that can leave residue in your baby's diaper and then become activated when your baby pees, irritating their skin. Not good! Stick with a truly natural, reputable brand such as Seventh Generation or Dr. Bronner's or whatever is available in your area.
Now, you also want to keep your baby's bottom as dry as possible. Are there any times in the day when you can let your baby go diaper free? Do this as much as possible as it will allow the skin to breathe and help clear up the yeast. When you're baby is wearing diapers, change them AS SOON AS they wet their diaper. (I know disposables are tempting to leave on for a while since they're so absorbent, but don't do this while you're baby has a rash.)
Finally, you'll want to apply a gentle anti-yeast solution to your baby's bottom. One that works quite well is to dilute 10 to 15 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract in 2 ounces of DISTILLED (must be distilled!) water and put it in a little spray bottle. Spray this on your baby's bottom several times a day.
Rebecca Haworth is a professional health writer with more than 15 years of experience in the alternative health industry. Her ebook, "The 3-Day Thrush Cure" is specifically designed to help breastfeeding mothers and babies suffering from thrush to overcome this problem quickly and naturally. Visit http://www.GetRidofThrush.com for more information.
