what could be causing leg nappy rash?

[jbie]

i'm so upset about trialling him in sposies for the next few days, but this rash just won't go away.
it's at the legs all around, red and scaly bumpy patches, itchy.
there used to be also fine pustule like bumps on top of the bumpy patches, but those don;t happen anymore (does this mean the current red patches are actually the healing phase?)

he's only in nappies where only fleece (sometimes also PUL) is touching his skin, no exposed wetness or elastic.
i wash on hot, with the same box of detergent as always - Aware sensitive powder.
he's never in poo nappies for more than a few minutes, and this rash is seen with all his wee nappies, no worse after night.
we wipe his leg areas with 2 wipes at every change.

and sometimes, back when it used to be pustules, it would be worse with sposies, but now it makes no difference, probably slightly better (ie less red).

he was waking every hour for the last 2 nights crying and kicking his legs hard, cos of the itchiness. when we finally changed to a sposie this morning he stopped and we all slept...

what should i do?!!
i've given up and am trialling sposies for a few days, and then maybe only at nights if it gets better.
urgh...

[kat13]

Oh luv!
Are you sure he's maybe not having a reaction to the pul or fleece?
There are heaps of bubs out there that actually react badly with this touching them. Maybe try more natural fabrics?

But don't feel bad about going back to sposies....I've done it and I am sure many others do too.

[craftykelly]

My DD does that with pul, elastic and fleece, so only woolies or flongies for her.

[bilbylove]

how frustrating JBIE

do you have any more natural options in your stash, to give bubs a break from PUL and fleece?

first of all i suspected FOE, but then read that is not the problem.

Do you have wool soakers, shorties, longies to put over natural fabric fitteds? or natural fabric fitted pockets?

that's so sad, baby waking up in discomfort like that - hope you find a solution soon

does he have excma?

good luck with it all, very upsetting for your family. Hugs to you - breaks your heart to see your bub in pain.

[jbie]

thanks! yeah the nightwaking was very frustrating, i was ready to chuck it last night after not getting any sleep..
bilbylove - no eczema..

well, so you reckon it's sensitivity to polyester? hmm.. how come only at the legs?!

also, we used to have him in bamboo fitteds overnight with only a small fleece liner, and he would get the red pustules at the sides where his skin was wet, so we went and used giant fleece liners that overhung at the sides, and the pustules stopped (only bumpy scaley patches then).
so i think it might be worse to have him overnight in wet fitteds!

but for daytime, i guess i could do that and just change frequently (you reckon once every 2 hours? every hour?)

[kat13]

Maybe check after 1 hr to see if your bubs is wet, and if so change then.

I know with my DS1, just recently has been doing really acidic wees and because he's been drinking a lot lately as well, he's just saturated and he got really blistery sores around his legs where the elastic sits as it was rubbing into the sores more.

[Ying]

Is he moving around or walk a lot? It could be the rubbing on those leg elastics that irritates him. That could explain why it only happens around the legs. My daughter had this at some stage (when she started walking and moving a lot during the day), so I stopped using all nappies with PUL and sticked to natural fibre like bamboo or cotton instead. It lasted for a while (a few months maybe) then I reintroduced those nappies again and she's fine, never has that problem again

If fitteds still cause him red rash throughout the night, how about try fleece pockets? Or maybe change him during the night so he won't have to change with a soaked nappy on him?

[bilbylove]

oh sorry JBIE, yes, i did mean using natural fibre inners for DAY. We still use microfleece inners or liners for night nappies. I think if the rash had persisted, we would have had to investigate night nappies with natural fibre inners as well, but we didn't reach that stage.

but even for nights, to have woollies (no elastic) on your bub, will be one less thing to irritate his legs. Examples of these are the handknitted soakers, shorties and longies (the ones with drawstring waists and knitted leg cuffs) or the Disana organic wool pull up soaker (waist cuff and leg cuffs).

do you have a selection of nappy brands or mainly one sort? i wonder if the internal elastic is irritating your son, by being a bit too tight? grasping at straws here - it's hard without seeing IRL. Between 4 - 11 months old, when my bub had three big rolls of fat on each thigh, there were some favourite OSFA MCN of ours i just HAD to "rest" becuase the elastic left such deep marks on her thighs. When she became mobile and the rolls went, ever since we're back to using them everyday. (Different situation i know).

i have a varied stash, which i realise not everyone likes, but it's good at times like this, so you can experiment with different types, to see if there is a pattern, with what irritates your bub.

I meet adults who react to elastic too. But i guess i just assumed if the elastic was hidden (like inside a turned and topstitched nappy) that the lack of actual contact, would be enough. maybe not?

have you got any prefolds or flats to try for a day, see if using elasticless mcn makes any diff?

[Theresa]

My baby (who rarely wears nappies now ) actually gets a friction rash from any type of nappy rubbing on her tubby little thighs....

I have found that regardless of type of nappy we have to make sure that there is a cover of some description over it that helps prevent the friction happening.... over trimmer nappies/sposies I often use just regular training pants - they seemed to be soft enough to stop the rubbing without adding too much bulk.

Just an idea, but I know it took me a while to work this out!

[mum2squish]

Are you using disposable or cloth wipes?
Pickle gets a rash from PUL if he wears it all day... I realised because his rash would disappear overnight when he was in a fitted with a woolie cover, try using fitteds or even alternating fitteds and PUL nappies..