October 17, 2007

• House Closing and Bare Bottomed Baby

  BabyBug got her first rash.  Popped up out of nowhere.  To help it heal as fast as possible we had her out of diapers for about a day and a half.  Happily for all of us, but especially her, it healed completely in that amount of time.  I am going to proceed to describe what I learned during this experience just in case some other first time Mommy reader out there doesn’t know some of this stuff. 

  First of all I did not previously realize that there are two types of common diaper rashes.  One is because of skin irritation and damage usually due to acidic poop.  This is the kind that *most* diaper rash creams/ointments available out there are designed to treat.  The other kind however is a yeast based rash.  This is the type that Noelle had pop up overnight.  Initially it may be difficult to tell which one it is, and it may be a combination of both.  With Noelle the major indicator that it was a yeast rash was that after the first night I put a diaper rash cream on it and the next morning it was a LOT worse!   The reason for this is that Yeast thrive in moist environments and most soothing diaper creams guarantee a nicely coated gooey little protected environment for them to grow. 

  So, my newly acquired guidelines for yeast rashes:

  1: Do NOT put diaper rash cream on a yeast based rash unless it has specific anti fungal properties like Coconut Oil.  Avoid sprinkling baby powders on the rash as well, particularly if they have a corn starch base.  I had been given an anti yeast baby bottom powder by the company “Bonny Bottom” that helped with her rash.  From what I have been told Baking Soda can be applied and it doesn’t help feed the yeast.  I didn’t end up trying this though so can’t tell you for sure how effective it is.

  2: Keep the rash dry at all costs.  Best option is to go diaperless for at least one day.  We all know this isn’t possible a lot of the time so shoot for super frequent diaper changes.  Every time you change the diaper if you can blow dry the rash on the lowest heat setting for about five minutes (Making sure you don’t over heat/burn tender little bottom!)  Heat kills yeasties and they can’t live/grow in a dry area.  Another great thing to do that we think helped a lot with Noelle is to take her outside into the sun and let the sun dry the area out several times a day.  Was told that breast milk applied to the rash and left to air dry a couple of times a day will also greatly help to heal a yeast based rash.  This is another thing I didn’t personally try although I would have if it had continued on into the second day.

  3:  I gave Noelle pro biotics (good bacteria that will inhibit the growth of Yeast and in some cases even eat it) and I am positive that also significantly contributed to the quick demise of this rash.  I will continue to give these to her as a followup for a couple of weeks to make sure that her system has enough good bacteria in it to keep a yeast uprising from happening again.

  4) The one thing we did that we noticed IMMEDIATE results from was giving her a warm bath in Sea Salts.  The wonderful properties of sea salts are well documented for a huge array of skin ailments etc and we had read this suggested so decided that it was worth a try.  The difference from when she got into the bath and out was immediately noticeable.  If I ever have a future problem with this sort of thing with her I will keep a cup of sea salt water made up and apply it to her bottom several times a day.  Salt kills yeast, or at the very least provides an environment that it can’t continue to grow in and many of the properties in the salts promote healthy tissue repair and healing.  Important to note!  This is not regular ol’ table salt we are talking about using here.  I had a friend try Epsom salts and she said she could not tell that they helped at all.  It is important to get real Sea Salts.  Mediteranean if you can find them.  They are often available in Health Food Stores and a lot of places on-line carry them. 

  I am so glad to have Doodles back into diapers.  Talk about convenience! Although it was sort of nice to be able to do this.  It allowed us to get very in tune with her elimination habits.  Her little potty is getting a lot more use now so that was an un expected and really good benefit.

  If  you all would please pray that our House closing will go through with no problems tomorrow.  For those of you who don’t know our house in NM has been on the market ever since we moved this Spring.  We had an offer on it in it’s first month of being on the market but that buyers financing fell through in spite of being pre approved.  We lost valuable time during the peak selling time by the time we got it re listed.  The market in NM is particularly bad right now so we feel very fortunate to have gotten this second, good offer, especially as we head into the dead winter months.  Our Realtor told us that only about one out of every ten houses currently on the market in the Rio Rancho area of NM is selling.  Makes us additionally grateful for these buyers!  Anyway, if you would just pray that nothing goes wrong this time we would really appreciate it.  The chances of getting another decent offer in on this place before Spring is very low indeed.  It will be a great relief to us to get it sold.  My nerves are shot since the last time we went through this process we didn’t find out until the actual closing date that the other buyers financing had fallen through…So, here’s hoping for no unpleasant surprises tomorrow!

  • 11:39 am
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