Nappy creams

At only a few weeks old, Elisa got quite nasty nappy rash. Until then, their bottoms had been “soft as a baby’s bottom” (LOL) so when Elisa’s started getting red and sore, we got worried.

Our process for cleaning their bottoms started with warm water straight out of the tap (that’s how we were taught at hospital! They never told us to boil it and let it cool) and then wipe their bottoms with cotton wool. We did this for a couple of weeks, and then got really tired of it. I was eager to start using wet wipes and I was sure that as long as we chose some sort of “sensitive skin” ones we would be ok. And we were!

I am still unsure what caused Elisa’s nappy rash, but from that moment we set on finding the right product to deal with it.

We tried three different products. In this order: 1) Bepanthen, 2) Sudocrem, 3) Metanium.

1) Bepanthen. This is probably the better known brand, the one that probably everybody will recommend first. Funnily enough it is the one that I liked the least. Why? It’s too thick and doesn’t spread very well. Also, coming in a tube rather than a pot, it is quite tricky to administer when you’ve got a naked baby on the changing mat. You’ve got to take the fiddly lid off and squeeze the tube… Too much nonesense! And finally, it didn’t seem to be improving the rash.

2) Sudocrem. I had quite a few small pots that came in the Bounty packs, so decided to try them when I saw that the Bepanthen wasn’t doing the job. I prefer the texture, it spreads very well, and it smells great! I really liked it as a product, however it did nothing for Elisa’s rash either.

3) Metanium. Finally, a friend recommended Metanium. Apparently it’s the one that doctors recommend anyway. “Why not,” I thought. “I’ll try one more product before actually going to the doctor”. And did it work…! The product itself is not great. I mean, it comes in a tube rather than a pot, which makes it fiddly to squeeze. And it also smells quite strongly, and it’s brown and stains, and doesn’t spread very well… But boy, it worked beautifully! Elisa’s rash cleared straight away.

However, once the rash cleared we wanted to keep using a daily cream as a block, something that would keep their skin as dry as possible from the nappy wetness. And we’ve stuck with Sudocrem. We found a good deal online for big massive pots and we use it very regularly, with almost every nappy change! (We’re most generous on the last nappy change of the day, before putting them to bed, because they don’t get changed until the following morning) Their bottoms have been as soft as a baby’s ever since! 🙂