Diaper rash affects about one baby out of two, between seven and twelve months. It is an acute dermatitis, with rash, inflammation and discomfort, even pains more or less acute for the baby. It appears less on the bottom itself than on the convex surfaces, such as the rolls of fat on the top of the thighs, on the sexual organs and on the pubis.
True, the "invention" of disposable nappies has been a tremendous improvement for babies, freer in their movements, and for their mothers, with less washing chore … However, these leak-free wrappings, which prevent the air from flowing on the skin and lead to a maceration of faeces and urine, have also their drawbacks, cost and environment. Another main drawback is that they ease the occurrence of the infant’s nappy rash, which may go from small red irritations up to true cutaneous inflammations.
The main cause is the permanent contact of the skin with and the maceration of faeces and urine (a baby may urinate up to 20 times a day!) in nappies.
Irritations are enhanced by the permanent rubbing of nappies on the skin, which, further, is always confined in this leak-free wrapping. Repeated diarrhoea, some medicines, a cold or a baby who is teething, all this may make these small irritations become diaper rash.
Beware; it is a very sensitive area! More than ever, to clean it or to soothe it, it is essential to use only very mild cosmetic products , whose the potentially irritating or sensitizing effects are the closest to zero, and containing the suitable active agents. …
