How To Keep Baby Diaper Area Clean?

The diaper area of your baby must be kept clean and healthy. If proper care is not taken, painful and uncomfortable rashes may appear on your baby’s skin. Such areas if not properly taken care of, also become a hot bed of various other infections. The following points must be kept in mind.

Stock the area well

If the baby is very small (under two months old), you should use warm water and not baby wipes because the baby has very sensitive skin. Moreover, the umbilical cord is also healing and the baby may get discomfort because of the wipes. You should also keep a baby cream near by.

Choose the right diaper

You should choose the diaper according to the baby’s age. Most babies have small bottoms and therefore U shape diapers prove to be the best fit. The umbilical chord area is also protected with a cutout in the diaper. In case of cloth diapers, it should be insured that they are folded so that the baby’s skin gets fresh air. However, as your baby grows, the diapers must be changed accordingly because now the baby develops different kinds of eating and sleeping habits. Some mothers think that the diaper is highly absorbent and therefore there is no need of changing it often. But this is a misconception, as almost every diaper needs to be changed after3-4 soiling.

How to remove the soiled diaper ?

Your hands should be cleaned properly so that unwanted bacteria don’t pass onto the baby’s skin. Lay your baby on a flat surface and secure him properly so that he cannot move too much. Then open the diaper and clean the genital area of the baby. Use a top to bottom action while doing so. This ensures that the bacteria do not spread to the urethra. Don’t rub the area to dry it but dry it using the patting action. This mitigates any chances of irritation.

How to clean the area ?

Use lukewarm water to clean your baby’s skin both from the front and the back. After that let the skin be exposed to fresh air for sometime. This way excess water will evaporate automatically and you would not have to pat a lot. Rashes would also not appear, as the skin would be dry. Rashes can also appear due to some allergy to the diaper material or wipes. Also, ensure that there is no perforation or tear in the diaper. Otherwise the crystals inside the diaper that absorb moisture can come in contact with the baby’s skin and cause rashes.

How to avoid rashes ?

In case of rashes, use baby cornstarch or any other high-quality baby cream. Use it on the bottom and the creases of the legs. You can also use a cream having Zinc oxide, as it is very beneficial for rashes that already are much prominent. If still the rash does not subside or the skin deteriorates even more, pay a visit to a doctor. You baby may need some stronger medication.