Diaper Rash



Can you tell that he loves balloons?

 For almost the last 3 weeks Ian has had diaper rash. He had a mild case a few times over the first nine months. A&D seemed to work better than Desitin for him. He went long periods of time without any diaper rash, and when he would get it, it would go away rather quickly. The same was true for Nadia during the whole almost 2 years that she wore diapers although in her case Desitin worked best. When Ian turned 9 months old and got his first two teeth, he got a really bad case of diaper rash. Balmex seemed to work the best. I asked the doctor about it at his 9 month appointment, and he just said to regularly apply Desitin. It has gone up and down in intensity over the past 3 weeks, and it did totally go away for a few days, but it came back with a vengenance a few days ago. Nadia never had a diaper rash anywhere near this bad. He's even bled a little it's been so bad. On Thursday afternoon Sarah recommended Boudreaux's Butt Paste. Friday morning I took the kids bright and early (it's easy to park close to the store if you arrive before 8am) to Walmart in search of this and also Resinol, which Regina had recommended. I bought the butt paste as well as Triple Paste. I looked high and low for Resinol (in the pharmacy area as well as the baby area) and asked for help, but was told they didn't carry it. Yesterday afternoon I took the kids up to the mall so we could go to Target and CVS. Neither of those stores had Resinol either, but I did also buy some of Burt's Bee's diaper cream. I used the butt paste throughout the day, and I wasn't seeing any improvement so I switched to the Triple Paste last night. I've continued to use that one today, and I'm starting to see some big improvement. We've also been putting a little corn starch over the cream (per Paul's mom's suggestion). Hopefully he'll get total relief soon! I feel so badly for the little guy. I've been washing his bottom off in the sink every time I change his diaper rather than using wipes in the hopes that is less irritating. His diaper rash is part of the reason I gave the kids a bath every day since Monday. I'm guessing the fact that he poops many times a day is part of the reason he gets more diaper rash than Nadia (who pooped once a day from about age 4 months onward).



Mommy doesn't mind my fingerprints. :-)

 The search for diaper creams turned yesterday into a shopping day. I hoped that we went to Walmart early enough that it wouldn't interfere with Ian's nap, but he fell asleep in the car around 8:30 and only slept 5 more minutes in his crib once we got home. I even stopped and got him out and woke him up (like you suggested, Regina), but he fell asleep again on the way home.  I always read her 10 books before I put her down for her nap, and on the nights when I am home and can put her to bed (which would be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday since I teach the other 4 nights), I also read her 10 books before putting her down at night. She helps me pick out the 10 books.

I also had dinner with Nadia at the mall, which was fun. We shared a meatball sub at Subway, and then we shared a Blizzard at Dairy Queen. I had a coupon for buy one get one free so there's another Blizzard in the freezer which we can enjoy today. YUM! I know it's not great when you're trying to lose weight, but I've gone from having ice cream every day to going weeks without having it so I can splurge now and then. I was thinking yesterday of how at first I couldn't think of shopping with both kids and now I actually enjoyed eating dinner at the mall (fast food of course) with both kids by myself. The new double stroller is part of the reason this is now possible (thanks again, Grandma!).

I was proud of myself for setting aside some purchases as Christmas gifts for Nadia. Usually I can't wait to give it to her such as this week a Madame Blueberry stuffed animal arrived in the mail that I had bought on eBay. I gave it to her immediately. Am I the only parent who has a hard time waiting for birthdays and Christmas to give toys and books to their kids? I had no trouble setting aside a Sit & Spin that I got yesterday. A few weeks ago I set aside some 321 Penguin dvds that I got since they were on sale. Speaking of shows she watches, Dora is now one of her favorites. That show seems to focus on map skills, which I think is a useful skill, but I wonder in the day and age of GPS and such how many will be using maps 20 years from now?

Ian still isn't sleeping well at night. I'm hoping the diaper rash is the problem. He's been averaging 9 hours of sleep a night. Thursday night Paul put him down at 6:50 so this meant that I got at most 5 hours of sleep because part of Ian's sleep took place while I was teaching. I got home at 8:15, but I need time to unwind. I can't go straight to bed. Last night he only got up once during the night, which was an improvement. I put him down at 7:35, and aside from one short feeding, around 8:15pm, he slept until 5am. I had asked Paul to be in charge of the kids (aside from me nursing Ian) until 7am. I am so glad I did this. I didn't sleep that much from 5:15-6:45, but I enjoyed having that extra 90 minutes in bed. I also enjoyed taking my shower at 6:45am without any children in the bathroom with me. I could count on my hands how many times that's happened the past 2+ years. I came down at 7am, and Paul went up and took a 2.5 hour nap. Until Ian starts sleeping better, I think we should do this at least once a week. I know I feel better than I would have if I had been out of bed since 5am.

In terms of his naps, his morning nap has started sometime between 8:00-8:30 every morning the past several days, and it's been 30 minutes every day with the exception of Wednesday when it was 80 minutes long. His afternoon nap has begun around 12pm. It was 80 minutes long on Thursday. Yesterday he woke up after 30 minutes, but I was able to get him back asleep and then he slept almost an hour in my arms. Today he again woke up after 30 minutes, and I couldn't get him back to sleep. It's going to be hard to keep him up until 7pm this evening considering between the hours of 5am and 7pm he will only have slept for 60 minutes total. At least he's not as fussy today. The past few days he has been crying WAY more than usual around the time he wants to go to sleep but I won't let him (usually 7am and 11am are the worst). This transition from 3 naps to 2 naps has been really hard for Ian. I hope his body adjusts soon!