Diaper Rash Vs. Yeast Infection

Updated on January 10, 2009
M.O. asks from Denver, CO
24 answers

My 14 mo. old daughter has never had a diaper rash before now. She has had diarrhea for the past 24 hours or so. I know that this can cause a diaper rash. Since she started having diarrhea we try to change her ASAP and have been applying diaper rash cream with almost every change.
She woke us up this morning and her diarrhea had exploded out of her diaper and all over her jammies. We don't know how long she was sitting in it before she called for us. My DH noticed she was red this morning. It has gotten progressively worse in the past 12 hours and she screams and cries with every wipe. Her skin looks wrinkled, red, raw, and has a bumpy rash that kinda looks prickly. My mom took a look at her diaper area this evening and said she thought it looked like a yeast rash, not a diaper rash.

How do we tell the difference? What do you treat an infant yeast infection with? Do we need to see a doc tomorrow if it's not cleared up? Does diaper rash cream exacerbate the symptoms of a yeast infection? How long will it take to clear either one up?

Help! My poor baby girl is having a rough time and I don't know how to help.

Jan. 5th
The prickly rash is back! It doesn't seem to bother her though. I am going to treat it with plain yogurt and see what happens. If it isn't better by tomorrow then I will get some lamisil.

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So What Happened?

Wow! Thank you all for your input. I ALWAYS let her air dry after a diaper change, and we NEVER use baby powder..... I cleaned her well last night before bed and applied some Aveeno Baby ointment. When she woke up this morning all of the prickly rash was gone and probably 80% of the redness was gone. There are still some red, raw patches, and I've been using Boudroux's Butt Paste today. We'll see when she wakes up from her nap how that is working. I never thought of the acidophilus (which I use for me yeast infections, I will apply that at her next diaper change just in case it is a little yeasty too.
Thank you all sooooooooo much! My baby's booty is almost as supple as the day she was born again!

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K.G.

answers from Denver on

Yeast rash is often associated with diarrhea. Go to Walmart and get a tube of clotrimazole. You can buy it without a precription. This is the same type of cream that you would use to treat jock itch or athlete's foot. Use a very thin layer of it only on the red dots, use butt paste or A&D ointment on the part that is solid red. Use soap and water or non alchoholic wipes for now. Give her white rice boiled in chicken bouillon with some cooked carrots and that should halt the diarrhea. Leave milk out of her diet until it stops.Good luck!

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H.B.

answers from Denver on

Whenever my daughter gets red from anything we use Triple Paste and it clears it up in just a few uses. You can also see a difference after one use. if that doesn't work, contact a doctor about other possible meds.

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E.S.

answers from Denver on

My doctor told us to treat possible yeast infection with Lamisil (athlete's foot medication). That made me nervous, but I checked the books, and yes, that is a common recommendation. So, you might try it. Put a little of that cream on before putting diaper cream on - you should see a change in the redness within about 24 hours, else it isn't a yeast infection. Also, I always blow dry my daughter between diaper changes when she looks rashy, it makes a big difference.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Provo on

I'm not sure how to tell the difference, but you can put monistat cream on her vaginal area. My pediatrician said it won't her my daughter and it usually clears up her yeast infections rather quickly. My daughter is 3 and she tells me when that area itches. Why don't you try monistat cream, then diaper rash cream layered on top, with baby powder on top to protect the cream from rubbing off with her diaper.

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L.D.

answers from Denver on

I think it's very common for a diaper rash to turn into a yeast infection. My kids had them from time to time and my pediatrician told me to put Lotrimin (I think I spelled it right) on it, which I did, and it cleared it up quickly. Also, don't clean your daughter with wipes, they're too harsh for her sensitive little bottom, right now. Every time she needs to be changed, put her in the tub or the sink and wash her off. She won't like it but it will hurt her less than using wipes. Let her dry off completely before you put a new diaper on her. It'll be uncomfortable for a few days but she'll get through it. Of course, taking her to the doctor is never a bad idea but if it's difficult to get to one on the weekend (don't kids always get hurt on the weekend or late at night when doctors aren't as accessible) this will help in the meantime.

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G.B.

answers from Great Falls on

Manige,
Your mom has guest right, it exactly sounds like yeast rash. And Athletic cream works the best. Try that and the rash will go away.

J.L.

answers from Boise on

My baby was just disgnosed with a yeast infection last week. He did have that prickly looking rash with the tiny bumps. Weather this is a symptom of a yeast infection I do not know...but he did have a rash for a few weeks. He did have diarrhea for a few days, and then we started solids. The rash did not seem bad so we just kept treating it, it would clear and then get a little red again. We didn't think anything of it. Then he got that bumpy rash. He had a normals check up and we asked the doc to look at it and he said it was yeast right away. He put him on some cream and he seems fine. My baby did not seem upset either way but he is chronicly happy child (not complaining!) so the doc said we really would not have known anything was wrong till it got real bad and he decided to get grumpy about it. If you suspect Yeast i would get your baby to the doc right away. :)

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M.H.

answers from Boise on

According to my pediatrician, it is usually a yeast infection when the rash has moved into the folds around the vagina. She said that over the counter Monistat cream works just as well as the cream prescribed by a doctor. I hope your daughter feels better.

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C.B.

answers from Fort Collins on

I would suggest looking at photos of different diaper rashes on the internet and comparing them to what your daughter has. That was how we determined my son had a yeast type diaper rash. From what I could tell in pictures the yeast form is much more acute prickly redness and rashy looking rather than a large patch of pinky red, and is much more painful for the child when using store bought wipes. I think the web site I looked at said if the rash is flush with the skin, it is usually a regular diaper rash and if it is bumpy or raised above the skin surface it is more likely yeast rash. We have had a few successes with giving them a good bath, again they will scream because even water hurts the yeast type more, and then using an over the counter antifungal cream, we used lotramin (for athletes foot) because we had that around, and it has always cleared it up almost overnight depending on the severity. We never have gone to the doctor for it, but that seems to work and without any ill effects, and I did get the recommendation from a medical web site. To answer your question about regular diaper rash cream, for us it seemed to make the yeast rash worse. Hope this helps

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M.S.

answers from Boise on

If your poor baby has a yeast rash then the wipes and the diaper cream will not work. She will cry and (with my babies) scream. There is a great medicine the doctor has to prescribe that will get rid of it and quickly. I would wipe her with a warm washrag and only put baby powder on her until you go and see the doctor. The warm washrag won't have any chemicals in it that will burn her skin, and the baby powder will cool down the area and make it more pleasant for her. Another thing my kids doctor suggested was to lay a sheet down on the floor and let our kids hang out without a diaper as much as we could, because air will help to heal it faster.

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R.M.

answers from Denver on

Mix vasaline with corn startch and make your own butt cream it is way less expensive and it will clear up any diaper rash. Give her yogert (activia). And plenty of water to help balance the acidity in her urine and bowel.
From what i remember the yeast infection does not hurt. The cream that the dr gave us was called nystaton.
Here is a recipe to help with her diarrhea:
boil one cup of rice with eight cups of water. When the rice is cooked strain it out and use the extra water to drink. Mix it with sugar to taste and (cinnamon adds a great flavor) the starch seems to help suck up the problem like a sponge and then coats the stomach. If she likes rice let her eat the rice . That will also help.
Good luck

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D.W.

answers from Denver on

Hi Manige,
Sorry to hear about your daughter. My son had a simular rash at 14 months. The best thing to use is lotrimin athletes foot cream, and you can use a little corn starch instead of baby powder. Its rather enexpensive way to heal a rash. If it does not work, or it gets worse, you might want to have a Dr. look at it and go from there. But I'm almost positive that if you say it looks prickly and bumpy, that lotrimin should help in clearing it right up.
Hope it works it did for my son.
Good luck to your little one
D.

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D.E.

answers from Denver on

Put diaper medicine on it immediately as you are getting her dressed on the way to see her doctor. There is no harm in spending a co-pay for the care of your child if you have any questions or concerns.

In my opinion, safety is the best measure.

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K.C.

answers from Salt Lake City on

Hi I also have a 14 month old little girl and we had a similar experience. THe rash was just total irritation from the diareah so I made a paste with malox and cornstarch the malox neutralized the acid from the diareah and the cornstarch helped repell the moisture I noticed a huge difference in one diaper change. Good luck

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C.M.

answers from Denver on

Our pediatrician said to use over the counter yeast infection treatment that women use to treat them. You just rub a little in the red areas with each diaper change.

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J.C.

answers from Great Falls on

Both my children had the same problem when they were starting to teeth with their molars. It was such a bad rash that it was basically a burn with blisters and soooo sore. My grandmother had raised 13 children and said she had the same problem with almost all of them. She took me to the kitchen and got out the cast iron skillet, in it she put about 2 cups of flour and 1/2 - 1 cup of corn starch and turned it on. I stirred and stirred until the mixture turned brown (light brown). She then showed me how to dab-not wipe the bottom with cool water. Just tepid on the wrist. Then she gently sprinkled the mixture (After it was cooled) on the diaper rash and surrounding area. I couldn't believe it, within 3 hours both of my children were less fussy, they even smiled. Grandma used this with all 97 grandchildren, 28 great babies, and even 3 great-great ones before she left us. I use a lot of her "Old Wives" remedies. I sure miss all that she used to tell us about raising children. Hope it helps.

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J.L.

answers from Pocatello on

If it is a yeast infection, and it is quite likely it is, you can put acidopholis on it. This is the good bacteria that is in yogurt and is very effective in fighthing yeast infections. The health food store will carry it. You can buy a liquid that is in the refrigerator section. Just put it on the rash everytime you clean you her.

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J.O.

answers from Boise on

First thing I would do is give her a luke warm bath and then let her air out. I know this can be tricky with diarrhea. It does sound a little like a yeast infection to me, but I'm no expert.
What I do know, is I had a friend who had the same problem and she kept treating like a diaper rash and soon her baby's skin was so raw that she had lost the top couple of layers and had an oozing sore. You should probably at least call her doctor to be sure, I would hate to have to deal with a sore on top of whatever infection she's facing. Good luck and give your baby kisses.

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B.S.

answers from Missoula on

I think it'sa diaper rash it sounds like something my son gets after his flu shots. Desitin works great. But since this is a girl and it might be a yeast try applying some plain yogurt to the area. It's a relly old remedy that I have heard of a lot to cure yeast infections. I does work too I know a lot of women who do it. That and drinking strawberry soda works too but since this is a baby try the yogurt.
Hope this helps!

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D.S.

answers from Pueblo on

This sounds like a yeast infections. Our son had a few when he was a baby. His Doctor told us that any diaper rash that does not go away after a couple days is considered a yeast infection. The Doc would prescribe a cream which worked great. Call your child's doctor and explain the situation.

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B.C.

answers from Salt Lake City on

I have raised 4 kids and now have grandkids. I have always used Hydrocordizone (spelling) cream on my babies and I also use Anitbiotic ointment. Neosporine cream is excellent. Put those two creams on first (thick) and then cake on the white diaper ointment then tons of baby powder. This will keep all the moisture off the skin. And the two first creams medicate it and gets rid of it really fast. It sounds like a lot but, those types of rashes hurt their little bumm bumm's a lot. You will need to buy a lot of all the above so you can do it everytime you change your baby. I promise it really worked like a charm for me. If it is a yeast one it usually works also but, sometimes you will need to take the baby in to get the stronger hydrocordizone ointment the doctor can give. ALSO, MOST IMPORTANT.... rinse out all your butt wipes with clear water and it won't burn the babies butt. The Alcohol really makes it worse and hurts soooo much. That is why the baby screams when you are cleaning it of her. Hope this helps. Good luck. B.

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S.P.

answers from Great Falls on

I think a visit to the doc would be more helpful than others. Good Luck and I hope she feels better soon. One thing you can leave her diaper free for a while each day to dry the rash out. Of course, if she's still got the big D then that might not be an option.

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J.C.

answers from Casper on

The way that you decribed the rash sounds a lot like the yeast infection that my 13 month old DD had. Her doc prescribed a med called clotrimazole that I have discovered you can buy without a precription. This is the same type of meds that you would use to treat jock itch or athlete's foot. At Walmart they have it in an anti-fungal cream that works just as well as the stuff the doc gave us. Then he told us to use butt paste (find it in the baby section) right over top of the meds to help keep out some of the other stuff. Something that will also help is to dry out the area completely after each change. It takes a little longer for each diaper change, but it makes the healing go faster. Make sure that it is really dry before putting anything back on, meds included. Try that for a couple of days, and if it isn't helping or gets worse, then I would take her in. Good luck
J.

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T.M.

answers from Salt Lake City on

Hi Manige,

I'm glad your little one is doing better. I didn't see anyone mention a baking soda bath, so I thought I'd give you my two-cents. You can add about a 1/2 cup of baking soda to a small bath and let her soak for as long as she will. My daughter had horrible diaper rashes and she could go from screaming to just fine as fast as her little butt hit the watter. And the redness would be almost gone after a bath.

Kindest Regards,
TRUDI

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