Hi. I am new to the board. My son was born on November 27 and has what we think is LI. The hospital had us using gauze with warm water to wipe him when changing his diaper. The dermatologist changed that and has us using wet wash cloths. The wash cloths seem much more coarse though. Also, his diaper area is very red and raw in all the creased areas. I use aquaphor on his entire body including this area but it doesn't seem to help.

Any suggestions on what to use as "wipes" and to cut back on the raw/redness issue? Thanks for any advice you may have.

My three year old son and one year old daughter were both born as collodian babies and both have Lamellar. In the hospital they also used wet gauze to wipe them but from the day we brough each of them home, we have used Huggies Natural Care wipes. They don't have any fragrance and they are very mild. We have never had a problem using the Huggies wipes and I think Pampers makes a similar wipe as well. A wash cloth will certainly be a little rough...I think you will find much less irriation with a wipe. Hospitals and doctors seem to go overboard with being "careful"...I also don't think that many doctors and hospitals are familiar with the wipes these days and how gentle they are. Using wipes should cut back on the redness. The Aquaphor should be more effective when you stop using the wash cloth as well. I think washcloths take more of the Aquaphor and lotions off than wipes do.
Best of Luck and congrats on your little one!
Lisa

You can even try the newer versions of creamy diaper rash ointments like the desitin because it has zinc oxide in it to help with the rash. It rubs off easily and the Huggies Natural Care are a good product to use with the desitin creamy. Good luck with whatever you use and CONGRATULATIONS! God bless. [img]http://www.ichthyosis.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Thank you so much for your responses. I have already switched to the Natural Care wipes and see a huge improvement even in this short time frame. I will try the desitin. Again many thnaks.

I used cotton balls and water on my newborn's skin (she has LI). Then I discovered that the unscented softer baby wipes worked well and did not irritate.

As for the rash...we stopped rubbing aquafor on our daughter's diaper area all together. The rash went away immediately? The doctor said that the Aquafor may be holding in bacteria that could be causing the rashes? She does not have much of a drying or itching issue in that area, because it stays moist, I'm guessing? If she is ever itchy, or really dry, we rub a little aquafor there.

Maybe this can help?

My son is a little over two and my daughter is seven months and both have Llamellar. We really never had a problem with diaper area irritation. We were instructed to give frequent sponge bathes and lube as needed with Aquaphor. We have always used standard baby wipes and never had any negative or adverse reaction to using these wipes. They did get occasional standard diaper rash and that was cleared in a day or so. Our dermatologist had said we wouldn't really see any cracking or splitting of the skin in the genital area due to the constant moisture in the diaper area. With the frequent sponge bathes, regular bathes, etc. The diaper area stayed pretty clean, lubed and moist to prevent cracking due to possible infection from this area. Hope this helps.
Oh yeah, almost forgot. When our kids were first born and still had the collodian membrane and were still in the process of molting it, most areas where there were creases seemed more red or raw. Ex: Ankles, wrist, behind knee, etc. We just added a little extra Aquaphor to these areas to keep them softer and more flexible. Once they sluff the collodian membrane the rawness, redness in these areas goes away.

[This message has been edited by bubba-810 (edited January 16, 2006).]