How do I deal with a yeast infection in the diaper area?
Article by Bill Johnson
Is it a diaper rash or a yeast infection?
If you’re properly treating your child for a diaper rash — if you’re keeping his bottom dry and using a diaper rash cream, for example — and the rash isn’t going away, then you may be dealing instead with a yeast infection. Contrary to some beliefs, yeast infections aren’t limited to adult women. A yeast infection can occur whenever the conditions are there that Candida albicans needs to thrive. One of the dark, warm, damp environments that encourage Candida albicans is inside a wet diaper on boys as well girls.
How did it start?
The natural, healthy bacteria in your body is what usually keeps Candida albicans under control. But antibiotics can disrupt good bacteria as well as bad bacteria. If your child is on antibiotics, or if you are on antibiotics for any reason and are also breastfeeding, then yeast infection becomes a threat. If you or your baby are using antibiotics, you need to be particularly fervent in combating both diaper rash and yeast infection. Fortunately, the steps to prevent/treat one are also the steps to prevent/treat the other:
Change wet/soiled diapers as soon as possible. After a bowel movement, clean your child’s bottom and allow it to dry thoroughly before you re-diaper. Allow the diaper to be loose enough so that air can circulate and help keep your baby’s skin dry. Give your baby some diaper-free time — play with him on a plastic/waterproof surface so that the diaper area gets some extended exposure to air.
Medications
In addition to keeping your baby’s diaper area clean and dry, you may need to treat the yeast infection with some form of anti-fungal cream. These include Nystatin (Mycostatin), econazole (Spectazole), clotrimazole (Lotrimin), miconazole (Micatin, Monistat-derm) or ketoconazole (Nizoral).
In Summary
Babies often have yeast infections in the diaper area or in the mouth (called thrush). These are not serious medical emergencies. For a yeast infection in the diaper area, keep the area dry, allow air to circulate, and give the baby bare-bottom time for greater air exposure, and use an anti-fungal cream every time you change the diaper. Be vigilant in changing the diaper as soon as it becomes wet or soiled.
For thrush — an oral yeast infection — it is usually not necessary to do anything at all if the problem is localized and if your baby is eating well. If necessary, you can usually apply an oral antifungal to the white patches with a Q-tip.
Copyright (c) William Johnson 2008
About the Author
I’m Bill Johnson, author of articles and instructional material related to yeast infections. You can obtain a free, six-part, email course on How to Cure Yeast Infections Fast and Naturally by going to http://www.cure-yeast-infection-fast.com .