This last week my little rugrat developed a pretty nasty diaper rash. As most of you wouldn’t be surprised to hear it developed from nothing into a full-blown, meltdown-inducing, diaper rash within the span of a few hours. Unfortunately, dealing with these pop-up ailments is a part of parenting, even worse is it’s part of being a baby. No matter how hard you try to prevent it, your little one will develop diaper rash and you will feel horribly responsible every time.

Mads gets diaper cream almost every diaper change, especially before naps or bedtime as well as first thing in the morning and after every bath. As much as we butter her buns with Desitin, one would think that it would be more than enough to prevent it.

NOPE!

Typically, when we see the makings of a diaper rash we switch over to something a little stronger, like A&D ointment. That night for one reason or another the ointment didn’t really seem to help. In fact, it appeared to be causing her even more pain, desperate to find my little girl some relief I took to the internet.

I had long heard about the benefits of essential oils, holistic medicine, and natural remedies but, working in emergency medicine I didn’t really give them much credit. After a little bit of searching, I found a short list of things that might help, near the top was coconut oil. Multiple sources said that coconut oil acts as a moisturizer and helps to repair the skin. In addition, people claim that coconut oil is antibacterial, antimicrobial, and all around good stuff. I mentioned it to my wife and before I knew it I was on the road in the pouring rain to find coconut oil.

I pulled up to the local produce and health food store in search of what the internet says is some kind of magical dermatological cure. At first, all I could find was coconut oil with weird stuff added to it like garlic or jalapenos. Definitely not what I want to spread all over my baby’s butt.

A little more looking and I found it, a jar of coconut oil. Now, oil seems to be a bit of a misnomer since what I found appeared to be a solid and waxy substance. I checked it with my wife who confirmed that this jar of goo was actually the right stuff. With a pie in hand as a reward for a job well done I headed home with my coconut oil.

The Treatment

A bit of research indicated that coconut oil turns from solid to liquid at 76° Fahrenheit, which is lower than body temperature. We were able to scoop a little bit into a container and use our body heat to liquefy it for use. The oil seemed to soothe her rash almost immediately. We used the oil at every diaper change, bath, and before ever nap. What’s even better is that with its continued use the rash had cleared up almost completely in just about 24 hours. What started Wednesday afternoon was gone be Friday morning.

I went from being a skeptic to a believer with a happy, rash-less baby within the same time frame and will without a doubt continue to use coconut oil to prevent/ treat diaper rash. I will say that it never hurts to consult a physician when it comes to natural or internet remedies and as always be cognizant of your babies allergies and sensitivities.

What natural remedies have you tried?