Diaper Rash. and Angry DCM - WWYD?

[bunnyslippers]

I have a little peanut here who gets diaper rash badly, and often. DCM seems to think this is in some way negligence on my part. Any time it has happened before, I get a whole lot of attitude and instructions on how to prevent it, right down to letting her go without a diaper to let air get at her (this baby is 13 months old and crawling everywhere...I can't let her go without a diaper.

Yesterday, she dropped off, explaining that DCG was on antibiotics that make her poop constantly, for an infection. She then said, "I don't care what you do, she CAN NOT GET A RASH THIS TIME." I literally changed this little one every 30 minutes, all day long, regardless of poop being present. Slathered desitin on like wallpaper paste, at every change.

Same drill today, except today, she looks like she is getting a rash. I know DCM is going to be angry, and will give me a HUGE attitude. Any idea on how to handle this? I know it is coming, and feel pretty helpless. I seriously couldn't have been more diligent. This baby just has super sensitive skin!!!! So not in the mood for the attitude.

[MamaBearCanada]

I find Vaseline helps best as a barrier and I'd show Mom a log of every diaper change. The other option, which is what I'd be tempted to do with an attitude like that is tell mom you cannot guarantee she won't get a rash pooping that frequently and you cannot take that amount of time away from the thee kids in your care so the child needs to stay home until her stomach is no longer unsettled.

[cheerfuldom]

I would absolutely not put up with this garbage. I would let mom know what I am doing and then what her accusations are doing to our working relationship. If she really thinks that you are purposefully neglecting a child, she needs to find new daycare. either she trusts you to do what you can or she doesnt. there is no way i would get all stressed out about a mom being upset over this.

[daycarediva]

I find Vaseline helps best as a barrier and I'd show Mom a log of every diaper change. The other option, which is what I'd be tempted to do with an attitude like that is tell mom you cannot guarantee she won't get a rash pooping that frequently and you cannot take that amount of time away from the thee kids in your care so the child needs to stay home until her stomach is no longer unsettled.

THIS!

Antibiotic poops are notoriously acidic, I have one dcb who seems sensitive to desitin and his rashes have improved since we have nixed it. I would toss on yogurt, or a liquid maalox mixed with cornstarch to neutralize the acid and tell Mom that you will do what you can to prevent but that diaper rashes are a part of being in diapers, if she doesn't like that, then she can keep LO home until her diahrea has improved!

[CedarCreek]

If she is on an antibiotic then that could be a Yeast infection, I don't know that you can make that go away with desitin.

I would change every hour, apply cream and keep a log. I cannot do any more than that and there is no way I would let a baby go without a diaper.

[CedarCreek]

If its that bad all of the time, she can get a rx from her pedi for nystatin cream. I had a baby once whos rash only responded to that.

[NeedaVaca]

I know how you feel, whenever my DCK's get a rash I feel SO bad but I do diaper changes really often and it's not negligence on my part. Some kids ARE prone to more rashes. There are a lot of things that could contribute to this: diet, the brand of diaper, or just simply sensitive skin. The bad thing is antibiotics can make this worse or cause yeast infections so the fact that this DCM knows she is having more frequent bowel movements and has said that to you-ouch! Maybe try something other than desitin like aquaphor? I also recommend lots of yogurt. Since this is an ongoing issue there could be other things to factor in like the baby not having enough "good" bacteria, a good probiotic would be something she could discuss with her Dr.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I would absolutely not put up with this garbage. I would let mom know what I am doing and then what her accusations are doing to our working relationship. If she really thinks that you are purposefully neglecting a child, she needs to find new daycare. either she trusts you to do what you can or she doesnt. there is no way i would get all stressed out about a mom being upset over this.

Exactly this.

[Play Care]

I have a little peanut here who gets diaper rash badly, and often. DCM seems to think this is in some way negligence on my part. Any time it has happened before, I get a whole lot of attitude and instructions on how to prevent it, right down to letting her go without a diaper to let air get at her (this baby is 13 months old and crawling everywhere...I can't let her go without a diaper.

Yesterday, she dropped off, explaining that DCG was on antibiotics that make her poop constantly, for an infection. She then said, "I don't care what you do, she CAN NOT GET A RASH THIS TIME." I literally changed this little one every 30 minutes, all day long, regardless of poop being present. Slathered desitin on like wallpaper paste, at every change.

Same drill today, except today, she looks like she is getting a rash. I know DCM is going to be angry, and will give me a HUGE attitude. Any idea on how to handle this? I know it is coming, and feel pretty helpless. I seriously couldn't have been more diligent. This baby just has super sensitive skin!!!! So not in the mood for the attitude.

Do you send home any type of daily note? I do and make a note of all diaper changes and any issues - I have two boys in my care that can *look* at a piece of fruit and get diaper rash so I feel your pain! That way every change, diaper cream use, etc is all documented.

When mom comes in today head her off at the pass - "Mom, we have changed Susie 47 times today, and slathered her up with diaper cream. We still noticed some redness and at this point I'm concerned she may have an allergy that is causing the redness. What has the doctor said about this?" If mom says she hasn't brought it up, make it clear that this is something that needs be mentioned. Maybe you pushing for a doctor's visit might get her to realize that you are not the enemy.
And I'd be sure to be shocked, SHOCKED that this is something so serious but yet she hasn't done anything about it "Gee, I'm kind of suprised given how badly Susie's bottom can get you haven't mentioned it to the doctor, the only time I ever saw a child's bottom get this bad, they wound up having dairy allergies." ::

At the end of the day though, if I were doing all I could do to prevent something and a parent was pissy with me, I might pull the old "you seem unhappy here, maybe you will be happier somewhere else" card.

[Crystal]

I'd bag every single diaper and hand them to her at pick up so she can see and smell how many times you changed her during the day.

[crazydaycarelady]

I agree with the Vaseline. I put Desitin on and then slather on a ton of Vaseline.

[bunnyslippers]

Thanks everyone! I will try the desitin and vaseling. I actually did document how many times I changed her today. Between 7:30 and 2:30 - 16 times so far today, and at 9 of those were poop!!!!! Holy cow!

I know she will give me the attitude. Just another beautiful day in the neighborhood!

I knew you would all help me get some guts. Thanks again ~

[Willow]

Be blunt and stop letting mom push you around.

It is not reasonable or realistic for mom to expect you to change baby's diaper every half hour or let her run around with no diaper.

Via email:

Dear mom,

Just dropping a line to discuss baby's pretty consistent diaper rash. You're probably as concerned and frustrated as I have been about it lately!

I'm not sure if it's an issue with sensitive skin, allergies, teething or what but I went so far as to change her every half hour applying barrier creams liberally around the clock the last couple of days and that still doesn't seem to be helping much. Changing her that often has also been quite a hindrance when it comes to taking care of the other children in my care. There is diaper changing protocol I have to follow that is far more involved than just taking a diaper off and on and I'm finding myself spending nearly the entire day in the bathroom! For obvious reasons, I just can't continue to accommodate that. Per licensing regulations I also cannot allow her to run around with no diaper. While it might work wonderfully at home, with her being in that go go go stage it simply wouldn't be sanitary here.

I'm not sure if you have any other ideas or if her doctor has suggested anything else I can try? At this point I'm wondering if this is an issue with an allergy to dairy, her brand of diapers, her wipes, the barrier cream itself, even her med? If the med itself is causing the issue will giving her some sort of probiotic help to rebalance her system?

I am really not sure what else to do at this point. Some children just have very sensitive skin and there's not much I can do about that here aside from applying barrier cream during regular changes. Unfortunately I sense that you're thinking that her diaper rashes are my fault and I'm very concerned about that. I hope I am just being silly about that but hope you know you can always be honest with me. If there is a problem let's sort it out! Feel free to drop a line back or we can simply talk more about this at pick up.

Provider"

[Crystal]

Thanks everyone! I will try the desitin and vaseling. I actually did document how many times I changed her today. Between 7:30 and 2:30 - 16 times so far today, and at 9 of those were poop!!!!! Holy cow!

I know she will give me the attitude. Just another beautiful day in the neighborhood!

I knew you would all help me get some guts. Thanks again ~

I would send her home. That is WAY to much pooping at daycare. She could easily get dehydrated and Mom needs to be one-on-oneing her to make sure she doesn't.

[Willow]

I'd bag every single diaper and hand them to her at pick up so she can see and smell how many times you changed her during the day.

Individually.

Bonus points for counting them out in front of her and exclaiming that even you didn't realize how many there were.