HOW DO I TREAT IT?

✓ Take baby’s nappy off and allow her to lie bare-bum for a while – fresh air is an excellent healer! Do this every so often.

✓ Keep on changing her nappies as often as possible.

✓ Use cotton wool and water to clean baby’s bum.

✓ Consider trying a different brand of nappy – sometimes there’s a mismatch between child and nappy brand.

✓ Buy a good bum cream. Speak to your paed or pharmacist.

✓ If your baby’s burning bum doesn’t react to treatment within a day or two, she probably has a fungal infection such as thrush. Look for a white rash in her mouth that becomes red when wiped. Fungal infections can be treated with the help of your chemist – consider antifungal products.

✓ If your baby has a bacterial infection, your doctor can prescribe antibiotics.

HOW DO I PREVENT IT?

✓ Change your baby’s nappy regularly (immediately after a bowel movement) and wash his bum with every change.

✓ Apply a buffer cream with every change, but ensure his bum is dry before putting it on. It’s also important to distinguish between a buffer cream, which forms an extra protective layer on baby’s skin, and a cream specially formulated to treat burning bums.

✓ Don’t fasten nappies too tightly – air needs to circulate down there.

✓ If your baby has a runny tummy, take extra preventative care with a thick buffer cream containing zinc oxide.