Help in Getting Red Rash off Newborn's Cheeks

I would take her back to the pediatrician and tell him/her just what you told us. That would be my best advice! Good luck.

Hi L.:

I recommend ChapStick. I love the stuff. If my son ever got chapped cheeks/nose/anything other than under the diaper, I would put ChapStick on it, especially at night before bed. I use it on my own nose/face when I have a cold and have rubbed myself raw with the facial tissues.

A+D Ointment is also great, I swear by it for diaper rash.

And, lastly, keep a towel or cloth diaper handy to keep her face dry while she sucks her thumb.

Good luck,
B.

I used Eucerine Aquaphor on my son and it worked like a charm. I would put it on at night after his bath. I didn't use anything but warm water to cleanse his face. Once it cleared up I started using Cetaphil and haven't had any problems since.

if you're not crazy about vaseline, how about lanolin? It is completely natural, plus if you use the high grade ointment that you get for breastfeeding, it is completely safe for babies. I found lanolin to be a wonderful skin protectant when my son was wee.

My daughter used to get those bumpy cheeks. I ended up using Mustela Hydra Stick. It wasn't greasy and I could use it on her cheeks and lips. We used it a lot in the winter time and now I use it on my sons lips when they get dry. You can find Mustela at Nordstroms or at Right Start in the Annapolis Mall. Good luck.

i would sugest giving hr one of thoose aveno baths that help me allot when i was 2 my mother said wen i had rashes like that.

My son had a rash like this, too, at that age until about 6 months. My pediatrician recommended using a hydrocortisone ointment. If I put it on his face just once a day, everyday, it would go away completely. Miss one day, though, and it comes right back. He grew out of it, and one tube lasted the whole time (i actually still have it).

Hi L.,

My son gets the same thing. The first time I saw it he was 4 weeks, now he is 3 months & sometimes red bumps still appear on his cheeks. When he gets out of the bath at night I rub a little bit of Olive Oil on his cheeks & it works WONDERS!His cheeks at one point felt like sandpaper they were so dry & bumpy. I also use Aveeno lotion for babies & that is great too. The bumps always disappear once I use those two products

Hi L.,
My 4 month old daughter had the same problem, and I got the best tip from my mother. Make chamomile tea, allow it to cool and wipe her face a couple of times a day with a cotton make-up pad/disk dipped in the tea. I made fresh tea every morning, and cleaned her skin, and it cleared it up completely within a week. Make sure it's pure, natural chamomile, no black tea or anything else added. You can also use it for diaper rash, any other kind of baby acne, etc. clears it up like a charm.

Good luck!
A.

I don't know if this will work but you could try a product called Bag Balm. I use it for my kids' diaper rash and it clears it up in hours. Bag Balm is for cows udders and was recommeded to me by a pediatrician when the other diaper rash remedies would not work. I have found this product at Ficher's Hardware Store in Springfield and Dover's Saddlery in Chantilly.

use lanolin. That is what I used on my son. He sucked his middle two fingers and left a rash on both sides of his face. Lanolin works overnight. I would just put it on at bed time and before naps. I also use it on diaper rash, and sore noses from a cold. It works great.

My daughter had what her pediatrician called "baby acne" all over her face when she was a newborn. My former mother in law told me to put a small amount of desitin on it twice a day. I was a little reluctant but gave it a try and it worked. After a few weeks of clear skin I stopped using it and the rash never came back.

I would be glad to share with you the lotion I use for my rosacea(dry, red and bumpy)on my checks. It's been great for moms, dads and babies with eczema too. And I totally agree with your concern about vaseline.

Let me know if I can help.

Take Care,
N. ;) SAHM homeschooling 3 boys 12, 8 & 2yrs old and married to my Mr. wonderful for almost 15yrs. We love to help other moms, who want to become SAHMs, reach that goal! Email me anytime at ____@____.com

I found the best natural lotion was Renew by Melaleuca (as several women said below). I tried the natural stuff that can be bought at the store (Aveeno, California Babies, etc.) and found none of those to work. Aquaphor did work for my son although it is not natural. I would think Vaseline wouldn't allow the area to breathe. Make sure you are not using any laundry detergents with scent (including Dreft and dryer sheets); that may be making the situation worse. Please feel free to email me with any questions. We went through this with my son, and I have sensitive ezcema (sp?) prone skin too so between the two of us, we have tried everything!

My son had the same problem. We ended up using aquaphor and lanolin. He also ended up having food allergies that he was being exposed to from my breast milk. Best of luck to you, they are so precious aren't they.

I agree with the Renew Lotion from Melaleuca. If you live close by (Northern Virginia area) I have a free sample I could give you. Other than that - a great natural product is Lansinoh. A bit on the expensive side but worth every penny. It is a food grade lanolin.

Lots of over the counter and prescription creams are just treating the symptoms and not the root cause so they don't solve the problem.

1) Get all unnecessary chemicals out of your home by choosing safer products. Many cause allergic reactions and chronic problems.
A)Anything that touches your skin - soap, shampoo, laundry, lotions... http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ will show you what questionable/dangerous ingredients are in the products you are currently using.
B)Anything that you are inhaling - cleaning, air fresheners (the worst!), disinfectants. http://www.saferforyourhome.com/diamond_brite.htm this will show you how even your dishwasher detergent plays a part in making your home less than healthy.

2) Renew therapeutic lotion made by Melaleuca is the best option I have found for solving and healing skin based upon my 4 year search for something to solve my own eczema and other skin issues. Here is a video about it that shows the results of clinical tests of it's effectiveness. http://www.melaleuca.com/ps/index.cfm?f=ps.contentPage&am...

I'm a big fan of most of the Melaleuca products. They have tons of good products, less expensive, they were green before it was cool, they ship straight to my door. Super for busy families.

Hi L.,

I have a 5-month old daughter who also gets red spots on her cheeks - exactly like what you describe. They started appearing when she was about 3 months old. She developed similar patches on her outer thighs and elbows. Our doctor said it is excema and recommended a 1% steriod cream. I wanted to avoid that if possible and found Aveeno lotion for babies with sensitive skin and excema. We have been using it for the past month. I apply it to her skin every night after her bath and within a couple of weeks all the red patches disappeared. We still use the lotion as I think it will flare up again if we miss a few days. The lotion has no scent and rubs into her skin easily without leaving any grease or anything else. Try putting a little on your daughter's cheeks and see how she does. It can be found at Babies R Us or at most grocery stores. Good luck!

Aveeno lotion for exzema works great.

Get the cheek balm from Johnson's soothing naturals line. It's small, kind of like a mini deodorant. It says that it's a cheek balm, but I've used it for exzema and baby acne and it works like a dream. It's hard to find around me, but drugstore.com carries it and it's always in target.

I had the same problem with my daughter and we tried everything. The only things we found was to use lotion and multiple times a day. We did not use vasaline but the lotions used for diaper rash worked well and stayed on longer. I think the key is to just make sure her skin is not dry.

T.

I agree w/the Melaleuca's Renew, too! It got rid of my son's all over the body version of this rash, which was spurred on when I switched to Gain, but didn't go away even after store creams (aveeno, cetaphil) or even a prescription steroid cream (He was only 7 months old!) along w/switching to dreft. I also wasn't using dryer sheets for his clothes and mine (still nursing then). Anyway...Renew completely got rid of the rash in 2 weeks. you could see improvement everyday. I'll send you pictures if you message me your email if you want! It was amazing! I had also switched to Melaleuca's laundry products, which are expensive at first, but are ULTRA ULTRA concentrated and last SO LONG...I also could get you a sample if you are in the SW Virginia area (Roanoke and around)! Or if you can't find someone who has melaleuca around you, try buying some on ebay first (sometimes you can find it a bit cheaper) and try it that way. the website is www.melaleuca.com.

You said that you are nursing, so maybe your daughter is allergic to YOUR laundry detergent and that's why her cheeks are irritated (since they're rubbing against your shirt several times a day!). Try switching to a "free" detergent and see what happens. All my kids have very sensitive skin and I use "ALL Free" laundry liquid on the whole family's laundry. "ALL" also makes a baby detergent that's free of harsh stuff. You can also buy Downy "Free" if you use fabric softener.
If it was a food allergy, you might find the rash on other parts of her body, not just her face.
I've always used Aquafor lotion on my kids. It has no taste or scent and is not petroleum based like Vaseline. I use it on me, also. You can even use it as a lip balm, which I do for everyone's chapped lips in the winter!
FYI, my son had excema as a baby and I always put the Aquafor on his excema patches even though I had a prescription for hydrocortisone cream. I was never completely comfortable using the prescription too often.
Hope that helps!

L.,
My son had a lot of excema as an infant (most likely due to food allergies) and we were pretty successful with Aquaphor. It's not my favorite because it's slimy and gets on bedding/clothes but it worked to clear it up. We had to use it repeatedly as well. It's also probably not more "natural" than vaseline so not sure if that helps.

We also used lotion sticks that we love
http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Grins-Giggles-Moisturizing-S...

http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/product.do?id=29

They are easy to apply and not sticky and really seem to help (until the next time) :)

If the topical treatments you try aren't alleviating the symptoms to your satisfaction I would definitely ask for a referral for a dermatologist visit. She has had the skin irritation long enough I can't imagine your pediatrician would have a problem doing so.

good luck,
K.

sometimes natural lotion can be unnatual, go for the organic. Try straight, pure aloe and wash her with glycerine soap only. Sodium Laurel Sulfate is a known skin irritant, yet they still put it in baby products, so no shampoos or anything on the body that contain it. After that you could be dealing with more severe things like liver toxicity. Good Luck!

Hi, L. - You may want to consider switching to safer, healthier products all around. Bath products and/or laundry products may be causing the problem. Check out saferforyourhome.com. Also, Renew lotion is fabulous for any type of skin irritation. Good luck! N.