Papa Don't Preach: Nappy rash nightmares

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My wife and I have finally got our lives back. And more importantly, our little girl Katie has also got her life back after enduring nine months of chronic nappy rash.

That might sound dramatic but the evil rash started when she was five days old and it has been an on-going hell ever since. It's ranged from a red spotty complexion, to a raised and violently hot rash, and even bleeding at times. Incredibly though, through it all Katie has remained a lovely cruisy little girl.

Over her short life, we have tried everything to fix her bottom. From different barrier creams, dietary changes, and hardcore steroid ointments, to an array of nappies, organic wipes, and good old-fashioned sunshine (which helped a lot).

At least we thought we had tried everything, until recently that is. While we were away on holiday over New Year we had a triumphant break-through on the evil rash front. But more on that soon.

Before it came along, Katie would spend much of her day without a nappy on, marooned on a plastic sheet in the middle of the lounge or the playroom. When she started getting more mobile as she got older it meant my wife (or me in the weekends) had to tend to her every wee and poo, and keep plonking her back on her no nappy-friendly island if she moved off it.

It cramped our style as a family because we were scared of traveling long distances in car seats, in case she should did an acid poo and her skin disintegrated. Even going out for dinner was risky because you can't do no nappy time as easy at someone else's house - let alone at a restaurant.

It also hindered Katie's development because especially in the last few months she wanted to get on the move.

But then - Eureka! Over the new year, my wife's cousin recommended a simple over the counter, barrier-cum-broad spectrum antifungal cream called Daktozin.

I never thought I'd say this about an ointment but Daktozin is a dream come true. It's expensive, because it's not subsidised, unlike some of the other barrier creams we've been using. But we'd go hungry in order to have it for Katie.

For some reason the zinc in this ointment sticks to her skin and wards off the evil rash. And now that she's been able to wear a nappy more in the last week or so she's on the verge of crawling.

We have also had to tweak her diet because there are still flare ups on certain foods, including everything from spinach to bread, and fruit is an absolute no go. So it's back to basic mashes of kumara and potato and meat for our Katie.

And we are still obsessive nappy checkers and changers (at least every hour). Because while we may think we're on to a good thing, it only takes one toxic poo that's left too long on her skin for all hell to break loose again.

Have you battled with nappy rash? What have you found to be the best solution?

- HERALD ONLINE