Do Not Use Desitin

I have brought up this subject in other posts but I thought it might deserve its own post. First let me begin with my personal experience of this diaper ointment for babies.

When my son was born, he seemed to have a little pain when peeing, and being a new mom I wasn't sure about anything so I brought him into the local walk-in to have a doctor tell me what to do or if it was anything. Well, for one, it was my first experience with the walk-in clinic, and now I know. The doctor I got quickly made me conclude he knew less about infants than I did (and my friends and family's experience with that doc seem to correlate my conclusion).

Why You Should Not Use Desitin

I figured he would still have some medical training from med school that would save the day, despite his lack of actual baby experience or knowledge. He advised me it was nothing, but I might try using Desitin (which he pronounced Detisin, I'm assuming for the same reason he knew nothing about babies).

So, still concerned that my new little child was having peeing pains, I used the tube I had gotten in a baby shower gift. Lo and behold, a red patch began to grow on his diaper area. Hmm, maybe this was the rash that was causing all the trouble finally manifesting itself? I continued to put on the diaper cream. The rash did not go away, and seemed to be worse at each diaper change.

I will be fair here and say that it wasn't like it became a raging skin peeling rash in 3 days. More like a slow growing red spot that would have taken a week or more to actually damage tissue, I believe. At any rate, definitely not helping the pain while peeing, that's for sure.

I brought him in for one of his first check ups. I don't remember if it was the 3 day or the 2 week check up. I told his pediatrician (who has PLENTY of baby experience) what was all going on, and that I thought the Desitin might actually be causing the redness. He immediately said " Oh yes, Desitin will burn. You might not want to use it."

So I stopped using it. His redness cleared up overnight, and apparently so did his aversion to peeing, since there was no more fussiness while he was whizzing, after that.

Well, he went four months without needing a diaper cream, until he developed an ear infection and had to have antibiotics. Being new at this, I didn't know its a good idea to give some acidopholus to them between doses to prevent the runs, and he got it bad. I really needed something that would work for him.

Which Diaper Cream to Use Instead of Desitin?

That's when a friend gave me a small tub out of her larger container of something called Corona Udder Butter. It is a livestock ointment for horses and cows that farmers apply to abrasions and rashes on their animals. And it works amazingly well for people too, much more so than any "for people" product I have ever used.

$21 on Amazon!

It contains 30% lanolin, an amazing soothing and protective ingredient for sore dry skin, among other great ingredients. When I used it for my son's last round of ear infection antibiotics, and a really bad rash popped up one day, it helped clear it up practically overnight, and helped keep it away. I am still using it because he still has a bit of the runs even with getting acidopholus, and will keep using it til I'm sure he can't get a rash anymore. It really works like a charm, and makes baby so much happier (and mommy happier too, for sure).

$7 on Amazon!

If you have a fleet farm or other livestock/farming store nearby, I would suggest visiting it and investing in a tub of Corona. Or simply buy it online! It would appear Corona has caught on that people are buying this to use on themselves, so they are now selling a smaller 7 oz tube of it that is easier to carry around than a 32 oz tub. Buying the larger tub is more value for your money, and its a great buy that you will surely end up using on tons of things from dry skin to any family members boo boos, and definitely on baby's poor red bum.