Ammonia rash. Ammonia rash is a form of diaper rash caused by the urine itself. The skin is literally burned by the ammonia formed when urine is decomposed by normal bacteria on the skin. Not surprisingly, ammonia rash is worse after the child has been asleep for a long period of time without a diaper change. You can identify it by the ammonia smell noticeable when you change the diaper.
Other causes. Besides these two basic diaper rashes, a variety of other rashes may appear in the diaper area, including those caused by an allergy to a food or drug, a skin infection, or a contagious disease, such as chicken pox or measles.
If your baby develops a rash in the diaper area, look for the signs of these different types of rashes. The appearance and location of the rash, an ammonia odor, or a rash elsewhere on the body are all clues. Ask yourself a few pertinent questions to help you and your doctor find the cause of the rash. For example, have you recently switched from cloth to disposable diapers or changed brands of disposables? Have you made any changes in your laundry products? Has the baby been given any new food (a change in formula, perhaps, or the addition of cereal to a feeding) or medication?
Treating Simple Diaper Rash or Ammonia Rash
Keep your baby as dry as possible, change diapers frequently, even if they are only slightly wet, and avoid any airtight coverings.
If you favor cloth diapers, use double diapers during the daytime, triple diapers at night.
Wash the diaper area with plain water each time you change your baby, and apply a protective cream or ointment such as zinc oxide or an ointment combining zinc oxide, cod liver oil, petrolatum, and lanolin. Use only one type of ointment at a time unless your doctor has instructed you to use more than one.
Do not dust the baby's skin with cornstarch, a remedy that was once commonly recommended; it has been found to encourage the growth of fungi.
Try a different brand of laundry soap on cloth diapers, and do not use fabric softener with every wash because your baby may be sensitive to buildup of it.
Give cloth diapers a try if you use disposables, or switch brands. Try disposables if you use cloth diapers.
Cut down on the use of powders and oils for your baby, and be sure any you use are mild and non-allergenic.
If you use colored toilet tissue to clean your baby's genital area, switch to plain white.
To further promote healing, put a pad under the baby and let him lie undiapered when possible to expose the baby's skin to air.
