Acidic Diaper Rash

What Is An Acidic Diaper Rash

Does your baby’s diaper rash seem especially sensitive, tender, and frequent? It may be an acidic diaper rash. Acidic diaper rashes arise when your baby’s bowel movements are high in pH levels, which can be caused by a number of dietary inputs. Unlike most other types of diaper rashes, acid diaper rash symptoms develop quickly and are easily recognizable. For instance, if the rash does not affect skin folds (where acid urine and feces are not in contact) then this can be a sign of an acid diaper rash. Fortunately, there are effective ways to relieve your baby’s acidic diaper rash symptoms quickly and easily. Read on to learn more about what causes acidic diaper rashes, how to identify the foods that may be causing your baby’s acidic poop, and how to relieve symptoms quickly and effectively.

What Causes Acidic Diaper Rashes?

As mentioned, acidic diaper rashes are caused by an abnormal pH (acid) level in your baby’s waste. So what’s causing the acidic imbalance? Most of the time, higher levels of acidity are caused by the food your baby is eating. Citrus fruits, juices, and other foods are naturally acidic, which can be upsetting for a young digestive system. If your baby is still breastfeeding, there could be foods in the mother’s diet that are causing high acid levels. For help identifying what’s causing your baby’s acid diaper rashes, we recommend starting a diet log and following these three steps:

1. Start Tracking Your Baby’s Diet With A Journal

Treating other types of diaper rashes generally consists of establishing healthy skin care habits, keeping a clean diaper, and so on. Unfortunately, it’s not quite so easy with an acid diaper rash. In order to find a long term solution, you’ll need to identify what part of your child’s diet is causing their acidic poop. The best way to do this is by getting scientific; start a diet journal that tracks what your baby eats, when a bowel movement follows, and whether or not it caused a diaper rash. Hopefully, you’ll start noticing patterns form around certain types of foods. To speed up the process, consider removing the following foods that have been known to cause diaper rashes.

2. Eliminate Foods That Cause Diaper Rash

Below is a list of foods that are generally acidic, and have been known to cause diaper rashes. You’ll notice that some of these foods may be in your baby’s diet, but some foods may only be in the mother’s diet. Systematically test these foods to see if they’re related to your baby’s rashes, and cut out foods that might be related.

Citrus fruits
Fruit juices
Tomatoes, or tomato-based foods
Strawberries
Pineapples
Spicy or hot foods – also consider eliminating from breastfeeding mother’s diet
Coffee – also consider eliminating from breastfeeding mother’s diet

Helpful tip: Try replacing high acidity foods with these foods. While they won’t help lower acidity levels, they can help prevent the diarrhea that is causing your baby’s diaper rash.

Bananas
Rice
Apples
Toast

3. If Rashes Persist, Consult A Physician

If you’ve eliminated acidic foods from your baby’s diet and diaper rashes persist, consult your physician. They may be able to help identify any dietary sensitivities or other less common causes.