Heat Rash on My 15 Months?

Updated on January 27, 2011
G.T. asks from Herndon, VA
10 answers

Hi moms,
My 15 month old daughter has had a "rash" for the last 2 weeks. It began by small dots on her belly and after a few days spread everywhere (arms, legs, back) except the face, hands and feet soles.
Last week, she has her 15m appointment, so I talked about it to the pediatrician. For sure, it's not chicken pox and she believed it wasn't heat rash neither. She had a blood count and everything is fine. It also ruled out allergies as the white cells are not off.
Her behavior is normal, nothing changed (sleep, food, mood). A couple of days ago, she started to scratch herself (which she didn't do before), but her skin is very dry, so the dryness may be the reason.
I put some desitin diaper rash cream on her shoulders, where she scratches more and it helps (less dots and she seems so happy when I apply it that it is a relief for her).
Any idea what it can be? Most people I met believe it is a heat rash.
How can I help her? More bathing? less bathing? moisturizing or not? any food that can help...?
Thank for your advice, as usual!
Note: as for a possible reaction, I have washed the laundry without any detergent these last 2 weeks. Also in the bath, I don't use foam bath, just clear water for her to play and then I wash her with mild baby soap and rince her carefully.

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A.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Sounds like you're already thinking about laundry and allergy issues. Try a different sunscreen or leaving sunscreen off for a while too (hard in summer, I know). We use "Conntry Save" laundry detergent. It is really mild and rinses thoroughly. Also economical.
My children both have on-and-off eczema and allergies. I do usually bathe them daily for the routine, but I almost always use Aveeno Colloidal Oatmeal in the bath. Money-saving tip: don't buy the packets sold in the baby section. You're buying the same thing for more money. Look for generic brands (CVS has a good one) and add 1/3 of a packet to a shallow warm bath. And you can skip soap every other day.

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B.S.

answers from Houston on

Look up Keratosis Pilaris. It isn't heat rash. My 33 month old son has it....he's had it for a few years. I wish I could describe more to you but it would be best if you google it. You can find pictures of it as well. There is no cure. It's not contagious. It's just really dry skin and the hair follicles are blocked. Some times they out grow it, some times they don't. Keep her skin moisturized---the best thing we have found is Cereva cream (not the lotion) and bathe every other day.

You could also take her to a pedi dermatologist.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.D.

answers from San Francisco on

My 7 mo old had some dots on his belly when he was younger. It turned out he has eczema, and when I told the dr I was using Aveeno Baby to wash him, she said she doesn't recommend the baby washes b/c they're not actually as mild as the manufacturers make them out to be. She said Cetaphil cleanser and Dove soap bars are better, so I've been using Cetaphil and he's been fine.

She also recommended using Aquaphor or Cetaphil cream (that comes in a tub, not the lotion in the pump jar) to moisturize. So maybe an extra gentle cleanser and a rich moisturizer will help your LO.

I've started using Cetaphil to wash my face too (several years ago a dermatologist in a NYT article said all you really need to wash your face is Cetaphil, rather than all the fancy cleansers) and it really is very gentle, I don't even need to put on moisturizer afterwards. HTH.

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S.G.

answers from Savannah on

Try avenno baby lotion in the dark blue cap or just get some oatmeal lotion for dry skin. Should help!

S.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

Since applying the cream helped, continue to apply cream. I'd try something made specifically for dry skin since you said her skin is dry. The Desitin diaper rash cream has ingredients in it that her skin probably doesn't need. Her skin needs to be moisturized.

Cream is more emollient than lotion. In fact some lotions are actually drying in the long term. And creams vary in their ability to moisturize. My granddaughter has eczema and we have used the store brands of Eucerin with success. Today, my daughter told me that one of her friends said that Jojobo oil's chemical make up is the closest to skin's oil when compared to all other oils. She is now mixing a few drops of Jojobo oil with a moisturizing lotion and applying that to my 10 yo granddaughter's skin.

For the dry skin the doctor recommended daily bathing, blotting dry, and then immediately apply moisturizing cream to the damp skin.

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K.D.

answers from Dallas on

That honestly to me sounds like a laundry detergent reaction. Try using a detergent that does not have any perfumes or dyes and see if that helps. If you are already doing that, maybe an extra rinse on the laundry is necessary.

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

Your pediatrician should have referred you to a Dermatologist. I'm really surprised they just dismissed it and didn't offer any further assessment.

Rashes can be from allergic reactions, contact dermatitis, eczema, MRSA (serious staph infection), cancer, etc.

Chances are, it's dermatitis or eczema. But, only a trained medical professional can tell you. Our pediatrician knows his limitations with dermatological issues and has had our daughter at a Dermatologist since she was 15 months old. She's been treated for eczema with a good, rich Over the Counter lotion called Vanicream though Aquaphor does the same thing in a greasier form.

You definitely did the right thing by talking to the pediatrician about it. I'm just really disappointed they dismissed it so quickly and didn't offer any resolution or follow-up.

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H.P.

answers from Sacramento on

My LO had what sounds like a similar rash a couple of months ago, so when she was about 16 months old. Hers was on her arms and legs (none on the torso) and was just little dots that weren't obvious - but if you touched her skin you could feel the little bumps everywhere!

Her Dr. suggested all the usual suspects. However, I was pretty sure it wasn't the laundry detergent (we hadn't changed it in forever, and since it was summer time I would be very surprised to see a contact dermatitis rash from laundry detergent that was _not_ in the locations where her clothes were touching her!) She'd been playing on the grass a few days before, but that was nothing new and we hadn't done anything to the grass. We only put her in the tub two or so times per week and only use plain water and only washed her hair with California Baby Shampoo and maybe did a quick swish over her dirtiest bits. So we tried smearing her with California Baby lotion twice a day and that cleared it up very fast - it was just dry skin! Now that she's rash free we occasionally put lotion on her but don't have to maintain the schedule we started with.

It was kind of counter-intuitive to me to smear lotion on irritated skin, since for me personally I've found that lotion + irritated skin = OUCH NOT HAPPY. But for her it totally worked.

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B.F.

answers from Chicago on

I just had something similar with my son. It started at his ear, then chest and now all over his body, except hands and feet. He does have some redness on his lower face. His doctor thought it was a sun allergy and recommended that I keep him in the shade as much as possible, reintroduce him to the sun slowly and always use sunscreen of minimum 30SPF. She also said that I should make sure that I moisturize him with a good quality moisturizer (she suggested Eucerin).
She said that it takes quite long for the rash to disappear, could be 2 weeks or more.

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G.G.

answers from Gainesville on

The main cause of rashes is the Heat. People with the heat rashes, they have to keep cool and taking cool showers or bathing might be recommended as a means of avoiding further development of the rash. Ice pack, lotions and powdered bath, these home remedies are often successful in treating the heat rash, it is still important to take extra precautions to prevent a recurrence of this problem. The best option would be to get your doctor to have a look at it. Heat Rash usually develops in the very hot weather and usually because of being overly dressed. It can happen even when you are not over dressed if there is the extreme heat.
http://www.biblehealth.com/heat-rash/heat-rash-overview.html

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