Prickly Heat Rash - How to Care for Babys Skin

by Julie Jones
(Freemantle)

In summer it is very easy for a baby to experience prickly heat rash and suffer from its symptoms.

Prickly Heat rash is also known as "Summer Rash" and "Sweat Rash" and is quite common among children, particularly newborns. It is caused by the heat of summer and a typical day does not need to be much over 80 degrees to cause it.

It is not necessarily caused by direct sunlight or over exhaustion of your child. Most commonly it occurs in the folds of skin, like underarms or diaper line. For my child it was on the forehead and the back of the neck.

During this last summer I noticed small raised bumps on my baby's skin. Of course, being a new mother I was almost panicked, up until then, my baby's skin was smooth and flawless.

I was worried about all sorts of things and heat rash certainly came to mind. Of course I am extremely careful about exposing my child to excessive heat or direct sun for too long, but in this past hot July weather, even in the shade it was hot.

So I examined her and noticed that it was light rash and not a skin disorder or any of the skin diseases I could think of.

In fact it seemed to go away each morning and finally I did some research online. I discovered that it was not a full blown heat rash as we all know that baby heat rashes can be quite dangerous, i was relieved that it was quite mild.

Prickly Heat rash is often treated with dry talcum powders like gold bond or even a zinc oxide powder (available in baby products).

Since I am inclined to NOT use chemicals on my child I looked for more of the home remedies that surely many mother's have tried and attested to over the years with their own children.

I heard that you should NOT use lotions as they block the pores and thereby blocks the sweat.

Since a baby's pores are much smaller than an adult's they are in turn more easily blocked and in fact this is the cause of Prickly Heat rash to begin with.

I discovered two solutions: A lukewarm oatmeal bath (which soothes the skin and relieve itching) and Bur Marigold which I was able to purchase as a sort of tea leaf.

Needless to say, I bathed my child in warm water with this Bur Marigold (apparently leaves, petals and even stems from the common Marigold flower lightly ground up) and she was relieved quite quickly.

Throughout the summer I added small amounts to her daily bath and kept the Prickly Heat rash very well under control.

To learn what to put on prickly heat rash, click on treating prickly heat rash You'll find dozens of articles about skin problems and skin care on this site, so make sure you check out the a-z directory section of the site as well.