Do you love awesome mom hacks? I have one – using sunscreen for diaper rash! If you’ve ever wondered about an alternative for a diaper rash cream, here is a great option to consider. (You’ll love this baby hack even more if you’re all about using baby products with natural ingredients!)
No matter how frequently you change your baby’s diaper and the kind of diapers or baby wipes you use, diaper rash is sometimes inevitable. Baby’s skin is sensitive and prone to irritation. A wide selection of diaper rash creams is available, but diaper rash can sometimes creep out of nowhere and catch you off-guard.
The first time my baby had a diaper rash it wasn’t just skin irritation and redness. It was the Tsar Bomba of diaper rashes that leaves open sores and your baby squealing and squirming in pain.
The only thing I had available? Sunscreen.
Thankfully that was exactly what I needed! The sunscreen was a physical barrier type based on zinc oxide, which is the active ingredient in many diaper rash creams. It worked like a charm. Within the next diaper change there was a huge difference, and the rash quickly disappeared.
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The best part is, after sharing this baby hack with other moms, this simple diaper rash cream alternative cured all kinds of rashes their babies and toddlers were experiencing that weren’t responding to a variety of different products designed to add a protective layer to skin and heal skin irritation and diaper rash, even prescription-strength creams.
Mom hack: Using sunscreen for diaper rash
If you ever run into a diaper rash emergency and have sunscreen that’s based on zinc oxide with safe and simple ingredients (like this brand), do give it a try!
If you’re a new mom, this handy tip will serve you for years to come.
Is using a zinc-oxide sunscreen for diaper rash safe?
Zinc oxide creates a barrier to keep out moisture, it’s anti-inflammatory and promotes wound healing. In addition, zinc oxide is gentle enough even for the most delicate skin. That’s why it’s so popular in diaper rash creams.
Using a zinc-oxide-based sunscreen to treat diaper rash is perfectly safe as long as the other ingredients aren’t too harsh.
Here is a quick comparison of the zinc oxide content in various diaper rash creams:
- Desitin Daily Defense – 13% zinc oxide
- Desitin Maximum Strength – 40% zinc oxide
- Balmex Complete Protection – 11.3% zinc oxide
- Mustela – 9.9% zinc oxide
- Boudreaux’s Butt Paste – 16% zinc oxide
- Boudreaux’s Butt Paste Max Strength – 40% zinc oxide
- Honest – 14% zinc oxide
- Burt’s Bees Baby – 40% zinc oxide
- Badger diaper cream – 10% zinc oxide
VS. Badger, the sunscreen brand of our choice:
- SPF 40 Badger Baby (Chamomile & Calendula) – 22.5% zinc oxide
- SPF 40 Badger Kids (Tangerine & Vanilla) – 22.5% zinc oxide
Badger sunscreen is clean as far as ingredients go and is somewhere in the middle in the zinc oxide content compared with several popular diaper rash creams. It’s great for baby skin and adult skin alike and highly rated by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Can you use *any* sunscreen to treat diaper rash?
Absolutely not!!
Do NOT apply any chemical sunscreens (the vast majority on the market) on the skin affected by diaper rash!
Physical barrier sunscreen that’s based on zinc oxide or titanium dioxide creates a barrier on the skin that reflects UV radiation. Chemical sunscreens contain a mixture of chemicals that absorb UV rays so they don’t penetrate the skin, at least not right away. The chemicals used in standard sunscreens will not only NOT help with skin irritation but could make diaper rash much worse.
Related: The Single Best Baby Powder Alternative
Does it work the other way around?
Using sunscreen for diaper rash works really well – as long as the sunscreen is based on zinc oxide and the ingredients are clean.
Gently formulated zinc-oxide sunscreen is an excellent addition to diaper bag essentials for the summer months that can be used in multiple ways – on baby’s face, other sun-exposed body parts, and the diaper area as well. It’s gentle enough for sensitive skin and well suited for baby’s skin.
Now… Can you switch that around?
You’re on a family outing on a hot summer afternoon and realize – gasp – that you have left the sunscreen at home! But you DO have that zinc oxide diaper rash cream in your diaper bag… (Hint hint.) Can you use it in place of sunscreen?
Short answer: no. (Here is why using a diaper rash cream as sunscreen is not a good idea.)
