Infant Rash

An infant rash can be quite disconcering. You just feel so bad for your little baby! Infant rashes can be caused by a number of things.

First of all, your infant's pores are not quite developed yet, so they get clogged easily. Don't do anything to their face, just let it be.

Your baby may also have something called "toxic erythema". I know it sounds frightening, but it is nothing to worry about. According to Dr. Albert C. Yan, on eMedicine.com, Toxic erythema is "...a benign, self-limited, asymptomatic skin condition that only occurs during the neonatal period. The eruption is characterized by small, sterile, erythematous papules, vesicles, and, occasionally, pustules. The lesions usually are surrounded by a distinctive diffuse, blotchy, erythematous halo. Individual lesions are transitory, often disappearing within hours and then appearing elsewhere on the body." Pretty scientific eh? What this means is that it is not contagious, it goes away by itself and it can go away and then reappear elsewhere on the body.

Your baby's rash can also be caused by soap or laundry detergent. Make sure that you are not overdoing it with the soap in your baby's bath -- maybe even switch to a different one -- and I recommend that you do a double rinse with your laundry to get all the soap out.

Bottom line with an infant rash? Leave it alone, and it will go away on its own. If it is accompanied by a fever, then you should make a doctor's appointment and get that checked out.

With most infant rashes, the best treatment is no treatment at all.