Homemade Diaper Rash Cream
Diaper Rash Cream DIY.
Did you know you can make your own homemade diaper rash cream? You can – and you should, too. Here’s why:
Penaten cream costs how much?! And what’s in it?!
No thank you – Mama’s cream is much better.
Penaten diaper cream costs over $8 and is full of chemicals. This homemade version costs about $2 (and makes a much bigger batch than Penaten) and is completely natural, and safe for baby’s bum.
Furthermore, if a rash should occur, with the addition of one simple ingredient, it can be made medicated and still only cost you $2.70 for a great big tin. And I bet it’s an ingredient you already have…
Ingredients
- 3/4 Cup Coconut Oil ($1.50)
- 3/4 Cup Cornstarch ($0.25)
Instructions
Put 3/4 cup of coconut oil into a mixing bowl and beat with electric beaters for about 8 minutes.
Coconut oil is very soothing and nourishing to your baby’s sensitive skin. It also has anti-fungal properties.
Add 3/4 cup of cornstarch and stir until well mixed.
Cornstarch acts as a natural (and much safer) talcum powder, protecting your baby’s bum from wetness.
Store in an air-tight container for up to one month.
If you would like this cream to be thicker – more of a Penaten consistency – add more cornstarch. Vitamin E can be added to help keep your baby’s bum soft as well.
Total cost = $1.75 (non-medicated)
Should your child develop a rash that is not going away with just the above cream ingredients, you can make it medicated to stop that rash right away.
Simply add to the above recipe: 1 Tablespoon Polysporin ($1)
Stir in to your cream. Polysporin is not natural, and does have a petroleum base. For this reason, I would only use it on my baby for a very short time and only if the above cream is not working. As soon as the rash is under control, I would return to the natural cream.
Total cost $2.75 (medicated)
The best way to prevent diaper rash is to ensure your baby’s bum stays dry. Changing his or her diaper often and using a diaper cream that protects the sensitive skin of the bum will help you beat that diaper rash once and for all!
Having a baby can be expensive (or can it?), but there are many ways to keep the costs under control. Making your own baby products is a great way to save your family money and protect your little one from unnecessary chemicals.
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Comments
I use just the coconut oil on its own. Bonus is that it’s cloth diaper friendly too.
If your baby always has a rash, consider an allergy, either to the diaper itself or possibly food (mom’s or babys’). You shouldn’t need cream with every change.
Or a rash that doesn’t go away might be thrush, which needs an antifungal cream.
Yes – good old coconut oil! I prefer it a bit pastier – so the corn starch gives me the texture I am after. Great point about allergies – very true. My second was very sensitive to the amount of dairy I consumed.
Does it need to be refrigerated? What would be it’s shelf life? Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks! Great questions! It does not need to be refrigerated and it will keep for a super long time. We go through our tub in 3-4 months.
If you use cloth diapers, your baby is very unlikely to ever develop a rash! p.s. What a cute baby!!!!!!!!
Thanks!! I haven’t yet taken the cloth diaper plunge. I know I should. I am waiting and watching for used ones – as the upfront cost is so high new. I am very excited to start!!
Check out Kawaii or ComfyRumps cloth diaper web sites. They cost approx half of some of the other brands I have seen in stores and I started with 20 which was about $100. They also have sales and promos often which was when I would add to my collection.
Thanks for all the great homemade baby product recipes. My second is on the way and I am opening a new business as well so I am trying to prepare for things ahead of time. Your posts are coming at the perfect time 🙂
We also use (and love!) Kawaii, and cloth diapering has saved us tons.
Thank you for the advice ladies – I will definitely check out the Kawaii Brand. I had been looking at GroVia as I had tried a friends and loved them, but they are very expensive!
Brianne – may I ask what business you are starting? You are quite the hero – a pregnant Mama starting her own business!!
Thank you so much for this Sarah! I just bought Penaten a couple of days ago and cringed at both the cost and the ingredients listed and had no ideas on an effective alternative. Did you end up getting out to Costco yet to check on the price of the coconut oil? I now have quite a few uses for my 1.5 kg container thanks to you. btw, your baby is absolutely adorable!
Thanks – I think he’s cute too 😉 I haven’t gotten to Costco yet, but our coconut oil supply is dwindling and I promised myself that is where I will buy from next – thanks to your advice!!thursday is my big day I believe !
Found the price. It’s $16.99 for 1.5 kg.
That is a good price Heather!! As long as it is cold pressed it will be my new go to spot – thank you!!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t forget to grow your own calendula flowers to infuse into the coconut oil.
Can someone please tell me the brand name of the coconut oil at Costco? And is it located with the other oils in the store? All I can find on their website is the Organika brand which is $17.99/1lb. We gave up our Costco membership but have been considering going back, and if it is actually $16.99/1.5kg, I’ll sign up today!
Hi well past the baby stage myself but reading your comments reminded me of something that always drove me crazy. When the kids get a fungal infection on their bums – the doctor ussually recommends a mixture of cortizone and canestan cream. If you go that route, the drug store sells canestan/monostat all those fungal creams for about $18.00 for a tiny couple of gram tubes.
The identical medicinal ingredients – are sold two isles over for men at a price of about 6.00 a tube. Ussually for jock itch, or athletes foot – ask your pharmasist if you arent sure which one it is – but $11 price difference to get a pink tube and because im a female in need infuriates me. hope no one needs it but my guys were all so sensitive.
Apparently if your baby has a yeast diaper rash, one shouldn’t use cornstarch. The cornstarch can feed the yeast and increase bacteria. That’s just some online information I came across after I thought I managed to get rid of my daughter’s rash. I made this and increased the cornstarch. That’s when I noticed the same rash return. Anyone know how to cure a yeast diaper rash? I had made the switch to cloth diapers and that’s when the rash came about.
Heather, you might try plain non sweetened yogurt as a diaper cream for a yeast rash. If your baby is old enough give her yogurt to eat. That will help, too.
While coconut oil is amazing, the cornstarch idea is ridiculous. The active ingredient in Penaten is Zinc, Zinc repels water, protecting the skin and is antifungal and healing. Actually, a lot of the ingredients are natural, like lanolin (think nipple cream), witch hazel, and vitamins. The only major ingredient that some would object to is perhaps the petrolatum –which is vaseline jelly.
If you want to make your own, I would do coconut oil and zinc oxide. Corn starch is a sugar and terrible for yeast and bacteria. Not everything natural is good for you.
Be careful with cornstarch if your baby is prone to yeast! I’ve started using straight Coconut Oil as diaper cream for my baby because it’s cheaper even than store brand diaper cream and it’s safe for cloth diapers (and store bought cloth diaper safe cream is INSANELY expensive). She’d be in a mess if I started putting cornstarch on her butt when it’s already got a rash, though.
Also, I tried Kawaii and was very disappointed in their performance. I’ve switched to Buttons which wind up being about the same price for better quality because they’re an all-in-2 system which means you don’t have to change the cover unless it’s poopy, so you can buy fewer covers. I’ve been really happy with them.
LOVE this!!! I’ve never heard of Penaten cream before, but the diaper rash creams I have are equally as awful. Coconut oil truly is such a GREAT thing to use on baby’s bum, and I love that it is safe for our cloth diapers. I’ve never thought of adding cornstarch to make it more paste like, but I think I’ll give it a try. Thanks for sharing! <3
Did anyone try this how was the consistency when applying the butt cream . Mine seemed to melt when touched is it normal ? Did I use the right type of coconut oil ? Is there different types of c oil?
Could I just substitute the cornstarch with zinc oxide powder keeping the same measurements
It just melted when I put it on too. Is there a trick to this?
Break open a few capsules of a multi-strain prebiotic, such as Ultimate 10 and blend in. My son lived with chronic ear infections as a baby–short eustachian tubes and an underdeveloped palate. He lived on antibiotics and had horrific yeast infections on his little bottom.. cleared him right up . We began to see results within days and added prebiotic to his formula–gone! We made this mixture and added the probiotics.