Baby Powder, Baby Lotion and Diaper Paste

[herb330]

Right after each diaper change either in the morning , afternoon or evening, my wife makes sure that I'm well powdered and well lotioned.  I enjoy the smell.  In addition to cover my diaper area it is massaged over my body.  In addition Desitin is used and that has its own aroma

Other use these items for keeping a nice smell and good hygiene

[gmcchamp99]

At a diaper change usually a liberal amount of powder is used and some moisture barrier is applied to ensure I don't end up with a rash. It's a rare occurrence that I have lotion applied to my diaper area. It's not that I don't like it but more so that I find it causes my diaper area to get sweaty and it ends up like a tropical jungle down there lol!

[Little Sherri]

No one is applying it for me, but, that said, I am absolutely religious about applying diaper cream. I do it every single time I change, or whenever I open a diaper. I don't do #2 in my diapers as a rule, so if I blow the hatch on my Pampers for that purpose, cream gets reapplied before the diaper gets reapplied. Diaper rash is the #1 enemy to those of us who wear diapers all the time. Baby powder is more of an indulgence - I just love the way it smells, I'm not convinced that it is doing much for my skin in there. But, I shake some into my diaper whenever I'm putting a new one on or rediapering, if I'm in our ensuite bathroom, where I keep the powder. I have diaper cream in all the bathrooms. 

[PuraVidaDip]

I find I use cream less and less. I usually just wipe and tape my diaper back on and be on my way. I use a vaseline type product if I get a friction rash and desitin if that doesnt stop it. Changing quickly if messy is key. And then changing if too wet and the diaper bunches up causes issues as well.

I always use NorthShore Wipes front and back every change. I then either pay dry with toilet paper or wash cloth, or, if none available I dry myself with the diaper inside itself and then apply it. Clean wipe plus dry-ish seems to be the ticket for me most of the time. 

[babykeiff]

Diaper cream / paste is almost a requirement at diaper changes to create a barrier between your skin and either a wet / messy diaper. Most include some form of water barrier like zinc oxide, and if one gets it on ones hands during a diaper change, one normally has to wash hands with a suffactant (soap) to get it off before taping down the disposable diaper - otherwise the cream won't let the tapes stick.

Baby Lotion is used to clean the skin at each diaper change. This was used before the widespread use of baby wipes, and was used with small pieces of cloth / cotton wool as a way to remove the sticky mess of some young babies avoiding hash rubbing of delicate skin and/or skin that has diaper rash. In adults, it is not needed if one is using baby wipes / similar. Baby lotions also contain a suffactant as a way to break down / remove sticky poop from skin. Lotion on hands stops the sticky tape of a disposable diaper sticking if one gets it on same. 

Baby powder is simply perfumed talc (magnesium silicate). To sell it to the baby market, companies advertised it as a way to prevent diaper rash. Due to its hydroscopic reaction (it absorbs water), when any talcuum powder is in a diaper, it absorbs water and clumps together and forms a paste. As a result, it holds the water in the location and rewets the skin at that location. A diaper absorbs water and keeps it away from the skin. This second part, is the critical part with a diaper if one is interested in skin health, what the marketing companies advertised. A warm wet area allows the growth of bacteria which will breakdown the skin at that location. Add to the normal bacteria the chemical composition of the powder, and the skin breakdown can be fungal instead of just skin breakdown.

Thus, baby powder within the diaper area increase the chance of rash instead of preventing same.

The good part of talcuum powder is that it creates a smooth area between the thighs and the plastic shell of a diaper, thus reducing friction and reducing chances of friction burns / rash. 

From my own perspective,

when I change, I use wipes and then some diaper cream. I then wash my hands before putting a clean diaper back on. With messy diapers, when I can, I will shower the area first. I use talcuum powder, the same brand as my aftershave (if dealing with the outside world), or baby powder if not on my thighs to avoid friction rash.