Date Night at Last . . .

I almost put Crisco on Sontoo's little bottom. So desperate was I to put an end to one of the most nasty cases of diaper rash I have ever encountered.

It was going to be that or Bag Balm, a cow udder treatment that was recommended on one of the sites I searched for solutions.

This all began Sunday, a long-overdue date night, for Neomom and I. We had it all planned out and had even hired a babysitter in this new city; a daunting task. But we have not been out together, alone, for so long. We were looking forward to a nice dinner, followed by drinks at a local sports bar. No, it's not the perfect evening out, but it's the best Thompson has to offer. And it isn't about where. It's about with whom.

So Neomom spoke to a few colleagues and found one had a 15-year-old daughter who did the babysitting thing. We called, she was free Sunday night and the plan was coming together.

Until Sunday morning.

Sonwun fired the first volley at our plans. His tummy troubles took the northern route. He opened with an early-morning regurgitative redecoration of his pajamas, my pants, the couch and the floor. That was soon followed by a fever and our Sunday night plans were fading fast.

Sontoo put the final nail in our date-night coffin, but his tummy troubles took the southern route. Solid poop became a thing of the past and the poor little guy's bottom took the brunt of it. His tushy turned bright red and then developed open wounds as the liquid waste burned at his bottom. We tried to keep up with the changes, but any amount of time in a dirty diaper was too much.

As time on the change table became a painful, screaming battle, I was desperate for a solution. While Neomom pulled out the baby books, I hit the internet. And yes, among the proposed solutions, was Crisco (not the oil, the lard), Bag Balm and a combination of vaseline and Mylanta heartburn medication. The theory for the latter, of course, being that it would combat the acid in his poop and, hopefully, turn that little bottom back to it's normal colour.

As I read story after story of diaper-rash-related diarrhea (I used to read novels . . . sigh) it occurred to me that one of the common themes was coverage, sealant; keeping the nasties away from that precious posterior. The other most common theme was that, no matter what you tried, the problem wouldn't be entirely solved until the tummy troubles disappeared.

So, after considering Crisco and Bag Balm for a few minutes, I decided it was just best to use the available weapons, Desitin and Vaseline, and just bomb the hell out of the war zone with each diaper change. At the same time, I attacked on the northern front, offering foods I hoped would tighten things up; cheese, oatmeal, bread and less fruit for a little while.

This morning, it seems the tide has turned. Sonwun's fever is gone and Sontoo's little bottom is showing tremendous improvement. Yes, we lost the date-night battle, but we are winning the diaper rash war. And in the end (haha) that's what really counts.