Hygiene

[Lee-Bee]

How often does he poop for you? It could be related to a food intolerance and he may eat differently at home so the rash gets worse...then with different foods at your place and your increased care you see improvements. It could be many foods, my daughter has a milk protein intolerance if she gets even trace amounts of dairy in her diet she immediately gets a really bad rash (open wound bleeding rash) due to non-stop poops (10-15+ a day) that are more acidic. Even with us putting tons of strong cream on as a barrier she gets the rash and most people would cringe if they saw it. There is nothing we can do aside from avoiding dairy and slathering on the cream.

Point being...maybe they are taking care of his rash but it is getting worse due to some sort of difference between home and daycare. Could even be a reaction to different diapers at home, or the cream they use.

The fact his hands and face are dirty in addition to the rash MAY indicate they are putting less effort on hygiene but it doesn't necessarily mean they are being negligent. If the mom is out of the picture, especially if this is recent, then dad could very well be utterly overwhelmed. I would think almost any dad would be struggling with suddenly being the sole caregiver of a toddler and to survive some things just have to move to the bottom of the priority list.

If your attempts to tell them to take better care of the rash are not working then change your approach. If they are overwhelmed with life right now, being told they are sucking at caring for the boy is not the solution. They need to be given caring, helpful tips to ensure they can take care of the little guy. If dad is struggling he needs encouragement to know that 'hey, you can do this'. With the encouragement will come empowerment and everything will hopefully fall into place.

Maybe instead of telling them to take better care of the rash star inquiring if it could be food related. Find the cause of the rash...eliminate the cause so they don't need to be putting extra time and care to fixing the reaction to the cause.

Keep doing what you are doing for the little boy...it makes a world of difference. With our job comes extra work for some children than others. Any child under he age of 2 will need more care with hygiene and diapers than a toilet trained 3 yr old. The fact that he gets along with the children and is a happy little guy makes it easier. He could be needing all this extra rash care AND be a troublesome handful that is making everyone miserable.

Hopefully the rash clears soon and hopefully things at home for this little guy are indeed loving and caring...if only a bit overwhelming for dad right now.