I stood up for my child

*Warning - a little gross**Long, but a good story*Yesterday was stressful but ended well, to say the least.It was my mom's birthday yesterday, so my husband, baby and I were all going to my grandmother's for dinner to celebrate.Thing is, baby boy had a bad reaction to his antibiotics (constant diarrhea, antibiotics given for ear infection on Tuesday night) that eventually gave him a terrible rash from the acidity of his waste. It got so bad his skin was splitting some in a certain area, and he screamed and cried in pain when I gently sprayed him with cool water to clean him. I felt awful; diaper rash cream was doing nothing, even though we spread it on him practically as thick as cake icing at every diaper change. So after a quick google sesh I said to my husband, okay, obviously moisture is just making this worse, so we're going to go diaper-free for the weekend. Baking soda bath every day. Was it messy? Absolutely. Worth it? Absolutely. Healed up so much better in the open air, and his pain decreased more and more by the hour, it seemed.On the phone I mentioned to my mom that baby boy could definitely attend the party Sunday, but I still didn't want an open wound in the diaper, even for a couple of hours, as we had tried a couple hours in the diaper on Saturday and it still caused him terrible pain. I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable, so I told my parents after some thinking that I would keep him in a long nightgown that goes down to his ankles (elastic at the bottom), and also wrapped in a towel as either me or my husband carry him around. We would bring several towels, a couple changes of clothes, and plastic bags, and keep them out of the way and out of sight. That way if any bodily functions occurred, only me and my husband would know, and we could slip away and take care of baby boy, change towels, clothes, etc., then return. If it was anywhere else, I wouldn't have done this, but I figured that since it was my grandmother's house and only family would be attending the celebration, it would be okay. We're a pretty close-knit family. Heck, we are even known to make poop jokes at the dinner table!Morning of the party (Sunday), my dad texted me and said that baby boy needs to have a diaper on at my grandmother's, that it would be fine for a couple of hours. Apparently they saw the doctor that I called on Friday at church on Sunday, and the doctor said to my dad that it would be fine to put a diaper on for an hour or two to go to family's house.I replied that this doctor didn't see baby boy, I only called him on Friday and said the rash was really bad and asked to stop antibiotics (doctor approved and we stopped them on Friday), so he doesn't know the true extent of this rash.Dad said that my brothers and I had terrible rashes growing up, and diaper rash cream for a couple hours would be fine for baby boy. Mom agreed.I insisted that this wasn't just a rash; it was split skin and I didn't want split open skin in a wet/dirty diaper. I said that diaper rash cream didn't help earlier. I didn't say this, but the bottom line was that I didn't want my son to have unnecessary pain for the sake of being proper.I said that my husband can stay home with the baby and I can attend; I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable.My dad insisted on the diaper for the duration of the party, and said that sometimes my child is going to be uncomfortable and that's okay. That one really got me. I didn't say anything to that as I didn't want to escalate the argument, but there's a difference between an open, even a scabbed-over wound in a warm, wet diaper, and changing a diaper in a cold room. Or even a normal rash in a diaper, for that matter.Once I arrived to the party (by myself), my dad reiterated that I should listen more to my mom, and stop depending on the internet. She's raised three kids and she knows what she's doing. I did listen to my mom; I bought the milk of magnesia she recommended to spread on baby boy instead of diaper rash cream. I did google that, not to fact-check her, but to see if there was anything else I could do to end baby boy's pain now (she told me she just heard it helped the acidity), and I ended up adding Benadryl to it and using that solution today sending him to the babysitter in lieu of diaper rash cream (after a weekend of no diaper at all, baby boy's rash is almost gone).I have told my mom before that her word trumps the internet because I trust her, but in this case my decision wasn't dependent on the internet; it was dependent on me seeing my baby boy's experience with this rash in a diaper the day before, and not wanting to cause him further pain. I did tell Dad that in no uncertain terms.My grandmother also had to put in her two cents about how a diaper would have been fine.But then, the party moved on.So, long story short, despite the fact that all my older family members thought I was being overprotective, I stood up for my child's comfort by not bringing him, and instead allowing him to heal further. And I'm pretty proud of myself for that. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2IdSb6l