I’ve mentioned here before that Toby suffers from eczema so I have to be very careful what I use on his skin. We have been very lucky so far that he has never suffered with nappy rash (I credit the cloth nappies – although it could just be luck!) but if I notice his bum getting a bit red I slather on some Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream and it soon calms down. Sudocrem has been around for almost 80 years and so was probably used by our parents and our parents’ parents! But Sudocrem don’t just make the cream in the ubiquitous grey tub, they have lots of other skin care products too. Recently we were asked to try out one of these products – Sudocrem Care & Protect.

The Details

Unlike the original Sudocrem which has lots of different uses, Sudocrem Care & Protect is specifically designed to protect your baby’s bottom against nappy rash. It does this by creating a barrier between the skin and any nasties in your baby’s nappy, it conditions the skin and it guards against infection. Sudocrem recommend that you use Care & Protect to prevent nappy rash, but if it does develop then you should use their Antiseptic Healing Cream to treat it. Prices seem to vary but at 40g tube (which is what we were sent) is £5.45 at Tesco.

The Pros

• One of the selling points of Care & Protect is the ‘easy one-handed use’ flip top tube and it’s true the tube is easy to open with one hand! I also like how the corners at the top of the tube are rounded so it’s not going to do any harm if it happens to find its way into your baby’s mouth, as these things often seem to!
• The cream is much thinner than original Sudocrem – it is easy to apply and soaks in quickly.
• Sudocrem advise using Care & Protect at every nappy change – I have to admit I haven’t used it every time but even so I haven’t noticed any signs of nappy rash. Having said that, Toby has never had nappy rash anyway.
• The tube is a very handy size for carrying in your changing bag when you’re out and about.
• This is not directly related to the product but there is a lot of useful information about nappy rash and nappy contents in general on the Sudocrem website.

The Cons

• I mentioned the ‘easy one-handed use’ of the tube – it’s true that it is very easy to flip open the lid with one hand but I found I still needed two hands to actually apply the cream, whereas with original Sudocrem in a pot I can actually pop the lid off and apply it completely one-handed, which is very useful when you’ve got a very wriggly baby like Toby!
• Sudocrem Care & Protect seems quite expensive compared to original Sudocrem or a comparable product such as Metanium Everyday Barrier Ointment.

The Verdict

I think it is difficult for me to give a thorough review of Sudocrem Care & Protect because it is designed to prevent nappy rash, and Toby doesn’t seem to get nappy rash anyway. For us then this product seems a bit unnecessary. If Toby was suffering from nappy rash then I would use Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream to treat it (as recommended by Sudocrem) but as he doesn’t seem prone I don’t think I need to be applying a cream at every nappy change. However, if you do have a baby who is very susceptible to nappy rash then a cream such as Sudocrem Care & Protect may well be useful in keeping it at bay.

**Disclosure: I was sent a tube of Sudocrem Care & Protect in return for this review. All opinions are my own.