Before my daughter was born, I attended some ante natal classes, one of which was devoted to the care of the baby such as bathing, feeding etc. The midwife who took the class was terrific and in regards to nappy care, she advised that you start off with a nappy cream such as zinc and castor cream on baby's bottom, and if that doesn't prevent nappy rash, up it a level to Sudocrem, and if that doesn't clear it up, move onto the likes of Bepanthen!

My baby girl is now 8 months old and I have followed the advice of this midwife since her birth, and to be honest, I have found the Zinc and Castor Cream to be great at keeping nappy rash at bay. I have only had to use Sudocrem on her bottom a handful of times in order to clear up any redness. However, recently, with the likes of teething nappies etc we seemed to be having some issue with nappy rash, which neither the Zinc and Castor Cream nor the Sudocrem would clear. Now, I had in the cupboard, a sample tube of Bepanthen, however if you were to purchase a 30g tube it would cost just under £2.50 whereas a 100g tube costs a fiver. Not cheap, but like most medications/creams - if it works you will pay whatever it takes.

Bepanthen promotes itself as being a cream that aids natural skin recovery which creates a long lasting transparent barrier to protect baby's skin. THe product manufacturers also claim that this cream is so gentle that it can be used at every nappy change as it also contains no fragrance, preservatives, colours or antiseptics. However, I was following the advice of my midwife who claimed that the more you use a product, particularly the stronger creams on the market, the more skin gets used to it, and the effectiveness of it wears off.

This product also contains pro vitamin B5 which helps keeps skin soft and moisturised by helping with its natural recovery.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I had to use this cream recently to clear up some nappy rash on my daughters bottom that my first two automatic creams didn't sort out. I was a little worried at first when using this cream that I would use too much and it could damage the skin, but I was reassured that it was gentle. Within a few applications of this product which disappears as you apply it to the skin, the rash had gone and I have no more since. Hopefully it won't happen too often, and it is an expensive product, but I am glad that I followed my midwife's advice and because of this have only had that one bout of rash that hasn't cleared easily.

I am very impressed with this cream. Despite it claiming to be gentle enough for everyday use, I will only be keeping it for those cases of nappy rash/irritation which either Sudocrem or Zinc and Castor Cream won't clear. It is expensive, but it does appear to work, so it is worth its money!