HELP! Sudden new diaper rash issues with 2.5 year old DD

[Flower of Bliss]

DD has been in cloth full time since birth. When this started, we were using mostly pockets with fleece inners, PUL outers, and prefolds as inserts. We have been using the same cloth wipes with the same wipe solution for at least a year (more or less the same since birth). We have been using the same wash routine with the same detergents for at least a year (more or less the same since birth). We have not changed bath products or added new foods of note.

About 6 weeks ago DD had a dirty diaper that I must have missed for awhile and resulted in a red bottom and a blister on her vulva. This has happened a couple of times in the last 6 months or so. She doesn't have a poop schedule at all and sometimes when we're busy out and about playing I don't smell it and she doesn't tell me. Of course, I change it as soon as I find it.

During the healing time, as normal, I started doing more time in fitteds or naked at home. Less than a week later she ran a fever for about 6 hours and the next morning her whole diaper area was broken out in a bad rash. This had NEVER happened to her. While healing, I was very careful to give her lots of naked time, I started using the bit of fitteds and wool we had, and eventually I bought a larger collection of used fitteds (all 100% cotton) and more wool. I've been using fitteds and wool much more, though we do also still use our pockets.

Her bottom has pretty much completely cleared of the rash and has been for quite awhile. However, she keeps getting a red irritated diaper area since then. She's started frequently night waking from pain in the diaper area and asking for a dry diaper, so we're suddenly doing middle of the night diaper changes. I'm checking her diaper very frequently and changing her as soon as she's wet (which I've really always done, but I've gotten more careful about it lately). I sometimes use the Magic Stick on her, which we really like, but hasn't been working like magic lately.

I can't decide if I should be doing more pockets (which keep her skin more dry when they're wet, but aren't as breathable) or more fitteds with wool (which keep the moisture on her bottom, but are more breathable).

Any advice, ideas, anything???

[katie9143]

wow, i can sympathize! ours is probably due to build up and using the laundromat for the last 6 mos since buying our house and not having the money to get the washer/dryer hooked up. even though you said nothing has changed, perhaps the chemistry of her body and urine is changing? have you tried stripping? back when i used my own machines, a simple squirt of plain dawn every week or 2 and some extra rinses did the trick for us, but now that its laundromat crud and so forth, i have been reduced to boiling my whole stash every 1-2 months...not so much fun.

i feel like with my dd, that although the cotton is more natural and breathable, its the dryness that keeps her rash-free....which seems like it would lend itself to the pockets rather than the fitteds. my dd just recently grew out of half her pockets and at the same age as your dd, i am hoping to move toward pling rather than investing in more large fb (which is pretty much what fit her for pockets right now).

jmo - good luck tho, sounds like ur doing a great job!

[Equuskia]

I had this problem too with my dd, ironically at the same age as yours. I had used BGs on her, which kept her dry. Then I used prefolds, and after a while, she would break out in a bad rash. Using the BGs cleared it up (as well as some OTC antibiotic cream). My dd would never tell me when she was wet or pooped, so if I forgot, it stayed on her butt.

[Ifluffedthree]

I had a similar experience using anything with fleece with my youngest son. And the longer we used the diapers and the more buildup in them the worse it got.

I lost all the synthetics and our problem seemed to resolve.

I would maybe start with stripping the diapers and see if it help.

Poor baby.

[Michigan Mama]

That's so frustrating, mama! My ds is younger, but we've had a few really bad diaper rashes, mostly due to food allergies for us. Soy is the worst culprit... hopefully it's not food allergies because they are a pain in the tush, but don't rule it out completely. Sometimes it takes a while for a certain food or chemical to build in the system before a person starts to react to it. Oh - another one - strawberries. He's been eating them all along but jsut started reacting to them in the last month or two. Diaper rash and diarrhea. Yuck. Anyhow, hopefully it's not that!

The fever would worry me a little because of the crazy staph infections and things going around. If it were me, I would take her to the doc if she gets a fever again.

Stripping your dipes sounds like a good idea, or maybe even boiling the ones you can to make sure any germs in them are dead! The decision between natural fibers or synthetic next to the skin is different for every family. You'll just have to experiment and see what works.

[bea3]

Your poor baby (toddler)! We experienced something very similar last fall (bleeding open owies that wouldn't go away). We had a prescription cream from the doctor and alternated this with zinc oxide or, interestingly, maalox (less sore to wipe off-our doctor suggested we use it during frequent change times). I hate to admit this but what finally worked were super absorbent overnight paper diapers. I would never have discovered this, except we went to visit my in laws in the UK and thus brought paper dipes along (Seventh Generation-but only enough for a few days-planned to buy a package there). The rash persisted. When we ran out of out of the small stash of paper we'd packed, I went to the pharmacy planning to buy the natural paper diapers I had purchased the last time we'd visited. No luck, they didn't carry them anymore. So I browsed all the choices and picked the ultra absorbent overnight type, and within 24 hours of these diapers and a zinc oxide cream her rash was obviously waning. It came back the minute we got home and switched back to cloth...

We, like you, had used mostly pocket dipes, and then switched to cotton prefolds/flats/fitteds and a wool soaker and tons of naked time. We'd tried the creams (prescription, non-prescription, and stomach coater). Now we still use the cotton/wool combo during the day with frequent changes and Fuzzi Bunz at night. BUT if she gets a (remotely serious, i.e. red or raw) rash we change from nighttime Fuzzi Bunz to nighttime Huggies Overnights and zinc oxide cream (I like Little Twig extra mild unscented). If we ever get a rash that doesn't seem to be clearing up after two nights of paper we will switch entirely to paper until it is gone. Better this than another seemingly endless episode of open wounds.

I wish your daughter a healthy bottom. And do bring her to your doctor!

[Flower of Bliss]

Well, the staph and to a lesser degree yeast comments here and on DiaperSwappers scared me enough to bring her into the pediatrician (who we've probably seen 5 times total in her whole life). He said it's definitely not staph and doesn't really look like yeast either. He thought it was really just irritation and suggested using lotrimin just in case and using a thick barrier cream to protect the skin. He didn't blink about our cloth diapers. He asked me to sign a waiver (not pushy, just CYA sort of thing) about not vaxing and sent us on our way.

So, I'll get the diapers stripped. We've never done that. And I'll do lotrimin and a barrier cream and hope it clears up soon.

Any barrier cream recommendations that won't hurt our diapers?

[Equuskia]

I used Burt's bees just fine with both prefolds and BGs. Never tried it with fleece though. I have also successfully used triple antibiotic cream on these dipes. If what your dd has is round sores, with kind of a hole in the middle (like a little volcano, hard to describe), the triple antibiotic cream worked really well with my DD, however, since your dd is very young, I would check with your ped if it was ok to use. If it's just rashy, you could try an oatmeal bath.