Newborn BM Staining Dipes - Help?

[JuniperMama]

My DD is using a combo of prefold/covers, fitted/covers, and FB pocket dipes. As I was folding dipes tonight, I noticed that some of each have yellow stains from the newborn BMs. I'm wondering what I can do differently...

Right now we're using a dye/fragrance-free detergent, washing on hot, and drying on low.

I'm not pre-treating the dipes with anything else. I read somewhere that Bac-Out caused the dipes to wear faster - is that true?

We're not yet using the diaper sprayer as I'd heard it wasn't necessary/didn't help at this point. Should we be spraying them?

Last question - what kind of diaper cream is ok with cloth? She doesn't have any rash yet (knock wood!) but I wanted to be prepared if/when we need it and wasn't sure what's ok for the cloth.

TIA for the help!

[NorthernPixie]

Poop stains. A diaper can be clean and still be stained and still function perfectly. If the stains bother you -- you could try adding oxy clean to the wash, but if you're not having any stink problems I'm not sure I'd mess with it. The easiest, cheapest way, if you're able to do it, is sun the diapers, it'll bleach it right out. Personally my own baby's stains don't bother me so much, but others do like their diapers nice and white. Up to you!

[Lynda&Jenna]

Don't stress over the stains too much. They are easy to get out. After washing just lay them out wet in the sun and you will be amazed at how the stains disapear. We didn't use the diaper sprayer until later when the baby was on solids. then they are great.
Rash creams use cloth diaper friendly ones like the magic stock, grandma El's
Lynda

Originally Posted by JuniperMama

My DD is using a combo of prefold/covers, fitted/covers, and FB pocket dipes. As I was folding dipes tonight, I noticed that some of each have yellow stains from the newborn BMs. I'm wondering what I can do differently...

Right now we're using a dye/fragrance-free detergent, washing on hot, and drying on low.

I'm not pre-treating the dipes with anything else. I read somewhere that Bac-Out caused the dipes to wear faster - is that true?

We're not yet using the diaper sprayer as I'd heard it wasn't necessary/didn't help at this point. Should we be spraying them?

Last question - what kind of diaper cream is ok with cloth? She doesn't have any rash yet (knock wood!) but I wanted to be prepared if/when we need it and wasn't sure what's ok for the cloth.

TIA for the help!

[rachelsmama]

I always found starting with a cold water rinse (in the washer) helped minimize the stains. The few stains that still happened just got ignored.

[kickinitbabystyle]

Definitely the SUN!! BF poo stains come right out, and you don't have to worry about messing up your dipes from using something on them. I actually kinda miss the 'just throw it in the wash' newborn days *sigh*

[nighten]

We use Charlie's Soap, liquid, and have zero stains (two kids' worth of diapers -- no stains yet). I do a cold short rinse (to knock off the poop mainly), then cold soak with a tiny bit of Charlie's if need be, hot wash w/Charlie's and cold rinse. If anything retains stains, I squirt Charlie's on it, roll it up and toss back in the pail.

The sun never worked well for getting rid of stains for us. Maybe we're weird.

But Charlie's always worked great for poop stains.

Bacout will mess up the PUL/waterproofing, I've learned (the hard way). Do not use with FB.

Oxiclean works great but needs extra rinses as it can buildup over time. It's also a little rough on the fabric.

Do NOT use a barrier diaper cream with a cloth diaper unless you're using flushable liners. California Baby's Calendula Cream is water-based so it won't coat the diaper like a barrier cream.

[haurelia]

Sun sun sun! We hang the dipes outside to dry in the sun and the stains are gone...poof! It's amazing. Prefolds are especially easy to sun stains out of, in my experience. A few of our FBs have a faint faint stain on the fleece that won't come out in the sun, but it doesn't bother me. I might get aggressive about it if I try to sell them one day.
We just started using the sprayer for our solid-eating baby poop. I do miss just tossing them in the pail too!

We've never had a rash on the cheeks, but for the little redness in the crack he sometimes gets, I've used the Earth Mama Angel Baby balm successfully, although it has caused slight repelling issues on the FBs when used a lot (DH likes to put it on really thickly and spreads it out on the cheeks too).
I've not tried anything else, but I've heard good things about Grandma El's. Pinstripes and PolkaDots website has a grid with all kinds of diaper creams and their relation to CDs.

Good luck!

[abigail_b]

Definitley you need to do a cold rinse first (if you aren't already)...otherwise the hot water will "set" the stain.

Here is a good link about creams and cloth diapers: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.co...rashcreams.htm

[Kelly1101]

Another vote for sun. I never did "cold" washes first or anything like that, just washed them regular. When I put them in the dryer, I would set aside any that were stained, and lay them in the sun. It's really something you have to see to believe. It literally bleaches them.

[kickinitbabystyle]

I've always used Earth Mama Angel Baby Balm too. Never had a problem with repelling tho, in any of my dipes. But, I don't <goop> it on either, just a thin layer. It's lasted forever it seems. And, yes on the cold wash first; hot WILL set the stains in.