Cloth Dipes, Yeast, and Leaking: Help!

[barnone]

Hi! My DD just turned 2 and we've been using cloth dipes for a little over a year now. Things were going great, but lately we've been having some issues.

First, she keeps flooding her dipes. Leaks galore. I try to change her every 1-2 hours, but sometimes she just soaks the whole thing at once.

She's been having some frequent BMs lately (3-4 times a day, instead of just 1-2) and her bum has been fairly red. I just noticed tonight that she has a little blister on her butt cheek. My SIL said it's probably yeast, which makes sense b/c of the constant moisture, especially w/ her flooding the dipes so often.

I put some Lotrimin on it to see if that helps (she wears 'sposis at night so I'm not worried about the cream on the dipe). But what do I do during the day? Can I put dipe cream on with a fleece liner? If I use a liner, is it safe to use a cream w/ petroleum? Or should I stick to Burt's bees??

And (this is probably a whole other post) what do I do about the leaks?!?!? The dipes do not seem to be holding as much liquid as they should. I use All free and clear (barely any), the HE stuff for our front loading washer. And I use RLR once a month. The RLR helps w/ the stink, but the dipes still don't seem to be that absorbent. Are they not rinsing fully? I do an extra rinse every time.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!! TIA
Barbara

[possum]

What kinds of diapers and covers are you using? Are they wicking moisture or is pee pouring straight through?

Diapers should be changed when they get wet. Two hours in a wet diaper would be uncomfortable and would be a set-up for growing bacteria/yeast. Two year olds can do rather big pees, and even a good, absorbent diaper will likely not hold 2 hours' worth of pee in my experience.
If you think your diapers are holding less liquid than they used to, you may need to look into stripping them. There are lots of threads that describe how mamas do this. I have never had any need to strip our flat diapers but have had issues with multi-layer ones. They seem to be difficult to get completely clean and dry.

[LiLStar]

i, unfortunately, have gotten way more experience than I'd like with yeasty baby butts, but even when at the most severe (raw, bleeding skin) not once did I see a blister. When my dd had a blistering rash, it was staph.

[barnone]

[QUOTE=possum;14423203]What kinds of diapers and covers are you using? Are they wicking moisture or is pee pouring straight through?

We mostly use prefolds with PUL covers- Thirsties, Imse Vimse, Bummis. I did the test w/ the prefold where you pour water into it. After about 3 oz, it started coming right through the other side of the dipe.

Guess I need to look into stripping them. I thought that's what RLR was for. Was I mistaken??

[possum]

Yeh, it sounds like you might need to strip them. I'm not sure what RLR is. I know lots of people use Dawn for stripping. Also repeated hot washes and boiling.
Melinda