Best options for breathability

[shinaabikwe]

Hey all-

I am a new mama and have been diapering my 6 week old with cotton prefolds and Thirsties covers for the past month.

My girl is a heavy wetter and I am noticing that she gets really red even when we change her every hour or so.

Are there other options that would be better for her poor bottom and skin?

We are pretty low income so I don't have a lot of money to experiment but I want to make sure she is comfortable, especially during the warmer months to come.

TIA!

[lalemma]

If your daughter will tolerate wool, I'd think that prefolds (or flats) and wool covers are the way to go! If you knit, you can knit them yourself (the google phrase you want is "wool soaker" or "wool longies") or if you sew even a little, you can recycle them from old wool sweaters.

[cristeen]

It may also be a detergent issue - what do you use on your dipes?

[Michigan Mama]

Right - I'd check your washing routine first. Could be the detergent or maybe that they aren't getting rinsed quite well enough. What is your wash routine right now?

[shinaabikwe]

Right now we live in an apartment without a washer and dryer and so we go to the laundry mat or my dh's mom's house to wash.
At the laundry mat I use the "super cycle" ( I only have two options, I think the super cycle has an extra rinse) and sometimes a second regular hot wash cycle if they look like they need it.

We might use too much detergent, we use the most basic detergent we can find, right now we have "Ultra Ecover" and I use about a half cap, which is maybe 1 oz. My dh has a hard time believing such a small amount works so he may sneak more in when he does the washing!
Maybe I need to do the second cycle without detergent to make sure its all out?

As for wool, I actually have a wool soaker that was given as a gift but I haven't tried it yet because its a little on the big side.

[cristeen]

It sounds like your wash may be to blame for the redness more than anything.

Originally Posted by shinaabikwe

As for wool, I actually have a wool soaker that was given as a gift but I haven't tried it yet because its a little on the big side.

Little bit big is not a problem with wool, so long as the whole diaper is covered. My guy is still wearing one of the same soakers he was wearing as a NB... then it was baggy, now it's snug bordering on tight. When I can't get it on him, I'll stop using it. Even now I size up in some of my woolies because that gives us better coverage on the long rise my guy has. I have to tie the drawstring nice and tight to keep them from falling off, but big deal.

[Lineymom]

I love love love fleece for covers. It is more breathable than PUL and w/o the maintainance of wool. You don't need the malden mills brand either. If you can sew or know someone who can they are cheap to make. I got my fleece from fabric.com. She has to be super soaked for it to wick thru and that never happens. I use single layer covers in day and double ones at night.

I use soapnuts for laundry.

Only a few times she has had some mild redness in the morning (I never change at night)... no real diaper rashes yet...almost 4 months old.

[Michigan Mama]

Originally Posted by shinaabikwe

Right now we live in an apartment without a washer and dryer and so we go to the laundry mat or my dh's mom's house to wash.
At the laundry mat I use the "super cycle" ( I only have two options, I think the super cycle has an extra rinse) and sometimes a second regular hot wash cycle if they look like they need it.

We might use too much detergent, we use the most basic detergent we can find, right now we have "Ultra Ecover" and I use about a half cap, which is maybe 1 oz. My dh has a hard time believing such a small amount works so he may sneak more in when he does the washing!
Maybe I need to do the second cycle without detergent to make sure its all out?

As for wool, I actually have a wool soaker that was given as a gift but I haven't tried it yet because its a little on the big side.

Yes - you might try the extra cycle without detergent. Ideally, you wouldn't see bubbles as it's agitating (or for me they dissipate immediately when I stop the machine)...

[HeliMom]

we used these with our prefolds to wick moisture away from our daughter's skin,
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_...roducts_id=736 they worked great.

[AlishaLukesMom]

My son became very irritated in the summer from the PUL. We switched to bamboo or hemp fitteds and that worked great. You can also cut up some fleece and lay it between her bum and prefold to keep her dry

[DevaMajka]

I was going to say fleece covers too. When we use fitteds, we use use fleece pants as "covers". It would work the same over snappi's prefolds

You could also try fleece liners to keep her feeling drier. Also, check often to see if she's wet- she may pee right after you change her, so she'd be sitting in pee the whole hour, kwim? Ds does this often. lol

[shinaabikwe]

Thanks for the suggestions ladies!

I went and ordered a couple of the inserts Helimom suggested and am going to try them out.

I also think I am going to explore fleece although I am not the most adept seamstress so maybe just as a liner to begin with!

I also reminded my DH about using less detergent and doing an extra rinse and I have noticed a difference already.