please help me solve my diaper problem!

[red and lulu]

we use the bum genius one size pocket diapers. about a month and a half ago, dd got a nasty yeast rash. while we were combatting the yeast she wore gdiapers. when it cleared up, we put her back in the cloth. the rash came back with a vengeance. so back in gdiapers she went. it took over 2 weeks to clear it up. so when i put her back in cloth and noticed by the end of the day her tush was red and irritated again i realized that it may be the diapers that are instigating the rash.

so now she's wearing gdiapers, and i don't know what to do...

i've been increasingly dissatisfied with the pocket diapers b/c they seem to stink really bad, even after being stripped (which i've done a number of times). we spray them with diluted bac-out before they go in the dry pail, and wash according to instructions (cold-hot-extra rinse) with charlie's, and we don't have too hard or too soft water.

what do i do with these diapers? they were just stripped, so i'm not sure that would help. would a natural fiber diaper be better?

thanks in advance for all advice!!

[JessicaTX]

She could be allergic to the lining fabric on the bumgenius, but if you are having a smell problem too, I think it's more likely that you need a different stripping method. have you tried boiling them?

[To-Fu]

We strip with a bit of Dawn and that seems to help. I just had to do it way more often with the BGs, for some reason... I think it's the material. I don't have the same problem with my cotton diapers.

[red and lulu]

Originally Posted by JessicaTX

She could be allergic to the lining fabric on the bumgenius, but if you are having a smell problem too, I think it's more likely that you need a different stripping method. have you tried boiling them?

she's been wearing them for over 6 months, so i doubt it's an allergy.

what do i do to boil them? just toss them in a pot of boiling water? for how long?

[Katie T]

I would try a bit of bleach. Charlies doesn't kill bacteria (I use it too and love it BTW) If you only use 1/4 of a cup it wont hurt the color of your covers but will kill any bacteria in the diapers. You don' thave to do this every wash, but every 3 to 6 months or so. BG liners are notorious for stink because of the micro fiber. We use them for night stuffed with a prefold.

I have also noticed If I stop the washer on the hot wash with soap and let it set for a while it cleans them better for some reason. Also make sure you are doing hot rinses (we do a hot wash with no soap as we don't have the option of a hot rinse on our washer)

I think you can get this taken care of with a little trial and error.

[thefreckledmama]

After the initial yeast rash, did you ever sanitize the diapers? Yeast can be very difficult to kill, and if you don't sanitize after the yeast rash clears up, then your babe can keep getting reinfected.

I would try a wash with a little bleach.

[mumkimum]

When I used pockets almost exclusively with dd1 - I found it really helped (after a similar redness/stinky incident) to run an extra full wash/extra rinse with no detergent every 2-3 washes. A soak every so often could probably help out the same way, I think the microfiber just needs heavier washes sometimes.

[kai28]

you could also possibly try liners - DS has sensitive skin, so sometimes I use either silk or disposable liners.

[fruitfulmomma]

I agree with pp that if it was yeast, it is probable that she has been reinfected and your diapers need to be disinfected. Not sure how you would do this with BG since they are not natural fibers, I know you can microwave cotton to kill them though.

What do you mean by stripping? Stripping the diapers with Dawn is meant to remove oil build-up which causes repelling. If your diapers aren't repelling then you really don't need to be doing this. I think in the almost 6 years I've been cd'ing, I have done this twice and one of those times was due to using a rash cream that would not come off in the wash.

If your issue is stink it is because the diapers are not getting clean enough in the wash. Now, some of the stripping/boiling/whatever might get the initial stink out but it is just going to come back if your wash routine doesn't change. I would do a hot wash with detergent and a second hot wash without it and then an extra rinse and do make sure you are using enough detergent for them to get clean.

Lastly, some parents do report rashes from using Charlies.

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by thefreckledmama

After the initial yeast rash, did you ever sanitize the diapers? Yeast can be very difficult to kill, and if you don't sanitize after the yeast rash clears up, then your babe can keep getting reinfected.

I would try a wash with a little bleach.

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

If your issue is stink it is because the diapers are not getting clean enough in the wash.

It takes 2 full cycles for ds's cd's to smell clean. I use about 3/4 of the recommended amount of "natural" detergent. They still need a wash with extra detergent every once in a while. I also use Tide occasionally, because unfortunately, I find it more effective at getting them stink free.

[luv-my-boys]

This is one of the biggest complaints that my friends have mentioned with the BG, the stink issue due to the fabric. Im personally a fan of 100% cotton, it is so much easier to get clean and sanitize imo. But im also a fan of prefolds for that very reason I like to be able to put my dipes on the hottest water and dryer cyle when necessary.

Perhaps rinsing them with a little bleach occassionaly. You dont need a lot for a full load on the hottest setting. Just make sure you rinse them completely.

[octobermom]

I don't skimp on detergent when I wash and have no issues with stink no matter the fabric.. But saying that I far prefer cotton fabrics for rash prevention over the stay dry fabrics.

Deanna