Having such a trying time with CD's-DH ready to give up!

[azdaisy]

We have been trying to use cloth diapers (cotton prefolds and Thirsties covers) for our 4-week old daughter. First, we had to wait awhile, because her belly button wasn't healing, and the covers rubbed on the umbilical area.

That has finally healed up, and now we have been battling thrush for the last 1-1/2 weeks. She's been on medication. It hasn't gone away, but is better. I don't know if the rash she has is from the thrush, or not. From the description the nurse gave, it doesn't seem like a thrush rash, but I'm not sure. She has had a bright red bum for awhile now. I have tried to make sure I change her diapers often enough that she's not sitting in a soggy cloth diaper. Finally, as she screamed at me in the middle of the night when changing her diaper, I put a disposable on and slathered on some diaper cream. Her rash seems better today.

I'm just not sure if there could be an issue with the cloth irritating her (I wouldn't think so, but I don't know). I'm not sure if some yeast could have gotten in the diapers, even if the rash isn't a thrush rash, and if it has, I'm not sure if we need to specially clean the diapers. (We've been using Country Save soap. I do a cold rinse, then hot wash with 1-3/4 T. soap, then a cold rinse.) Has anyone had any experience with this? I'm just not sure what to do, and I really want to use the cloth diapers, but our daughter is so unhappy about them right now. Plus, DH was originally on-board with CD'ing, but is about ready to give up after the frustrations we've had. Please help!!

Thanks so much!
Joanna

[cristeen]

First thing I would do is stick those (clean) dipes into the wash, run them through a warm/hot rinse and check for suds. If you get sudsing, then the detergent is not all being rinsed out, and that will definitely cause irritation.

You can try adding a white vinegar rinse.
You can try sunning the dipes.
You can try adding a stay-dry diaper liner like Bummis which will prevent her skin from sitting in wet diaper (some babies are very sensitive to it).

Is the rash localized in certain areas or is it all over?

There are other things you can try, but the very first thing I would do is that rinse to check for suds - because that would be the most likely/easiest thing to deal with from your description.

I know that 30 years ago when I was in CDs, I had to be changed immediately upon peeing, my dipes had to go through a vinegar rinse and had to be line dried/sunned. If any one of those things didn't happen, I'd wind up with welts.

[Nicole730]

I say check for suds first. If you don't see any, you could try a little bleach (if you are not opposed). I would think that would clear up any yeast that might be lingering.

Also, for stay dry liners, you can just cut up thin fleece from the fabric store, it would be quite inexpensive.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Nicole730

Also, for stay dry liners, you can just cut up thin fleece from the fabric store, it would be quite inexpensive.

Not all fleece is the same. The most commonly found fleece is completely unsuitable for diaper inners, but makes good covers. For inners, you want microfleece.

[fruitfulmomma]

If she was on antibiotics I would treat her for thrush regardless of what the nurse said.

With regards to the diapers, if she does have thrush they need to be treated also because otherwise you are just reintroducing it to her over and over again. Cotton can be microwaved for a minute to kill it. (You may want to get it damp first or you could dip them into boiling water instead.) You can use tea tree oil in the wash also and put them out in the sun to dry.

Other things would be that she is reacting to the detergent you are using and/or has food intolerances and is reacting to your breastmilk. (The skin on my youngest dd's butt was literally melting off every time she had a bm because she can't tolerate salicylic acids.)

[alfabetsoup]

I would assume it is thrush. Get it looked at by your dr and use sposies til it clears up. I know it's harsh but I personally would bleach the dipes. Do a regular wash, put bleach in like you would with clothes, then do another wash with extra rinse. They're only prefolds, a little bleach really won't hurt them and it will kill the yeast and any other bacteria. Don't use them again til your baby's bottom is clear.

I use fleece liners if I'm going to use diaper cream. The fleece keeps the cream from getting all over the diapers. Aveeno diaper cream is pretty mild & doesn't destroy dipes, I also like Weleda.

Hope your baby feels better soon.

[MayasMama88]

We've been using FuzziBunz CDs with our 9 mo old since she was about 3 mos old, and she's never had a rash with them. She seemed to constantly have a rash when she was wearing disposables, but since we switched to the Fuzzis, she's had none! Are you doing a second cold rinse after you do the hot wash/cold rinse? It's important to do because the cold water helps to cut the soap. And it's always a good idea to strip the dipes every once in awhile because soap and urine can build up on the fabric and irritate baby's skin. I'll do a cold rinse, then a 60 minute hot soak using 2 T. of Rockin' Green soap, followed by a hot wash followed by two cold rinses. Then I'll do another hot wash/cold rinse cycle withOUT soap to make sure everything comes out. Her diapers smell super clean and there's no more buildup! Don't give up!

[Nicole730]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Not all fleece is the same. The most commonly found fleece is completely unsuitable for diaper inners, but makes good covers. For inners, you want microfleece.

I get told this all the time on different boards. But we use any thinner type fleece we find. JoAnn's, Walmart, wherever. It's usually the inside of homemade pocket diaper. I also just used whatever thinner fleece we had to make liners to catch the meconium. I also have a friend who just went to JoAnn's and uses regular fleece as liners. I am almost positive it is not microfleece everytime, because we just get it off the big fleece walls. I found microfleece in another section.

[Mom2M]

I had to quit dairy and DD's rash went away. At least not "hidden" dairy, just the obvious stuff was enough.
Then, one time I got this craving for OJ (which I never drink) and she responded with a bright red rash!

[azdaisy]

cristeen (or anyone who knows)-What should I do for a white vinegar rinse?

We have gotten over the thrush. I have bleached the diapers, per the place we purchased them. I also added an extra hot wash with soap, and rinsed them again after the bleaching. I tried the cloth diapers on DD again, and after 1-1/2 days, she started getting a red rash on her bottom. So, she must be having a reaction to something in the diapers. AGH!

I am just about to the end of my tolerance with the CDs. The person we purchased the diapers from said if DD got a rash after the diapers had been bleached, we should try switching to doing all of our laundry in the Country Save soap, rather than only the CD's. I'm having a hard time convincing DH to wash his clothes in Country Save, rather than the Tide w/Febreze we are accustomed to. Also, if we don't use some kind of fabric softener (at least a dryer sheet) our clothes come out scratchy. It seems like someone somewhere mentioned some kind of dryer balls, or something, that can be used in the dryer without adding chemicals found in a softener. What exactly are these, and where would I purchase them?

Thanks for your help and ideas! I am really hoping to be able to use the CDs, but I'm running out of things to try...

[cristeen]

If you're switching back and forth between detergents and using softener, that absolutely can cause problems. That stuff clings to the inside of the machines and redeposits on the dipes.

I was really scared to stop using softener, because we have hard water and i was terrified crunchiness would ensue. We did have crunchiness for a few weeks, but once the remaining residue was removed from the clothes, I haven't had any issues. I do use a vinegar rinse on everything. I just put white vinegar in the fabric softener cup up to the fill line.

I do have a dryer ball, but i only use it for dipes, since it supposedly helps them dry quicker.

[Mom2M]

I never tried the dryer balls but we have used vinegar in the washer (fabric softener part) for a few years and our clothes are never scratchy, usually only a little static in the winter.

As far as your detergent, I don't think you can use detergent that has added things like Febreze!
We use Arm & Hammer "Free" and vinegar.

Here is our wash routine.
Cold water with no soap or anything for a "quick wash" which is 30 min cycle.
Then a hot water wash cycle with a small amount of detergent (Arm & Hammer) and vinegar in the fabric softener cup.
Then hot water only on the 30 min "quick wash" cycle.

I think the added stuff in the detergent could cause a rash.

Hope it works for you. There is a thread here that I just saw the other day that has a link to what kind of detergents to use. Maybe that would help


ETA Here is the link from the other thread. It looks like the Tide detergents are almost all bad for CD except for the Tide Free.

ETA again! forgot the link
http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.co...entchoices.htm

[Adaline'sMama]

Sounds like you've gotten some good advice. I just wanted to add that when we have had a rashy situation, I put her in a thick prefold with a snappy and no cover. Also, I just left her naked a lot, or would hold her with the prefold under her butt, so that if she started peeing I could close it really fast. DD isnt a pooper though. She only goes ever 2 or 3 days, so the risk is pretty minimal.

[azdaisy]

Thanks, everyone! (We actually aren't using the Tide on the CD's. We are using Country Save on the CD's, but the person where we bought them was concerned that using the Tide on the rest of our laundry could leave residue in the washer and cause rash problems, even if using Country Save during the CD loads.)

We actually have a "Super Pooper" here, so I'm not sure I'd be quick enough to prevent the yellow/green propulsions from getting everywhere, but I am certainly glad for all the suggestions. :-)

I am currently washing a load of DD's and my clothes using Country Save soap with vinegar in the fabric softener cup. We'll see how it goes! If it seems okay, I'm going to try being all stealth and do DH's laundry in Country Save with vinegar. I may try to find some dryer balls, too, to see if they help with softness. If I can do the wash for awhile without DH figuring out the laundry has been switched, maybe I can convince him it'll be okay. Wish me luck!!

[inky leeuhhh]

my dd got a red bum just because she pooped a lot. i just had to make sure i was changing her whenever i noticed she was wet or poopy. i can't figure out from your posts what you have tried so far as far as stripping your dipes goes (i'm tired and not think well today, lol), but i'd wash them on hot and check for bubbles- if there are bubbles, id wash on hot over and over till all the bubbles were gone. then because you've had thrush issues, id go ahead and do the bleach only on the prefolds. then rinse again a couple times on hot. i'd also make sure i was changing a LOT. its annoying, but the newborn poo- poo- all- the- time phase does end, and then it becomes easier. good luck!

[azdaisy]

Thanks, inky!

Yep, since the thrush, we have run the dipes with bleach. I then washed them on hot, at least one more time after the bleach wash, with lots of rinses. I checked the rinse for bubbles, and there weren't any. (Too bad...that would have been an easy solution!)

Now, I'm going to try using Country Save soap plus vinegar in the fabric softener cup on all laundry, rather than just the dipes. I'm not sure how many loads of other clothes I need to do with the Country Save before it's safe to say all other detergent residue is gone from the washer. I don't want to assume the washer is safe for washing dipes again if it's really not cleaned out. Anyone have an idea about that?

Also, does anyone use dryer balls with regular clothes? Do they really work to make them softer?

Sorry for all the questions! I just thought CD'ing was going to be so much easier, and we have had nothing but issues...

[nemrac917]

If you feel you NEED to use a fabric softener and the vinegar doesn't cut it for you (didn't for us), you could try the Ecover softener. We use 1/4 the recommended amount on our clothes every few loads and it works wonders.

We're about 1-1.5 months into using a clean rinsing detergent and we're really starting to see the changes in our clothes now. The Ecover helped us over that 'crunchy clothes' hump of the process.