Diaper Rash - HELP!

[girlfromthefuture]

Hi all,

Baby no. 4 is having a terrible time with diaper rash when we're cloth-diapering. We never experienced this before and have tried everything - including different laundering, hair dryer-drying after changes, etc.

What ideas/suggestions can you offer? I HATE buying disposables, but just hate that her bottom is sore....

Thanks so much for any advice.

Mary

[EmmalinesMom]

First, I adore your children's names.

The first things that popped into my mind are a sensitivity to synthetic fabrics and the possiblity of a yeast rash.

Do you use fleece lined diapers? Fleece liners?

[cristeen]

Can you describe the rash?

It took us months to realize that a fairly innocuous looking redness was in fact a yeast rash. A simple application of clortrimizole (anti-fungal cream) a couple times a day and some super hot washes, and the rash is finally going away.

[mum4vr]

I would suspect yeast rash (since this is not your first rodeo, and I'm sure you've tried the tried n true).

If you don't want to use drugs on your infant's genitals:



peel and lightly crush a clove of fresh garlic (or slice it up) and pour olive oil over it in a small glass jar or even in a zipper baggie.

Rub the garlic around in the oil 'til it smells garlicky, and lightly dab some oil on the red spots (with yeast, it is often large red patches that look weepy and may cover the entire diaper area IME) AFTER washing very gently with plain unscented soap and rinsing with cool clear water and patting dry or air drying. (We liked Dr Bronner's aloe vera baby mild soap, but use what you have)

This oil gets better and more garlicky in a few days, but will start to work the first application.

Discard after a week.

Good for mama yeast, too! And btw, it's good for bacterial/ viral rashes and those that are just plain irritation/ contact dermatitis.

blessings! I hope she feels better soon!

[girlfromthefuture]

Thanks mamas! The rash does clear up when we use disposables (though I do suspect when it gets really bad that it's yeast, and we make that triple paste - which helps....I love the garlic idea! thanks mum4vr)

I could use some help with ideas about washing the diapers. We've tried a number of different things. Seems to be worse when we use the Motherease snap diapers and better when we use the prefolds. Maybe there is something about the terrycloth of the Motherease diapers that doesn't clean the same as the prefolds?

Thanks for the names compliment EmmalinesMom - I like them, too!

[ctrygirlatheart]

We have been going through the same thing and what we are trying this week is super hot washes, vinegar in the rinse and line drying. Yeast is so hard to kill! We also have been using the nystatin cream too. Good luck!

[cristeen]

My machine has a sanitize cycle and a button that tells the internal heater to heat the water (I had to read the manual to figure that out).

So i do a cold 'Express Wash' w a full scoop of detergent and vinegar. Then i do the Sanitize cycle w the extra heat (which takes 3 hrs), w about 3/4 scoop of detergent, vinegar and a 2nd rinse cycle. I have to add 2-3 gallons of water to each wash, too, since my machine's water level is set so low.

But after a week of that, i seem to have made a difference - i just had to make sure every single dipe got washed, or risk reinfection. And i have to continue that routine until the rash is completely gone.

[girlfromthefuture]

Cristeen - I'll look to see if we have a sanitize feature. We turned the water temp up, but you may be right - it might just be that we're not killing the yeast in those darn diapers. Fingers are crossed that she decides to bag diapers just around age 2 like her older siblings! (though she's really enamored with diapers right now and not showing any interest in not using them!)

Thanks for the ideas!

[terese17]

I am having the same problem with my diapers. When I put my son in sposies the rash goes away, but when we use cloth, he gets a horrible rash. We have taken him to the dr before for it and one time it was a bacterial infection, one time it was an ammonia burn, and other than thay its just been "diaper rash". I have tried different soaps and stripping. Also, my diapers all smell very strongly of ammonia the second he pees in them. We have been using sposies for about a month now and I would love to go back to cloth but not if its going to hurt him. We have cotton, fleece, and microfiber insides to our diapers, I use about 4-5 different kinds of diapers. The problem is with all of them.

[girlfromthefuture]

Once difference I realized this time around is that we're not hanging the diapers out on the line to dry like we did with our older children. I honestly think this make a difference - that sun bleaching must have been even more beneficial than we realized!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by terese17

I have tried different soaps and stripping. Also, my diapers all smell very strongly of ammonia the second he pees in them.

If you have an ammonia smell, then you have a wash problem, your dipes are not getting clean. And if they're not getting clean, they're certainly not going to be helping a rash clear up.

Read the current thread about the Stink Problem for some ideas on dealing with it.