Anyone else feel like they're constantly searching for a really successful CD solution? (And any...

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Ok, I've posted about DS's horrible skin on many occasions, apologies for the repetition, but I'm really feeling like I'm at the end of my tether.

DS has horribly reactive skin. The type that swells up if he gets a scratch (DD is like this to a lesser extent, so am I - my mother says she was always battling rash with me). He gets burn marks on his ankles if the elastic in his slippers or socks are too tight, and they take weeks to go away.... it's nasty skin.

My plan with DS was to use natural fibres only, and managed to score a stash-worth of NB and small Sandies. But I couldn't use them - he'd get these nasty burn-like patches around his thighs and buttocks. Fleece liners seemed to help somewhat, but any dampness bothered him.

I moved to pockets and AIOs, with a few fitteds mixed in with liners over top. We can't use any diapers with exposed PUL, as it turns out, or anything with gussets. I guess they just get damp and then bother him.

I thought I'd found a good system with Flip, but once he moved to the larger settings - he can fit either a medium or large setting - the insert folds over on itself once wet, and then wet microterry sits on his skin. And there's still the exposed PUL issue.

BGs and other suedecloth pockets/AIOs seem to work relatively well. Fleece pockets don't - he still gets damp, and he also gets little red spots that look like prickly heat. I have one athletic cloth-lined pocket, and it seems to work well, but I don't have money to revamp my stash over and over just to find out if it works okay.

I think I may have found something that works quite well - it's a fitted called Wickeez and he can wear it with a wool cover. The material isn't exactly stay-dry, although it advertises as such, but the pee tends to stay all in one spot, so the rest of him stays nice and dry. And the breathable cover seems to work well. But they're very, very puffy and impractical for going out.

I've been using cornstarch to try to keep him dry, but I know I'm opening him up to possible yeast issues... I use small amounts of unscented plant-based detergent (Nature Clean) and do a stupid number of warm and cold rinses - this continues regardless of detergent. It's not yeast - it doesn't present anything like yeast and we did try a cream just to make sure. I use zinc cream in sposies, which calms things down, but don't want to use that in CDs. Calendula cream seems to help, but not totally. I do my utmost to air him out but he's notorious for peeing whenever he's "free"...

What burns me is that sposies work really, really well for him. But I hate them and DO NOT want to use them.

We do EC part-time, and I think the only real solution may be to go gangbusters on the EC and get him out of diapers sooner rather than later.

Can anyone think of anything I haven't done or tried? Any materials I haven't thought of? I've tried getting away from polyester altogether but it makes no difference. The poor child has been rashy probably 50-75% of his life and although he's a happy little guy, it can't be comfortable...

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by Perdita_in_Ontario 

BGs and other suedecloth pockets/AIOs seem to work relatively well. Fleece pockets don't - he still gets damp, and he also gets little red spots that look like prickly heat. I have one athletic cloth-lined pocket, and it seems to work well, but I don't have money to revamp my stash over and over just to find out if it works okay.

One thought- what if you buy some "pouches" made of athletic wicking jersey? If you have something to stuff them with, you could use pocket diapers as "covers" to see if it would work. Rainshine Designs made some pouches out of wicking jersey for me, and I love them!

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Oooh, I like this suggestion a lot - I had thought of getting a couple of those pouches a while back and then forgotten about it. Thanks! I think I'll do that.

[DevaMajka]

I just wanted to add that ds has eczema/rashes in his diaper area (though I believe it to be caused mostly by food). I do find that keeping his bum aired out, and changing him as soon as he pees, does keep his skin looking healthier, though it doesn't seem to make the rash go away. Our diaper solution that we're happy with, is:

daytime- thin fitteds under fleece pants

night time- LL flat "trifolded" and put in a pouch made of wicking jersey (or sposie)

going out- Kawaii baby pockets, with suedecloth inner (or sposie)

We use NatureClean too. lol

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Thanks for going through this with me - you're very helpful!  Out of curiosity, what kind of fitteds are you using? I've had DS in prefolds and wool all morning for an experiment, and so far, so good... I wish I could figure out what's going on!

[DevaMajka]

I know what it's like to deal with rashes and have no idea how to make them go away! It's really frustrating!

For the fitteds, half of them are ones I was given, and I have no idea what kind they are. I searched because I wanted more, but couldn't find any info on them. The other half are used ones from bearbottoms.ca, a diaper service in Ontario. I bought them used for $5ish each? They were in great shape, but some are falling apart, and others are still great, but they are all usable. They are thin and don't hold much pee, but they let his butt breath, and they do exactly what we need. I have one Tiny Tush fitted that I like a lot too.

[clovergirl]

OK, so they are pricey, but I wanted to throw out the Minky Blueberry diapers as an option because they were the only thing my DS could wear at night without getting a rash on his legs!  Like your son, he had issues with exposed PUL and was sensitive to wetness.  We also did EC, so during the day we mostly did super soft fitted diapers with wool pants and as long as I caught any misses early/changed him promptly when wet that worked fine.  But overnight, fitteds didn't cut it because they didn't keep his skin dry enough.  And regular stay-dry pockets all had PUL on the outside.  Enter the Minky Swaddlebees... the perfect solution.  The Minky is so soft, it didn't bother his thighs at all and the fleece lining kept him super dry.

Anyway... I hope you figure out something that works soon! 

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Thank you. I will look into those too. I have a JamTots BerryPlush diaper and it works very well for staying dry but I don't think it would work all night because the lay-in liner would curl up. I'll have a look at the Blueberry.  

As an update, I've had DS in prefolds and his bamboo fitteds, without a fleece liner, for a couple of days now at home, covered mainly with performance fleece pants. As long as I concentrate on the EC, and change promptly, he seems no more red than in a pocket, and the rashes in his groin folds are clearing up. I think the breathability is really working well. I may splurge on a couple more fitteds as he's VERY wiggly and prefolds aren't very easy to get on him (mind you snap fitteds likely wouldn't be much better...). I crossed my fingers and bought 3 more pairs of microfleece pants at a consignment store today - I prefer wool but I'll have to knit wool covers and I don't have time right now!

I used to love diapering DD, but her skin was tougher... I'm not enjoying it nearly as much with DS and I hope that EC is going to get him out of diapers sooner rather than later!