Ammonia (?) burn on DS's bum! Help!!

[sewaneecook]

DS1 needs a diaper during the night still (he's 4 1/2).  Any time he is in a cloth diaper (MEOS) for more than a couple nights he gets a horrible, blistering rash.  I think it's from the strength of his urine, but I'm not sure.  It takes several days of being in disposable diapers and using diaper ointment for it to clear up.  DS2 uses the same diapers without any issues, so I'm not sure whether it's a laundering problem.  Help, my poor little guy hurts! 

[sewaneecook]

Does anyone have any experience with horrible diaper rashes in an older child from night time diapers?  I REALLY hate using disposables, but right now I have no other option. 

[MayasMama88]

I don't have experience with older children, as my only child is just 17 months, but I'd have to ask if he's getting enough water throughout the day? Sometimes if kids don't drink enough water their urine can get very acidic, which will cause ammonia burns. Also, do you think you might need to strip your diapers? Over time they collect build-up from detergent, urine, etc, and so you should strip them occasionally to get them back to new condition (well, as new as you can). Do you change him at all during the night, or does he wear the same diaper from the time he falls asleep until the time he wakes up? A lot of babies can wear the same one without any issue, but if your LO happens to just have really sensitive skin, he may need to be changed once during the night.

[sewaneecook]

DS drinks plenty, so that's not the likely culprit.  He has always had a very sensitive bottom ... I could always tell when he was going to get a tooth because his diaper area would break out!  I hadn't thought about changing his diaper during the night, I'll try that.  I'll try stripping them again.  Maybe this time I'll boil them too. 

Any other ideas?

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

DS has very rash-prone skin. I can't have him in fleece or PUL for more than a couple of hours or he gets rashy, and yeah, I've seen plenty of ammonia burns.

I use lanolin on his bum at night when he's in cloth - a nice slathering of Lansinoh. It's good and thick and protects well, plus it has always washed out of the diapers. I use a wool or fleece cover over an MEOS bamboo rather than PUL to ensure that there's lots of air circulation.

Even with all of this, I tend to alternate between cloth and disposables - if I have any sense that he might be getting rashy, at this point we're using a disposable at night. I'd like to move away from that if possible, but at the moment, it seems to be the only way.

[KABB]

Have you tried making a paste of baking soda and water and applying it directly to the diaper area? You can also do a soak in a bath or warm water with about a cup of baking soda thrown in. If you go to my blog (link in my profile) I have a section toward the stop, under my header, where I talk about cloth diaper issues....that should help you some. 

Good luck!

[Carma]

We have our first light rash due to the cloth diapers, I am not sure what it is, I both cleaned my washing machine with Tide washing machine cleaner for the first time and I used BacOut for the first time almost at the same time (I thought it would be ok we had been using Tide without problems which also has enzymes) :( Not very smart, I know. A diaper that had been in the diaperbag and didn't go through the laundry for a few weeks made it clear up right away.

Before that we never had a rash. So I wanted to ask if you use some staydry layer, think that has been working well with us to keep rash free, we have microsuede and microfleece.

Carma