4yo with sore bottom, sensitive skin -- help!

[sunnygir1]

My dd has been out of diapers in the daytime since she was 2, but at nearly 4.5 she still wets heavily at night.  Her vulva gets red and sore easily and frequently.  Air flow, soda baths, and reminding her to wipe well when she pees helps, but it takes her a while to heal up each time, and I think this is because of the fact that she soaks a cloth diaper every night.

When she was a baby I never used disposable diapers on her because I didn't want to and because they gave her a bad rash the couple times I tried them.  This winter we went on a trip, and I took Seventh Generation disposables for ds (17mo) and dd (4y).  She did great in them.  They never leaked and her bottom didn't get red at all -- a persistent problem with cloth diapers.

So, I just looked at buying more 7th Gen. diapers because I thought I might switch her, at least when she's sore.  I was disappointed to find that they have changed their "chlorine free" diapers to "free and clear" diapers, and they have terrible reviews, largely because of leaking.  If they won't get dd through the night, it's not really worth it.

I looked at Tushies gel free diapers, but a lot of those reviews say they leak overnight too, so they probably won't work for this.

I know there's another "free and clear" diaper, maybe Pampers? but I am afraid to try anything on her sensitive little body.

Any thoughts on keeping her dry and healthy?

BTW, she is usually still dry when I go to bed, I've tried taking her to the toilet before I go to bed, but she is such a heavy sleeper that she just gets upset and never pees, I've tried letting her go diaper free or in undies on a pad, but she always wakes up soaking in the middle of the night.  So, I'm looking for a diapering solution, I think.

[poppan]

I really like the Nature Babycare brand of pullups. It's really soft and I like them better than seventh gen. My Target has them and amazon sells them but you have to buy a four pack.

[herent]

I don't have a recommendation for a diaper specifically but definately stay away from Seventh Gen, that nice natural brown color is actually added dye.  I would recommend putting on rash cream everynight regardless of weather she has a rash for preventative measures Bordeaux's Buttpaste is good, try dusting with a natural powder like plain cornstarch during the day after pottying.  I would also limit fluids after dinner time since she wets through alot, it's kinda trial and error how much fluids is too much, we had to do it with my DS, but it worked great.  Goodluck

[hippiemom]

Maybe soothing sitz baths for the skin, with a nice cotton sock full of oats that she can squish in the tub water?  soothing..  Calendula and comfrey ointment is nice, or A&D/lanolin, very protective.  

As for night time covers, my kids wore the 7th Gen's but that was years ago before they apparently changed {and they were younger}.  Maybe a night time "pull up" for older kids?  It may be that because your child is bigger and older she is leaking with diapers.  Looking for the larger kid sizes, even in a pamper type, might be more effective, and then right to the tub for a good clean soak and some healing salve right afterward.  

[sunnygir1]

Originally Posted by hippiemom 

Maybe soothing sitz baths for the skin, with a nice cotton sock full of oats that she can squish in the tub water?  soothing..  Calendula and comfrey ointment is nice, or A&D/lanolin, very protective.  

As for night time covers, my kids wore the 7th Gen's but that was years ago before they apparently changed {and they were younger}.  Maybe a night time "pull up" for older kids?  It may be that because your child is bigger and older she is leaking with diapers.  Looking for the larger kid sizes, even in a pamper type, might be more effective, and then right to the tub for a good clean soak and some healing salve right afterward.  

Thanks for the ideas.  I usually just do baking soda baths and air out and then green clay powder with the diaper.  I'm generally hesitant to put any salve or ointment on because I don't want to make it worse by holding/sealing in anything yucky, kwim?  Maybe a salve would be good, though.

I'm nervous about commercial disposable diapers because of the chemicals in them.  When she was younger disposable diapers gave her a horrible rash every time.  : (