Persistent Rash/Skin Infection from Cloth Diapers- Please help :)

[anneca77]

Hi Mamas,

I really could use some advice.  My daughter is 5 and a half months old.  About a month and a half ago I left some wet organic cotton prefolds I had just washed (in charlies & biokleen oxy bleach) out overnight.  I was just so exhausted and it was 2 in the morning and I couldn't bring myself to line dry 'em or bring them down to the apartment building's laundry room.  They were out wet for about 5 hours before I put them in a hot cycle in the commercial dryer. 

Shortly after that I noticed a small irritation on my babe's bum, which then got worse.  I went to the ped and she told me it was an infected rash and had me put bacitracin on it and use disposables.  It cleared up within a few days and I kept her in disposables since.  Since then I've disinfected our whole diaper stash twice just in case- both times using hot water and grapefruit seed extract with baking soda or vinegar (a method I found online). 

Problem is, any time I put a cloth diaper on her the irritation comes back in the same exact spot.  I notice overnight is particularly bad because of the prolonged wetness.  If I put zinc cream on the rash and keep her in disposables it goes away in a few days.  If I put her in cloth after it clears (and I waited a month to make sure it was fully healed) it comes right back.  I am at a loss here.  Do you think I need to boil all the pre-folds?  Use bleach?  I really hate the thought of having to give up cloth diapering but if we have to do so to keep my baby's bum happy then I guess we'll do what we have to do.

Would love to hear any advice or ideas you may have.

Thank you,

Anneca

PS- Mamas, please excuse any lack of clarity in my harried writing, I'm typing with one hand a sleep-deprived brain, lol.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Hi, mama 

Check out this thread - it's new and seems to be pretty good at covering several causes for diaper rash. http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1365298/cloth-diapering-rash-drama-seeking-advice#post_17139577

[3rdClothBabyLov]

Once we had a bad rash and I just had to let her go diaper-free for a whole month.  It was like having a new puppy!  (little wet spots to clean up on the carpet).  If she's not that mobile yet, you could sit her on a fleece blanket on the floor and just wash that periodically.  Going diaper-free was the only thing that seemed to solve the problem for us, since i think it was a yeast type rash.  At the time though, I didn't have Homestead Baby cream, which I know also works great, so I might have tried that first or in combination with going diaper-free.  Good luck!

[avismama24]

Our son, luckily doesn't get diaper rash, but a while back he did get a really bad rash that just stayed and stayed no matter what I did. I took him to the Dr...thinking this is weird, and they just told me to let him go diaper free. After a little on-line research I concluded that it was actually a yeast infection. I applied diluted tea tree oil directly to the rash and it cleared up within 48 hours. I swear by tea tree for basically everything...may be worth a shot!

[anneca77]

Thanks everyone!  The rash has since gone away but we are still in sposies.  I haven't had the time to deal with disinfecting the cloth diapers again yet, but plan too soon.  Actually she is jut about growing out of the yellow edge prefolds so I am wondering if I should invest in the red edge prefolds or just go to pocket diapers.  I have to admit the thought of prepping more prefolds makes me feel exhausted.  Due to that alone I am leaning more towards pocket diapers but don't really have the money to layout for a bunch of them either.  Decisions, decisions.T

Thanks again for everyone's help and advice.  I really appreciate it.

Best,

A

[anneca77]

I just wanted to follow up (sorry it's taken so long)!  After disinfecting by stash about 4 times (first three times used tea tree, GSE, vinegar, and boiling...last time went for the bleach), I finally figured out it was the Charlie's powder detergent causing the problem.  I think it was creating buildup on the diapers.  I also changed my washing routine to a cold soak & wash followed by a hot wash.  I haven't had any problems since switching to Country Save and or/ Free & Clear brands.

Thank you all for your advice and input on this!

xo

A

[redcanary]

I was going to say - it sounded like you use a shared laundry facility, and it isn't recommended to use Charlie's when there are other kinds of detergent being used in the washer. Charlie's is "clean rinsing", and will rinse all the other kinds of detergent residue into your diapers and cause rashes! I am glad you figured it out and are now rash-free. It can be so darn frustrating!
 

[anneca77]

Oh actually I was using Charlie's in our small private washer we attached to the sink in our bathroom.  I never did the washing in the common laundry room, just the drying!