CD+DS2=Diaper Rash, WTH!?!

[ThreeofUs]

I'm so p*ssed.

DS2 has never had diaper rash.

Then I started using CDs.

Even though I changed him every couple of hours and every time he had a BM - and he's always on me, so I *know* when he has BMs - we have an attractive red diaper rash right up the crack of his bottom. Must feel lovely.

I thought CD'ing was supposed to be better than sposies for diaper rash. WTH?!?!

I hate being back to sposies. I feel guilty with each one that I use.



(And did I mention that we are ALL sick with a germ DH brought home from a business trip? That's the icing.)

[dcmom2b3]

I'm sorry, Ivy. :hug:

I had the same experience with CD-ing. It made me feel awful, both for the $$ I'd spent on the CDs, for the resulting rash (which made the Bunny miserable) and then for reverting to 'sposies w/o trying to figure out if I was doing something wrong with the CDs, or if another (more expensive -- heh) CD system would have worked better. Maybe there's some CD wisdom out there?

I wanted to be a little more economical and green, but I figured I gotta do what's best for my kid, and a red butt ain't good.

Hope you all feel better soon.

[egoldber]

Sometimes kids have an adjustment period. Sarah and Amy both had rashes first, but then it went away. Also, using a fleece liner can help.

[ThreeofUs]

Sometimes kids have an adjustment period. Sarah and Amy both had rashes first, but then it went away. Also, using a fleece liner can help.


Adjustment period? For what?

And I *was* using fleece liners. :( I was doing everything all the sites - and the wisdom of this and other boards, might I add - recommended.

That's why I'm so effing po'ed.

[ThreeofUs]

I wanted to be a little more economical and green, but I figured I gotta do what's best for my kid, and a red butt ain't good.

Exactly. I want my G to feel good again!

[bubbaray]

I've heard of people have recurrent yeast infection problems with CDs. Not sure how they get rid of that, bleach maybe?

I'm no help -- I've only used sposies.

GL!

[ladysoapmaker]

I have found my kids tend to get diaper rash from disposables. I'm on my third kids with CD.

I would recommend you make sure you are running an extra rinse cycle... Use a "dye & perfume free" laundry detergent. Also use less detergent. you may find that if you run a cycle without detergent a whole bunch of suds will rinse out. Try not to use bleach it wears out the diapers quicker. also you might try to add about 1/2 cup vinegar to the rinse.

Good luck.

Jen

[kijip]

Some skin is just really sensitive to detergents and any trace detergent residue. My parents HAD to use disposables on me (and only 1 brand) because of horrible diaper rash. And while we use only cloth diapers, I can honestly say I have seen babies who had rashes like crazy in them and I would not hesitate to switch to disposables if my child had a rash from cloth I could not solve. Luckily T was never very rashy and F has not had a rash at all yet, even though he often soaks his diaper at night and we don't always change him every 2-3 hours (insert bag over head smilie). Don't feel badly.

[elephantmeg]

DD didn't do well with them at all...

[maestramommy]

I second experimenting with your wash routine. While CDing doesn't give my kids rash, I had a heck of a time getting all the odor out while washing. It took a lot of questions and talking to different people, trying different things to get rid of the problem.

If that still doesn't work, well, you gotta do what's best for your kid. I know some babes who get terrible eczema only with sposies. I'm sure your kid isn't the only one who gets rashes only with CDs. :hug:

[buddyleebaby]

He may also be sensitive to fleece.

I hope you figure it out mama, that sucks.

[KrisM]

So sorry to hear about the rash. DD couldn't do fleece - it gave her rashes.

[alirebco]

I think most rashes in cds are due to one of these reasons:
-wrong detergent (pinstripesandpolkadots.com has a good chart)
-too much detergent/not enough rinses
-yeast rash which needs to be killed in the diapers themselves by bleach, boiling, etc
-sensitivity to materials - some babies are allergic to fleece, suedecloth, some cannot have wetness on their skin as in pure cotton and bamboo diapers
-not washing in hot water to kill bacteria

I would definitely try stripping the diapers and then wash in a recommended detergent, make sure you're not using too much/doing enough rinses and then see if it's a material sensitivity or wetness sensitivity. Hopefully, it will clear up soon! Good luck!

[shawnandangel]

Here is a chart I saved from this board:

http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html

I wash mine

1 cycle - super wash - on cold with 1 tablespoon Allen's Naturally
1 cycle - super wash - on hot with 1 tablespoon Allen's Naturally
1 cycle - regular wash - on warm

Once a month I add 1/4 cup bleach to the hot wash

I was having problems with diaper rash and realized I had to change even more frequently than I thought. I change her every 2 hours during the day and then she sleeps through the night with an extra liner (8-9 hours)

Sometimes her butt still gets red and I'll put some Desitin on her booty and let her play naked on her tummy for awhile. Then I'll put her in a sposie and during the next diaper change I'll put her back in a cloth and wipe off the Desitin.

ALSO - I do not use a baby wipe for pee pee diapers. This I found to be the biggest cause of her diaper rashes. After I stopped wiping her butt every diaper change things got much better. I only use wipes for poopy diapers.

If you feel you must, you can run your DC's bottom under the faucet and pat dry with a towel.

When I switched from disposable to cloth I had the "adjustment period". I think what egoldber means is that disposable diapering and cloth diapering are different and it takes awhile to adjust to the newness of it and figure out how to best cloth diaper your child through trial and error.
I would say hang in there. As I said above, if her diaper rash got bad I would put some desitin (or whatever cream you like) on her butt and either let her go naked for a bit or put a disposable on her.
For awhile when she got the rash I would switch back to disposables with the diaper rash cream for 1 day and then go back to cloth.

After awhile I got into the swing of things, learned how often my dd needed changed and that I needed to put an extra liner at night.

Note: If you're using Charlie's soap some children have an allergy to it. I love the chart I posted above. It really helped me decide to go with Allen's which has worked great for me. I also think it's a bit of trial error with the detergent you use. Some works great for some moms and another will work better for another mom.

[ThreeofUs]

Thanks to those of you who posted about how to wash and wipe. I was already doing all of this as I wanted to be super-careful. Didn't want a DIAPER RASH, after all, lol.

And thanks for the support and experiences, guys. Nothing like a red-bottomed, coughing, sick baby to make a mama feel ineffective - but you all make me feel better!

[egoldber]

Adjustment period? For what?

Well, for better or worse, CDs don't wick away moisture like disposables do. This is why the fleece liner sometimes help.

So what my kids had was more of a contact irritation. Anything new or different on their tushes can cause *my kids* to have a bit of a rash for awhile. YMMV.

[ThreeofUs]

Well, for better or worse, CDs don't wick away moisture like disposables do. This is why the fleece liner sometimes help.

So what my kids had was more of a contact irritation. Anything new or different on their tushes can cause *my kids* to have a bit of a rash for awhile. YMMV.


Oh, I see. G has a rash right between his cheeks. Which is finally starting to go away, thank goodness. Probably not a contact irritation, but I really don't know *what* it is....

[egoldber]

To me that sounds more like a food sensitivity. Amy gets that when I eat too much tomato sauce or citrus food or if she drinks too much juice. If it were from the diapers, I'd think it would be more on the bum.

[KrisM]

DS1 got a rash like that every time he got a new tooth :). Not sure how old your DS is, but maybe he's teething?

[ThreeofUs]

To me that sounds more like a food sensitivity. Amy gets that when I eat too much tomato sauce or citrus food or if she drinks too much juice. If it were from the diapers, I'd think it would be more on the bum.


To tell you the truth, it does to me, too. But nothing in our diet has changed, so I'm at a loss. The only thing that makes a difference is changing from CDs to sposies. When I put him back in CDs (after the first round), the rash came back. Back into sposies, the rash starts going away. Nothing in my diet is changing during that time.

I thought (after everyone gets well) that I'd try CDs one last time - and this time not use the inserts.

[ThreeofUs]

DS1 got a rash like that every time he got a new tooth :). Not sure how old your DS is, but maybe he's teething?

He's 5 months, so I doubt it. But who knows - maybe!