Ammonia in diapers?

[jbintz]

I use fb's stuffed with 2 cpf's for my boys at night time. A while back my younger sons penis would turn FIRE red by morning and he would stink of amonia. Lately it is happening to my older son. I am almost positive it is the diapers.

What should i do? They don't stink I wash in natural detergent but we do have hard water. Should I put them through a wash with dawn a few times?


Can it be an amonia problem if I can't smell amonia when the diapers are clean?



Jana

[tylersmama]

It's definitely possible that they're not getting all the way clean. You said you have hard water...might be worth trying some Calgon. It's worked wonders for my diaper laundry. I add 1/4 capful in with my detergent (plain old Tide). I have a HE washer, so if you have a regular one, you could probably even add more.

[JBaxter]

I always did a white vinegar rinse before washing my diapers. Like the pp said try a couple HOT wash Hot rinses with just calgon to get the build up out of the diapers

[JennaH01]

I think if the dipes are smelling like "nothing" after you wash and dry them, there shouldn't be a problem. Does the reaction only happen at night? It is rare but possible they are having a reaction to the inner of the FB...i'm not sure what thier inners are made of, I use mostly HH and they are fleece. I think FB is the same. Or the other thing w/pockets is that they are more finicky to wash and maybe the other posters are right, they are just hanging on to something. You could try stripping them.

[GeekLady]

Is it possible they are wetting more overnight? Maybe the fuzzibuns are a little tight, or otherwise their diaper area is getting hotter than usual? Heat will accelerate the natural decomposition of urea to ammonia, and more moisture in the diaper will help trap heat.

[jbintz]

Hotter is possible. THe inside of the fuzzi bunz is fleece.

But it has gotten worse.

About 6 mos ago it started with my younger son and sometimes the tip of his penis would bleed. He was always touching his penis so we thought that it was that and a yeast infection.

Lotrimin seemed to clear it up but then Neosporin cleared it up and diaper cream clears it up.

That has come and gone for a while but now my 4 1/2 year old is waking iwth a fire red penis and it has started to bleed sometimes. Today before a bath and after he peed it started to drip blood it was only a few drops (not that it makes it less stressful).

I blame my cloth diapers it is the only thing that they have in common between them they both sleep in fuzzi bunz double stuffed with 2 prefolds. AND I am freaking out even more because my 2 mos old daughter is wearing cloth too.

Is this something that can be caused by ammonia in the night? Their diapers do stink but when they come out of the laundry it is fine.

Any ideas?

Jana

[GeekLady]

Well, scientifically...

You could try checking for wetness and changing them in the middle of the night, to see if it's a heat/excess urine issue.

You could buy some prefolds and covers and diaper them that way for a few days, to see if it's some reaction to the fleece, or something in the fleece.

You could try disposables for a few nights, although I think this is least ideal. They're just as bad at the heat/excess wetness bit.

Has something changed in your 4.5's environment recently that could have provoked this change? Diet, maybe?

If you try changing their diapers a couple times in the night, and there is still a strong ammonia smell from them, I might mention it to their pediatrician. I don't think urea should be decomposing to ammonia that fast.

[Joolsplus2]

Did you try vinegar? Did you strip with Dawn? What kind of 'natural' detergent? Maybe a fleece pocket like a Snap-EZ at night will allow a lot more air so things stay dryer? How about a rice paper liner or a disposable doubler against their skin to draw moisture away?

[GeekLady]

Fuzzibuns are supposed to already wick moisture away from the skin and keep bottoms dry, and although she didn't mention it, you should be able to tell if that isn't working properly - the fleece lining would be wet.
When I mentioned excess wetness, I'm not worried about wetness next to the skin, I'm worried about wet trapped in the diaper, which will help trap heat, which will accelerate the natural decomposition of urea to ammonia.

I don't know of any catalyst that would do this. Doesn't mean their isn't one, it's just odd.

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, I know the FB's are dry inside, I was just brainstorming...maybe the hydrophilic liner would be even drier, or be a barrier between whatever irritant is being left in the FB's....