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Thursday, April 9, 2009

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The Low Down On Diaper Creams

Most diaper rash creams are just not safe to use on cloth diapers. The reason why is that many creams leave a barrier on the cloth diapers (especially diapers with synthetic fabrics like fleece) and will make your diapers repel (leak).

Of course if you see your pediatrician and they recommend you use a specific product we recommend that you follow their advice but just be sure you know if it is safe to use while cloth diapering.

Diaper Creams to avoid- Any diaper cream that contains cod liver oil. A&D Original Ointment contains cod liver oil, micro crystalline wax, and paraffin just to name a few ingredients. This ointment is fine when using disposable diapers but not to be used with cloth. Desitin also contains cod liver oil. If you use either one of these ointments with cloth your diapers have a great chance of repelling as it will create a barrier on the fibers and your diapers will smell like a fish market! (Again-please note that if your pediatrician recommends these creams please follow their advice however we don't recommend using cloth diapers when you do use them.)

So what diaper creams are safe to use with cloth diapers?

Northern Essence Better Butt(er) Cream
My personal favorite! Riley hardly gets a rash but I do notice that if he goes a little longer between changes or if he is having a bad day with teething he does get a bit red. A very little bit applied and the redness is all cleared up. Receives a 5 star rating at Diaper Pin.

Other cloth diaper safe creams are:


Northern Essence Diaper Rash Salve - This salve contains Healing Calendula Infused Oil, Therapeutic Emu oil and natural un~refined Shea & Cocoa Butters! Contains NO lanolin or petroleum. We can hardly can keep this item in stock.



Grandma El's Diaper Rash Cream - Highly endorsed by Happy Heiny's Cloth Diapers as one of the best creams to use when using cloth. This diaper cream recently received rave reviews.






California Baby Diaper Rash Cream- Is safe to use and is readily available in most health food stores. An all-natural, food-grade diaper rash cream includes ingredients such as ultra-purified lanolin, vitamin-grade zinc (12%) and vitamin E, in addition to organic tea tree and aloe vera.







Magic Stick Ointment- This is great for the diaper bag as it makes applying the ointment SO easy. The ingredients are so wonderful: Vitis vinifera (Grapeseed) Oil, Apis mellifera (Beeswax), Limmnanthes alba (Meadowfoam) Oil, Simmondsia chinensis (Organic Jojoba) Oil, Butyrospermun parkii (Shea) Oil, Rosa mosqueta (Organic Rosehip) and a proprietary blend of essential oils. Received a 5 star rating at Diaper Pin. Smells great and works good on a remedy for "boo-boo's".

49 comments:

lsnellings said...

Although I haven't had any rash problems since switching my daughter to cloth, it is nice to know there are safe options if needed!

Angela said...

I do not use muchrash cream, but I will have to look at the cream I do have, I thought is would just wash out after awhile.

Jut and Chris said...

Thanks! I didn't know that there were any cd 'safe' diaper ointments...we just use A&D and disposibles when needed. My ped suggested ditching cds and just using disposibles b/c cds cause diaper rashes in his opinion. Ignorant man. Luckily, that's one of the only things that I've disagreed with him on.

Minnie said...

I'm majorly bummed....I had the NE Better Butter in my cart but, I had to break away from the computer before I finished picking out my order and could not get back until this AM and the Better Butter had disappeared from my cart and now it's out of stock. :( And as irony has it DD has gotten a rash this week and the Magic Stick is not working it's usual magic. (Can't even figure out what is causing this particular rash). Do you think it will be back in stock before the end of this week? (crossing fingers that it will be).

Amanda G.

Sally Michelle said...

I was really worried when I started cloth diaperin because I was an A and D addict! Luckily I bought a bunch of northern essence!

Katie said...

Thanks for the information. I had been using a non-cloth diaper friendly cream. I used liners when I did, so I have not had any problems, but it is good to hear of other great products on the market.

K @ ourboxofrain said...

First of all, I wish this post had been up a month ago! My son's daycare provider agreed to do cloth, which is great, but ignored my no cream request, so we are down 2 diapers :( He didn't even have a rash!

Which brings me to a question: Any advice on getting an unsafe cream out of these diapers? We have tried the sink full of boiling water approach and the scrub in Dawn dish detergent approach. Both diapers still repel. Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Upstatemamma said...

Oh man!!! Too many choices - how do I know which one to try first. Her rash is all gone but I want to have something in the house for next time.

Katrina said...

I don't miss the stinky smells of creams like Desitin at all. I'm glad I had to find an alternative diaper rash solution when I switched to cloth.

Kristin said...

It's nice to see lots of cloth friendly choices. I might have to look into some of those, due to my rash-prone son. We've had success with Butt Paste & Desitin using a liner but not with Aquaphor or California Baby Diaper Area Wash sprayed full-strength on the bum. The only problem with the creams you've listed here is that they're more expensive than the drugstore brands. I guess you pay for what you get (and that's great if it works!!), but you can only buy what you can afford.

Kelly said...

Thanks for the "who's who" in diaper creams for cloth. I love the idea of the Magic Stick for the diaper bag. I might have to see if I can get my hands on a stick of that.

Suzy said...

I tried Grandma El's and it was great, loved it!

AScott said...

What about Aquaphor? I don't see that mentioned alot among the bad diaper creams, since it's not really a cream....it's the only thing that worked on my baby.

I do plan on trying out one of the one's you listed!

Sara in Seattle said...

thanks for the recommendations! I haven't tried any of these but will have to get one to keep on hand.

PJ said...

This has some great tips! The magic stick ointment, do you rub that in the rash like a deoderant? If so do you clean the stick off somehow?

MuchAfraid said...

This is such perfect timing. Andy just got a diaper rash and I was trying to figure out what to put on it!

EdenSky said...

Thanks for the info! I've been wondering which ingredients to look for/avoid.

Ashley said...

Thank you for the info! I've been looking into cloth-friendly diaper creams and this helps a ton.

Jill S. said...

Thanks for all the wonderful product descriptions. It really helps to know what will not ruin my cloth if we get a rash!

Tani said...

Wow this is wonderful information for a newbie like me, after what you spend on dipes you want to do everything to take care of them and keep them absorbant. I like that the magic stick is good for other booboos too, I might get one to have just in case.

FourofaKind said...

Thanks for the clarity. No more diaper rashes for my little man!!!

Andrea said...

Has anyone ever had good or bad luck with Burt's Bees ointment?

hosiewosie said...

is it ok to use some of the no-no diaper creams with cloth diapers if using a liner?

Umm Abbaad said...

I use something similar to the Magic Stick Ointment called 'organic healing balm' by Naturally Luxe. It comes in that great tube too. All organic ingredients - works and smells great too :-) thankfully we don't need it much as cloth has really kept the rashies away from my boy. I definitely wouldn't want my diapers smelling like fish ewwwwwwwwwwwww!

Mommy said...

LOVE the NE salve.. free of lavender adn tea tree oil version!! Also LOVE the magic stick! Works well!

Diana said...

Thank you for this helpful information! As I am new to CDing, and also busy with four little ones, I don't have much time to research things like this.

Rhone Family said...

I have bought another one from Farmsteadorganics.etsy called Benji's balm that keeps the rash from ever starting. Good stuff too.

Sara said...

California Baby Diaper Rash Cream: I am glad to hear that this is cloth diaper friendly because if I am in a pinch (like I forgot mine and I am on vacation or something) I know I can grab some

I can't wait to try the Butt(er) Cream

Dani said...

Using fleece liners helps when you use creams - but I highly recommend Northern Essence products!

TheClothDiaperWhisperer said...

HowsieWosie:
I've used medicated cream from the doctor with our cloth diapers and used a fleece liner - with no problems. The downside, however, is having to wash the wipes and liners separately from the diapers.
Also, it depends on the quality of your liner and what type of "no-no" cream you're using.

K @ ourboxofrain:
OH NO! Your daycare provider should be somewhat liable for your diapers, especially if you told them not to use any creams... UGH! The only trick that will work is typically a touch of dawn a hard bristled toothbrush and LOTS and LOTS of elbow grease.

If that doesn't do the trick - then worse case scenario you're looking at a lot of lovely diaper covers - essentially you could use the pockets like a diaper cover and lay the inserts on top (except micro-terry cannot be placed directly against the skin - so you may want to buy some of the insert socks that BG makes... here's a link:

http://www.kellyscloset.com/bumGenius-Stay-Dry-Insert-Sock_p_2878.html

TheClothDiaperWhisperer said...

Amanda:

I'm sorry we're out of the Northern Essence Better Butt(er) cream... it never fails, eh?

We do have a lot on order but they won't be here for another two weeks! Sorry!

the monkeys' mama said...

Thank you so much for this post. I was so afraid to use creams so it is good to know which ones are safe!

Minnie said...

Thanks Kelly. I ordered the EMAB Rash soap, so maybe that will be helpful the next time she gets a real nasty rash. Thankfully her current rash is finally starting to clear up.

Amanda G.

Becky said...

Oh boy, did I ever need this post a couple of weeks ago. However, I did figure out quickly that I shouldn't use the non-friendly creams even with liners, because they did a number on my liners! (I'm still scrubbing them). Thank you for this cheat sheet for next time I want to try something new!!

Unknown said...

Great info... Always looking for organic/safe products for baby. I love the California Baby line, and already use their sunscreen. I bought it for the baby, but now the whole family uses it!( Smells great too). Now, I will have to try their diaper cream!

Michelle - Blessed Mom of 5 said...

I noticed that some of the NE products use calendula and I have a question that hopefully you can help me with. I have a calendula salve that I've used with disposables and really liked. The ingredients are organic calendula flowers, olive oil, apricot kernel oil, cocoa butter, vitamin E ois, unrefined bees' wax, and essiatial oil of lemon. Just wondering if you know if this would be safe with cloth diapers?

Serena Michelle said...

momof3munchkins: I would be cautious to use the product you're asking about without a liner. I'm a little hesitant to say it would be safe on the cloth diapers since you mentioned Bees Wax. Based on my understanding most of the other ingredients are relatively "safe" but I always advised to err on the side of caution! You can use it - but be sure to use a liner and wash the liner separately from your diapers!

Hope this helps!
-Serena

The Introverted Bookmark said...

We use Northern Essence Better Butt(er) Cream and I love it! Ever since switching to cloth we havent had very many rashes, and certaintly havent had any that last longer than a day. I actually started using cloth when my son had a horrible rash. When he woke up the next morning, after wearing a HH OSS, the rash was completely gone.

Attila & Tamara said...

Thanks so much for the recommendations! The Northern Essence Better Butt(er) Cream looks wonderful--so much better than A and D!

Mindy said...

Thank you for this post! I've been searching and searching trying to figure out if california baby is cloth friendly!

simplymerry said...

Thanks so much! I want to try Northern Essence, and it's good to know California Baby works because I can pick that up at our local Target if I need something quick.

MrsQriist said...

Has anyone had any luck using creams with flats? I'm just switching from 'sposies and have a TON of Boudreax's left, and some Burt's Bee's from my shower. Since the flats wash so much easier, I'm just wondering if it'd be ok to use the cream. I use microfiber folded into the flats, and I assume I wouldn't want to use my hemp fleece when using creams. Would it be helpful to boil them? Or should I just try and sell my creams and buy some that are definitely cloth safe? How about cornstarch and other natural remedies?

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swigeand said...

I used california diaper cream with my g diapers and they now repel instead of absorb. has anyone else had this problem and do you know how to fix it? andreaswiger@yahoo.com

Daly's said...

Has anyone used Nature's Baby Organics Diaper ointment? It really works well. It doesn't have the repelling ingredients, but I have noticed that our cloth diapers are less absorbent. I don't know if that is just natural from build up and use, though...

Anonymous said...

I used berts bees diaper ointment. (i only stopped because I now make my own. But loved the berts bees)

It never caused repelling on natural fiber or synthetic fabrics. :)

However, there is some very slight staining on the microfleece liners. (i think from the zinc maybe?) But I can only see the stain if I hold it in front of a light & the stains seem to fade out with repeated washes.

For CD I would not use berts as an every-change barrier cream, just to treat rashes.

Anonymous said...

I have. But NEVER wash that liner with the diapers. The oils, etc. from the no-no cream will come off in the wash & coat your other diapers.

If using "flushable" liners double-up as the cream has gone through a single bummis liner with my babe

Anonymous said...

Reese and Luke's baby balm is another cloth friendly diaper cream to consider. It's organic, and its application is very smooth and not messy. My toddler is just under 16 months and we've gone through only 3 glass jars in all that time. and that's after using it at every diaper change. So it goes a long way and we've had no rashes. Love it. www.reeseandluke.com.

Laura C. said...

I had crappy flushable liners leak desitin and a&d through onto 4 of my pocket diapers and after 3 or 4 washes with gain liquid detergent they cream's stain and repelling affect is gone, try that maybe? Or tide if you use that.