First off, my experience with diaper rash has been extensive. My middle child, and now youngest also, are wheat-gluten intolerant (still going through inconclusive tests for Celiac disease). There are diaper rashes, and then there are allergy diaper rashes. You’re dealing with a whole other monster. The rashes with our oldest lasted almost an entire year while we tried to find the culprit.
Whenever either of my children ingest a wheat or gluten product, there is massive diarrhea within 24 hours, and a large open blistering rash follows, usually with the first awful diaper. Most people can’t believe we choose to cloth diaper through diarrhea…but honestly it helps SO much.
We don’t have the “up the back” blowouts with our diapers, especially our bumGenius 3.0s. It all stays contained nicely. Using our own cloth wipes and homemade wipe solution saves money as we go through many in a short amount of time. Our house also doesn’t stink (take your average stinky diaper and multiply it by 10 for an allergy diaper) because we use our diaper sprayer to put the entire stinky mess down the toilet, not into the trash.
Another thing we love about using cloth diapers is when the rash is so bad it starts to bleed (about day 2) we put on a flat or a pre-fold with a snappi and no cover. They breathe nicely while still protecting our furniture/carpet. As soon as they are wet/dirty we can tell and change them. Nothing sits on their skin more than a few seconds. This also helps dry the rash out so it can heal faster.
A lukewarm bath with lots of baking soda in the bottom of the tub/sink helps heal them up. We use Grandma El’s diaper cream after to help protect the rash area. It smells nice and does a decent job protecting them.
Although we hate to do it, and it is hard to admit, there are times when we have to use disposables. I know, I know. Their rashes have gotten bad enough though that we have to put prescription cream on them because of infection. Our diapers are an investment and I do not recommend using any diaper cream on your cloth that isn’t CD friendly. Even with Grandma El’s we use a disposable liner to help protect the build-up on our diapers. Along with that, we do what is medically necessary for them-bleeding blistered bottoms are nothing to mess with.
Thankfully our two year old is now potty trained and has learned to not eat every little thing he can get his hands on! But now we’re starting the journey all over again with our 11 month old. We’re just so glad we have cloth diapers and CD accessories to help us get through!
By Jenney
Jenney is a home daycare provider and mommy of three. She has been cloth diapering since October, 2008. www.thedraystoday.blogspot.com
9 comments:
Oh my goodness this all sounds like quite a challenge! I have complained about creams and rashes but haven't had to deal with anything nearly this severe - kudos for doing what you have to do to take care of those poor little bottoms and sharing your advice!
Have you ever dealt with yeast? I've been using cloth on my 5-month-old (and 2 1/2-year-old) since January, and we are trying to clear up a yeast rash w/ prescription cream. (She's in sposies this week.) She has battled a diaper rash since birth, and I really think it's been the yeast all along. I have loved using CDs up until this week. When I was trying to disinfect the dipes w/ tea tree oil, I used too much, and they started to repel. So now I am stripped them. I'm afraid I've ruined my stash just by trying to disinfect. I feel like all I'm doing it cleaning diapers.
Our ds must be have some sensitive skin. I start to dread when he shows signs of teething...because the diaper rash is hard to beat! Even if we get the diaper changed within one minute of of a bm (you gotta make sure he's done or he's gonna go on you, the table or the clean diaper) he still gets the yeast rash and irritation. :( I've started to dab on some lanolin, but when the rash gets a little worse, we let him 'air dry' and run around without a diaper. And sometimes we just break down and use a sposie. We have to keep them on hand for our church nursery. I feel your pain with the rashes, even if they are from different causes.
@ Amanda, We have the same problem here. My son is 14 months and as 12 teeth every time he gets a new one we get a bad rash, I think it may have something to do with yeast as well-but the second he goes and it touches his skin is a major rash! I have been trying to get lots of probiotics in him and cut down on sugar-I am hoping this will work. We also do an hour diaperless in the morning after he wakes up. It is very frustrating and i feel so bad for my son !!
@ Humbled Homemaker
No, I have never had to deal with yeast. All I can say is if there is a natural way to heal things we use it. But when prescriptions are needed we do use them. Stripping shouldn't hurt your stash...hang in there!
thanks for the recommendation on CD friendly creams.
in regards to the yeast question - we had to deal with that too and it was hard to get rid of! the passing it back and forth via breastfeeding made it frustrating. i tried vinegar solutions on his bum. it seemed to help some, but eventually, we had to break down and use prescription cream. oh! we also used infant pro-biotics. this seemed to help his system quite a bit, but still had to use the cream.
@Humbled,
We've cloth diapered since day one, and battled yeast since the first week.
While it's an ongoing problem, I have a lot of luck when I only use diapers that have a staydry type liner. This keeps baby's skin dry. Yeast needs a warm, wet place to grow so keeping baby's skin dry fight's yeast on one front. I also moisturize baby's skin with coconut oil which helps fight yeast on the skin. We also do at least one hour of diaper free time a day, and use Motherlove diaper rash cream. When I use motherlove I always use it with a prefold or flannel insert so it doesn't ruin my pockets and stay vigilant for wetness.
Thank you for this post! We are dealing with a nasty diaper rash right now, due (I think) to antibiotics. I'm thankful you shared your story!
Fresh Aloe works as well for diaper rash, as most diaper rashes are "burns"! Good Luck!
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