It's Yeast! Now What?

One of the wonderful aspects of cloth diapering is less – if any – diaper rash. Periodically, however, a rash may pop up for a day or two. For instance, our daughter often had light rashes when she was teething. We'd let her run around naked as often as possible and slathered on the CJs BUTTer at every diaper change. It always worked wonderfully and quickly.

Until it didn't. Oh my goodness, we had yeast!

Yeast! It's a four-letter word in the cloth diapering world. The little buggers (spores) get into your cloth and live there, making it very difficult to get rid of it. And you can't use any of the creams next to your cloth, so what do you do? It's easy to feel overwhelmed. Unfortunately, our daughter had a very stubborn case of yeast rash. And as soon as we got rid of it, she had to go on antibiotics and it came right back. We dealt with it for about six weeks, but it's finally gone and hasn't come back!

Here's what we did.

As soon as we had a stubborn, reoccurring rash (lasted a week), we began treating it like it was yeast. We purchased an over-the-counter anti-fungal (Lotrimin, brand name; Clotrimazole, generic) and applied it twice a day. At first we used disposable diapers while I figured out how to treat her cloth diapers, but you can totally use your cloth diapers while treating the yeast. (Note: We did discuss this with our daughter's pediatrician before using the over-the-counter cream.)

Before you start using any product on your baby and to get an accurate diagnosis please call your pediatrician/nurse line before-hand. Sometimes they will want to see the rash if it persists so they can decide whether it needs a prescription cream or not (we ended up needing Nystatin when the rash came back with the antibiotics). Once you figure out what you need to do to clear up your child's rash, then you can begin tackling your diapers.

Here's what you'll need:

• Grapefruit Seed Oil
• Tea Tree Oil
• Bleach
• Sunshine! (Not pictured)
• Heat! (Also not pictured)

When I researched how to get rid of yeast in cloth diapers, this is what I found should work:

• Bleach, ½ cup in your wash. Make sure to rinse a few extra times to ensure there is no bleach residue.
• Grapefruit Seed Oil. About 20 drops per load should do it.
• Tea Tree Oil. About 20 drops per load should do it.
• Heat. Put your diapers in the dryer – this once won't hurt them! The heat kills the spores.
• Sun! Sun! Sun! Sun your diapers. Yeast doesn't like sun.

Now, I was a bit overzealous when treating my diapers, especially since we used disposables the first time. The second time was much easier and worked just as well (and was probably much kinder to my cloth diapers), so keep that in mind.

The first time I treated my diapers, I bleached them, rinsed a few extra times, washed like normal, then sunned them, then rinsed them again, then popped them in the dryer. Like I said, I was a bit overzealous. It got rid of the rash, but I probably didn't need to do all that. I had the Grapefruit Seed Oil on order, so when I got that in the mail, I also washed with that and Tea Tree Oil, which I already had on hand. (Note: I was using disposables while treating her diapers, so I could wash my entire stash a few times before using it again. Overzealous!!)

When her rash came back with the antibiotics, I did not want to use disposables again. I'm not fond of them (it's why we use cloth!), and they are crazy expensive! So I purchased some micro-fleece and lined every single diaper so I could use the prescription creams on her while she wore her cloth diapers. I washed these separately from the cloth diapers so there wouldn't be any cream residue transferred, potentially causing the diapers to repel. It was very easy!

Every time I washed her diapers, I added the Grapefruit Seed and Tea Tree oils and alternated between sunning and drying them. I also made sure to bleach the diapers once, just in case. This time the rash was gone within a week. It went much better! So don't panic if you think your child has yeast. If he or she does have it, it's not as terrible as it seems. You can treat it effectively with a few simple steps.

Disclaimer: As the author noted we recommend seeing your doctor to get an accurate diagnosis for your child. Also please check with cloth diaper manufacturer’s before you use any ingredients listed below. Some ingredients may void warranties. The post is written from the opinion of the contributor.

Bio: Jennifer Esposito - I've been cloth diapering my daughter, Adele, for a little over a year. She wore her first cloth diaper when she was 6 days old and was in them full time at 3 weeks. I've been married to my best friend for 4 years. I'm an editor by trade, and during my free time I like to run, sew, or read.

It's Yeast! Now What?

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Got Yeast?

Solving a Yeast Diaper Rash with Cloth Diapers
When my son got his third ear infection by six months of age, our pediatrician decided that the normal amoxicillin routine wasnʼt going to cut it anymore. He prescribed a stronger antibiotic which did completely clear up the infection, but unfortunately also gave my son a terrible yeast infection. At first I wasnʼt sure what the raised red spots were, and by the time I had done some internet searching and saw pictures that looked exactly like what he had, the rash had grown and gotten a little out of hand.

All the cures I read about involved more prescriptions, more creams, more things that I couldnʼt use with my cloth diapers. I am committed to cloth diapering, but I donʼt want my fun hobby (isnʼt that why we all do this??) to go so far as to interfere with what my son needed to cure this rash. However, we had just moved and didnʼt have a pediatrician yet in our new town to give a prescription. Plus I was just a little sick of all the prescriptions weʼd given him already with his other issues and I was ready for a natural cure.

Yeast thrive in a certain environment and if you can change that environment to be less hospitable, they die. So how to kill them?? (Cue the release of mama bear.)

Four key elements to our fight against the yeast:

1. 1. Probiotics. By introducing “good bacteria” back into his system, it helped his body fight the yeast on its own. I found a brand at Whole Foods that is specially formulated for children and has age-appropriate dosing information. For my seven month old son, we gave him 1/2 tsp once a day, mixed in with his food. He also willingly took it off of my finger, but that was more time consuming.
2. Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE): This is a natural antimicrobial concentrate that you must dilute before using on babiesʼ skin. I used it in a wipe solution - 10 drops per 1/4 cup of water. I got the wipes really saturated so that there would be plenty of GSE getting to his skin with each diaper change. Itʼs important to air dry the skin before putting on the next diaper. (Incidentally, this is how my son learned to blow through pursed lips! He saw mama doing it a lot!)
3. Tea Tree Oil: Also a natural antifungal and antibacterial agent. We tried adding it to his bath water, but it didnʼt really do much other than make the whole upstairs of our house smell very medicinal. Ultimately what worked best was adding about 10 drops to the wipes solution and then applying 2-3 drops directly to the rash itself with each diaper change. Put the drops onto your finger tips, and then rub into the skin. Also allow to dry before putting on the new diaper. There shouldnʼt be any oily feeling to the skin, or else you might cause wicking on your diapers.
4. Sunlight and Air: Yeast loves dark, moist places, so bring on the breeze. We joked about “where the sun donʼt shine” actually getting some sunlight! Most mothers are so afraid of the sunʼs rays touching their baby that the idea of putting your baby in direct sunlight unprotected by sunscreen is shocking! I only gave him a couple of minutes at a time, legs spread out and rash exposed, in direct sun each day. Then I let him hang around inside without a diaper for an hour or two in the afternoons. Some instructions said to not put any diaper on for several days, but that wasnʼt practical for us at the time.
   

Another very important element to fighting a yeast rash while using cloth diapers is to kill all the yeast that might have been transferred the cloth itself. You can put 10-20 drops of GSE into the wash and add vinegar to the rinse. I got sort of desperate and it made my conscience feel better to add 1-2 capfuls of bleach instead. But check to make sure you wonʼt void the warranty on your diapers by doing that. Also, use very hot water in the second wash and of course the cloth diapering mamaʼs best friend: line drying in direct sunlight!

Diaper rashes should be treated according to your pediatrician's recommendations. Before using any type of product to clean your diapers we recommend checking with the manufacturer of the product to be sure it is safe to use.

By Stephanie G.

Got Yeast?

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