Source
r/clothdiaps•
typingthings

Help! Recurring problem with our cloth diapers :(

My son is 13.5 mos and we've been using cloth from the beginning (with a few stints in disposables during travel, etc). He had only two yeast rashes in the course of the first year, both cleared up with lotrimin af, no problem, no other rashes.

Right at the one-year mark, he got a really terrible rash that just wouldn't go away. The only new things in his diet were whole milk and clementines -- which he got obsessed with -- so we think it was caused by acid poo from too much citrus (he's had no other issues with dairy).

The horrible rash became yeast, then got infected, so his doctor ended up prescribing an antibiotic cream and we switched to disposables for the duration of the medicine use, both to keep it off of the diapers and so we could thoroughly wash and strip the diapers and wipes.

The medicine seemed to clear things up, but as soon as we started back up with the cloth, the infection came back. Talked to the doc, got the ointment refilled and switched to disposables again. Washed all the diapers again. After another 10 days of ointment and a couple weeks in disposables, he was looking good again.

Yesterday we put him back into cloth, and bam, looking red and angry in the same spots that were infected before. Are these diapers just ruined? Should we just cut our losses and get new ones? I was hoping to reuse these with future kids, but this recurring rash is driving me nuts. :/

TL;DR Switched to disposables after a rash got infected and required antibiotic ointment; thoroughly washed/stripped all of our diapers and wipes. As soon as we went back to cloth, the infection returned. Are these diapers just ruined, or is there something else we can try to salvage them? Thanks for any help you can offer!

Posted Sep 14, 2015, 6:08 PM UTC

419
Creepella_the_third•

Make sure to use enough bleach, and also rinse like crazy, because any left over bleach will be activated again once wet and that will also give your LO a rash.

9
typingthingsOP•

This is good to know, thank you. Right now I have no experience with bleach so I'm definitely gonna need to do a little research to get it right.

1
jerrysugaravOOPS•

Rinse in hot! It helps break down the bleach.

2
lushmama•

It sounds to me like there may be yeast or bacteria in the diapers. I would strip and bleach all the diapers. Check out fluff love university for instructions. Incidentally, it's REALLY hard to ruin cloth diapers in my opinion; I had a prefold that sat around damp accidentally when we went on vacation. I came back and found it covered with dark mold. Bleached it twice, soaked in oxiclean and sunned it and it looks as good as new now.

4
typingthingsOP•

Thanks, just saw that link posted in another thread, I'll check it out. And I appreciate your story; that's pretty much what I always thought until this mess, which hopefully we can solve with bleach!

2
magnitudeintheattic•

Did you bleach them? What did you strip them with?

3
typingthingsOP•

My husband does all the diaper laundry so I'm not sure exactly what he used, but I know it wasn't bleach, so that's still something we can try. Thanks!

3
magnitudeintheattic•

Do a bleach soak according to the fluff love and university website instructions. Should take care of any bacterial or yeast infection still left in there. :)

5
typingthingsOP•

Thank you, this will hopefully be the answer I'm looking for! I've never used bleach, so this should be a great resource.

1
sarabara82•

What all the others said, try a bleach soak. Also, mine had the same problem, but I switched ointments and made sure to put plenty of diaper cream on him at each change (angel baby bottom balm), and if it started to come back, I'd put a liner down and put stronger cream on (either Dr. Smith's or Boudreaux). Did that for a couple weeks and seems to have gotten his booty back to good.

3
typingthingsOP•

I always forget about liners! That's definitely a good idea for needing to throw on some tougher creams from time to time. Thank you!

1
bonjourtabby•

Bleach is definitely necessary! Only time I ever bleached is when I was worried about yeast.

3
snowboo•

If after the bleach and strip, they still cause rashes, it might be an allergy to the detergent or you might need fleece liners to keep the bummy drier.

2
typingthingsOP•

We were debating getting something extra-absorbent, at least for over night. I've heard wool, but fleece is another good option for that then? I always mix up which are more absorbent vs more comfortable for baby vs water resistant(for cover materials). Microfiber is the one that shouldn't go against baby's skin, right? (Sad how newb I am for how long we've been at this...)

2
snowboo•

Fleece isn't absorbent. You put it on top so that moisture is wicked away more quickly.

I only use microfiber in pockets because I don't trust that it won't end up touching the skin otherwise. The pockets we have are fleece lined, so they wick quickly, and then inside, I usually have microfiber, then a bamboo layer, and then a hemp base. Hemp absorbs the most, but slowly. Microfiber absorbs really quickly, but you can get leaks if it's compressed.

2
typingthingsOP•

Thank you! I see what you mean now, fast-wicking for combating rashes. That's a good call.

2
snowboo•

We gave up on prefolds in the beginning because she always got a rash from them, but we should have just used a liner and we would have been fine.

2
232pm•

Also, bleach does expire/become ineffective. Make sure you are using new bleach.

2
typingthingsOP•

Thanks for the heads up, just bought a new bottle so hopefully this will take care of it!

2