Newbie with ammonia burn. Help!

Brooke888Wed157297

I need some help. I have a three week old baby, and I started cloth about ten days ago with him. Yesterday I changed him and noticed how red his butt was. It doesn't have bumps but looks more like chaffing or a burn. Then I washed my diapers and noticed an ammonia smell. After some research I'm thinking my baby has an ammonia burn. Help! How can I get the stink out and what do you think I did wrong that led to it? And any suggestions for what to use on my baby to get the burn to go away? I have him in Earths Best spouses in the meantime. Here is some background: Using a combo of Osocozy better fit prefolds with covers (with a Hemp Babies hemp insertion top at night), bumgenius NB AIO, Grovia NB AIO. I prepped all of them as directed and stripped the BG dipes with RLR because they were used. I have an HE washer and have been using Charlie's Soap. My first wash I noticed the poop didn't even look touched. Wash routine is a cold rinse and spin, hot/cold heavy duty wash with extra rinse. I washed them again and poop came out. Since then I haven't had an issue with that. Have sunned the diapers each time I've washed them. We also use cloth wipes so far just with water. Those also go in the pail. I haven't been rinsing the diapers before putting them in the pail since I read that wasn't necessary with newborn BF poop. Also we try to stay as "non toxic" as possible so Tide is out. Ideas? I have a friend that suggested spraying the diapers with vinegar before putting them in the Paul or spraying with Bac Out. I did have one friend suggest

nanabanana06

Ok, your using an HE machine which meansyou aren't getting enough water. I have an HE machine and here is what I do.

• rinse/drain/spin with the spin turned off (cold)
• warm/warm delicate cycles w/ the spin turned off

• Then a heavy duty hot wash w/ 2 cold rinses. I use 1.5 TBS Charlie's w/ 1 scoop of Charlie's Booster for my hard water.

You can also throw in a towel to help with the weight for the sensors. Now to get rid of the ammonia I'd take all your dipes, wash them, then do an RLR soak in a tub for 2-3 hours, then rinse and wash until they are clean.

unaveragejane

I would be careful about doing pre-rinses without any spin at all. I tried this and wound up with diapers that weren't getting clean b/c they were washing in pee and poo water. It does make the diapers heavier, so if that is the problem, you could run a pre-rinse with a spin, and then one without a spin.

OP, I'd be very surprised if you have ammonia buildup after just 10 days of using diapers. Could it be a sensitivity to wetness when you have him in natural fibers (your prefolds)? Also, are you changing him every 2 hours or so? Itty bitty babies can't go very long with wet bums without getting rashy. I also learned on this board that it helps to dry the bum off after wiping, then apply coconut oil or a CD safe diaper cream.

nanabanana06

You need to turn off the spin with HE machines though. It's really the only real way to getthe weight in there. I added an extra short prerinse to it though and they still get drained, just not wrung out at the end.

CLLDLL

I'm not sure about all HE washers, but with mine I can get away with the spin turned on & have no problems with my diapers getting clean.  I did read my manufacturers website to find the setting that used the most water. 

I agree with @unaveragejane that you need to make sure you change pretty often for the NBs and pat dry after every change.  It's not a bad idea to try some coconut oil as a sort of barrier either.

Also I think I read that you bought some used diapers.  Is an RLR strip the only thing you did to them?  How many hot rinses did you do afterwards?  You probably need a good 3-5 hot rinses to get all that stuff out.  Also, with used it wouldn't be a bad idea to try 1/4 cup of bleach in hot wash cycle followed by a few rinses just to be sure you kill anything the previous owner may have left in them.   

My only other thought is that could it be a sensitivity to Charlies? I know a lot of babies do have sensitivities to it.  Is the rash all over the whole bottom?  Or just in certain places?  Do you use Charlies for all your laundry or just CDs?  (If you use if for all your laundry and baby is sensitive the rash would be all over his body.)

Good luck, let us know what you try & how it works!

Brooke888Wed157297

Thanks for the advice! I had been doing my first rinse with the spin off since I had read that would help add more water to the wash. I think I will try the towel also to try and get more water. Only three of my diapers were used, and RLR was all I did with about six rinses after to get all the suds out. I change him about every two hours and I actually have been using coconut oil now that he has the burn hoping to heal it. I can continue this once it has healed as a barrier. Good idea. Last resort is switching from Charlie's. The burn is only on his inner cheeks and not all over. Almost like a strip. We wash all our clothes and his clothes in that, so I didn't think that was the issue. I will try one thing a a time to try and identify the issue. Just praying for no more burns.

Brooke888Wed157297

I wonder if I'm not using enough detergent. I had read to use half of what you'd use for clothes and the tub says to use one T for large loads and 2/3 T for medium. So I have been using about 1/3 T for the diapers since I never have a really large load and wanted avoid buildup. I just got the hard water booster. Same with that. I though I only needed 1/2 scoop. Do you put that directly on the diapers Orin the detergent spot?

Nana_Osaki06 said:

Ok, your using an HE machine which meansyou aren't getting enough water. I have an HE machine and here is what I do.

• rinse/drain/spin with the spin turned off (cold)
• warm/warm delicate cycles w/ the spin turned off

• Then a heavy duty hot wash w/ 2 cold rinses. I use 1.5 TBS Charlie's w/ 1 scoop of Charlie's Booster for my hard water.

You can also throw in a towel to help with the weight for the sensors. Now to get rid of the ammonia I'd take all your dipes, wash them, then do an RLR soak in a tub for 2-3 hours, then rinse and wash until they are clean.

nanabanana06

Right where the detergent goes. I have tried using less detergent, but then they don't get clean.

KLXVI

Brooke888Wed157297 said:

Thanks for the advice! I had been doing my first rinse with the spin off since I had read that would help add more water to the wash. I think I will try the towel also to try and get more water. Only three of my diapers were used, and RLR was all I did with about six rinses after to get all the suds out. I change him about every two hours and I actually have been using coconut oil now that he has the burn hoping to heal it. I can continue this once it has healed as a barrier. Good idea. Last resort is switching from Charlie's. The burn is only on his inner cheeks and not all over. Almost like a strip. We wash all our clothes and his clothes in that, so I didn't think that was the issue. I will try one thing a a time to try and identify the issue. Just praying for no more burns.

This rash sounds like acidic or frequent pooping.  Drying after wiping and coconut oil or another CD safe cream should clear it up.

nanabanana06

littkek said:

Brooke888Wed157297 said:

Thanks for the advice! I had been doing my first rinse with the spin off since I had read that would help add more water to the wash. I think I will try the towel also to try and get more water. Only three of my diapers were used, and RLR was all I did with about six rinses after to get all the suds out. I change him about every two hours and I actually have been using coconut oil now that he has the burn hoping to heal it. I can continue this once it has healed as a barrier. Good idea. Last resort is switching from Charlie's. The burn is only on his inner cheeks and not all over. Almost like a strip. We wash all our clothes and his clothes in that, so I didn't think that was the issue. I will try one thing a a time to try and identify the issue. Just praying for no more burns.

This rash sounds like acidic or frequent pooping.  Drying after wiping and coconut oil or another CD safe cream should clear it up.

Yup, I agree or it's a reaction to some sort of food in either your diet or the babies diet (depending on how you feed).

Brooke888Wed157297

Thanks,everyone!! Super helpful. I've been using coconut oil and it seems to have really cleared up well this morning. Still red but progress. Stripped the diapers last night so here is to starting over!

Mandmeesh

We had this too....make sure you pat dry every single diaper change. Also, diaper free time to get more air to his bum will really work too