Rash, stink and a ? about liners

liking

Hi ladies-

I'm a CD newbie, and am still trying to figure out many things. My LO is 5 months old, and has just recently started having frequent diaper rash. Her diapers (we're currently using prefolds and covers) have also been smelling strongly of pee, especially her night-time diaper (she sleeps around 10-11 hours). We do use a fleece liner on top of her night diaper. We are using Country Save detergent, and I've already upped the amount of detergent I use. My current wash routine is a Cold/cold wash with 1 scoop of detergent, then a Hot/cold wash with 1 scoop and an extra rinse. Adding more detergent hasn't helped, and in addition to the pee smell, we get bright yellow poo stains. My biggest concern is the rash- it shows up as red splotches at the base of her spine (I'm thinking contact rash?), little bumps on her inner thighs, and sometimes redness on the vulva as well. We're transitioning to pockets, so I'm hoping keeping her dry will help. But any other suggestions people have for wash routine adjustments would be appreciated. Please keep in mind that one of the biggest reasons we chose to CD is environmental, so I'd prefer not to use bleach or detergents that may be harmful to the environment or LO's health. 

Also, we get lots of leaks in the legs of the pocket diapers, so I'd like to either replace the MF inserts (which are old, since I bought used pocket BG 3.0's) or add a doubler. What's your favorite insert or doubler (or combo)? Thanks in advance!

freezorburn

Have you started introducing solid food yet? If so, how is that going? What have you given her? Are you also offering her water? Not talking about huge quantities in any case, but food can be a factor where rashes are concerned.

I would guess that maybe you are using too much detergent. We generally don't recommend using detergent in the first cycle, which really should be just a warm or cold rinse and spin, with no detergent. Water alone can do quite a bit in that initial rinse. This way for your main hot wash you can use less detergent and it can go to work on the more persistent and clingy waste material, rather than just mingle in the first rinse cycle with things that are already water soluble. Does that make sense?

So, I'm guessing you might be using too much detergent and not fully rinsing clean. You may need to do a couple of hot water strips. I don't recall Country Save sudzing up a lot, but you might still be able to see that the water coming off of your diapers isn't completely clear.

Then, change your wash routine. It should look something like this:

- cold or warm short wash or rinse (depending on your machine), and spin.

- Hot wash with detergent (stick with your 1 scoop to start; depending on your load size and water chemistry you may need to adjust up or down -- I think I used 3/4 scoop for a 1.5 days' worth of diapers when I lived in Seattle, for instance.)

- extra rinse

As for what to put in your pockets, I've had good results with GMD hemp doublers. They work really well paired with MF, or as doublers for ON diapers. It would be pricey to have a stash full of them, though. I can also recommend GMD birdseye flats. I'm not a big fan of pocket diapers in general, but without our flats I don't think we could CD while on vacation, because they are very forgiving laundry-wise, and they dry so much faster than anything else, when we don't have a dryer available to us.

Also, if you are getting leg leaks, check the fit. Your LO may just not be ready for them. Lift her legs up when the diaper is on and see if you have gaps. If you have gaps you may need to adjust the rise or leg snaps. If that's not possible, you may need to wait for her to fill out a little more before the diapers fit her well enough. Oh, and since the diapers are used I would also check the condition of the leg elastics. If those are worn out you can replace them and that might also improve the fit.

Kelly11235

You may also want to try soaking you LOs overnight diaper in plain clean water after you take it off in the morning, then wringing it out.  That may help with the amonia smell on the ON diapers.

zaraceligon

If you are using prefolds only, is more easy to get the ammonia and any residue of soap out of the prefolds by boiling them. I think will be more fast and easy than rinse,rinse. I also like to add a pice of lemon to the water while boiling diapers. Try to keep her without a diaper for a few hrs to help with the rash.

liking

Thanks for the input, ladies! 

To answer questions, it does seem to be an absorbency issue rather than fit, since adding another insert or using a pre fold  solves the problem. Her rash is actually better since I've had her mostly in pockets for a couple of days. Now I just need to get some more inserts. 

We are not starting on solids yet, so I don't think the rash is related to that- either contact or ammonia. I'm currently boiling my prefolds to strip them, and will try using less detergent, and no detergent in the first rinse. I have a top-loading HE washer, so I'm really not sure how much detergent I should be using. I'll play around with different amounts, and if that doesn't fix it, I'll try another detergent. 

Thanks again!