Sorry I'm obsessing about the rash and I was just talking to my mom and she asked me about the diapers. Here is my timeline:
Rash began in August. At that point our stash was made up of GMs with cotton velour inners. We used PUL covers, fleece longies, or wool longies. At night I used a AFFF hemp insert covered with a fleece liner (blizzard fleece from JoAnn's).
Rash continues (including small open sores which clear up within a week or so). In October we began switching our stash over to Piddle Poddles (DS outgrew the GMs). The PPs all have organic bamboo velour inners. I was still using PUL covers, fleece, and wool. AFFF insert and fleece liner at night.
My stash was switched over by the end of October. During all of this we were using Purex free&clear. The diapers were all stripped at some point during this and I used prefolds during that time.
Right before Thanksgiving I started adding a fleece liner to all diapers after the largest open sore showed up and hadn't gone away in 2 weeks. I cut the liners to cover the entire soaker. No part of the OBV soaker touches his skin where the rash is. At this time we also switched to Planet detergent.
Since Thanksgiving there has been a fleece liner in every single diaper. Also I have no longer been using PUL covers. We have been using wool or fleece longies exclusively (to help with breathability).
It couldn't be the diapers could it? I mean it doesn't seem like anything that I'm doing would cause a rash. Plus he has worn the fleece liners (at least at night) since he was 8 months old and the rash didn't start until 18 months. If it were the OBV the fact that it's not touching his skin would mean the rash should clear up? And if it was the fleece wouldn't he have had the rash the entire time?
Ugh sorry I know I'm being a pain and PW about this but I just don't know and I desperately need answers. Thanks for reading.
And of course during this time he has also been on 3 different antibiotics, 2 oral yeast meds, 2 yeast creams, and an 2 antibiotic creams.
Re: It couldn't be the diapers? Could it?
No it got worse before I added the fleece which is why I added the fleece to see if it was an issue with not feeling dry. I have been using the fleece since Thanksgiving and it got much worse in the last 2 weeks (so 1.5 months after starting the increased fleece). Nothing has changed in those 2 weeks
I would think if it was the fleece it would have gotten worse closer to starting not 1.5 months? I am however willing to cut out the fleece. I have some disposable liners I can use instead (I'm using an antibiotic cream right now).
Anything at this point is worth a try. Even if its just for a day or two..
I know kairi got 1 dot on her tush, which turned into 2.. and now a few. It was getting better when I was letting her soak in a California baby cranky baby bubble bath which has tea tree oil in it. I need to have her do it every day for a few days past everything clearing up.
He's allergic to sposies
That's why we switched to cloth to begin with. Disposable diapers give him a bleeding ezcema type rash (not the same as the rash we have now). Within a week of switching to cloth diapers that rash was gone and stayed gone for a year (we switched at 6 months).
True. I will stop the fleece liners in the morning.
don't worry about talking about it. we are all worried about him too ::hugs::
maybe you can buy some flats to use. they are super duper cheap and nothing but birdseye cotton. plus don't need a lot of prep, so you could use them really soon. and that way you can see if it's maybe something in your stash without breaking the bank.
any interest in the potty? maybe you could start pl and just leave him naked. C started around 18 months I think and was fully pt by 22 months (night included).
i, too, would try a different detergent. what have you used in the past?
ETA: maybe the fleece and velour is wicking away too much moisture??
ETA2: I just happened to run across this site...maybe you could talk to them too?? (It's an online chat with a dermatologist site)
https://www.justanswer.com/medical/rash/?r=ppc|ms|4|Health|Rash&JPRC=1&JPKD=5249990443&JPDC=p&JPAD=615908926&JPKW=for%20rash&JPRQ=chemical%20reaction%20cloth%20diaper%20rash&JPAF=txt&JPCD=20101130
I was also thinking you should try some sposies to see if that would help but forgot he's allergic to them. What kind of sposies did you use before? If they were something like huggies or any that still had that gel in them I wonder if he would be ok with Tushies since it has even less of the additives?
I could see why you would want to use the stay dry fleece to keep him dry. I doubt that it would be making him too dry but it could be more of a reaction from the fleece. What would an alternative liner be though? Silk? I think the idea of trying without the fleece for maybe 2 days or trying just a basic prefold is a good one. I'm sure you'll try anything at this point.
As PP said, don't feel bad about continuing to post. We all want to see him get better and try to help in anyway we can...even if it's just listening. I feel so bad for you guys and hope that you get some answers on Tuesday.
Big E (6) & Little E (2.5)
Do you know what, exactly, in the sposies he's allergic to? Perhaps try Tushies? Some people whose kids have a sensitivity to that creepy jel stuff can use 7th Generation if you change diapers really frequently (like every hour, at least), so the gel doesn't have an opportunity to get saturated. Honestly, I'd try it for sure.
Then I'd strip in a top-loader and switch detergents. I have a FL and the one time I felt like we had yeastie beasties I stripped in a friend's TL so there was no doubt that enough water was in there. I'd maybe do one wash with just blue Dawn and like five washes of just hot water.
Then if all that doesn't work, I'd switch to some cheapy easy flats from Walmart or someplace just for a week or so to see if it's the fabric. But switching before all that doesn't help if it's a chemicall problem.
Do you use wipes or a solution? Can you use just water?
Good luck, I'm sorry your little guy is uncomfy!
Ditto PP on just using water as your wipe solution. It seems like that can really be an issue for some people. It's probably not the main problem but it's one more variable you could eliminate.
What do you think about it being food related? Probably a long shot but I just thought I would put that out there. I know that some kids can get horrible rashes from ingesting something their bodies don't tolerate. I know his rash isn't isolated on his hiney like it would be poop related but I think it could involve urine too. I don't know...just brainstorming!
Big E (6) & Little E (2.5)
Do you wash clothes in the same detergent if so i wouldn't be worried about the detergent as he would have a rash on other parts of his body.
I wonder if you may need to treat everything with bleach and strip again just because whatever it is maybe living in the diapers.
It however sounds like you have used everything long enough that you would have seen something earlier if he had a problem with the diapers.
We wash everything in the same detergent. Our clothes, his, sheets, diapers, towels. I would also think the rash would be other places.
I have removed all the fleece liners from the diapers and I'm using only warm water as a cloth wipe wash. We'll see if it makes a difference in the next 2 days before we go to the doctor's again.
He's been on a number of yest treatments - were all diapers/wipes/liners/covers treated properly during that? I would be bleaching whatever I could w/ hot hot hot water and tons of rinsing and using GSE on the stuff you can't bleach if not.
I would also try the tushies for a while to see - those seem like they would be ok even though he had bad reactions to other disposables.
Beyond all that many kids show no signs of a food allergy save for bad diaper rashes. Has any alergy testing been done? That would be one of my ?'s to your pedi at my next appointment.
He actually has a pedi allergist that he sees every 4months. She has done skin and blood allergy tests. The only thing he tested for was a slight egg allergy at 12 months but he had outgrown that at his last appt 1 month ago. They have also run tests on the open sores and it not an allergy. She said that it is not the type of rash that an allergen presents as (either a topical allergen or food allergen).
The rash has also had 2 different cultures done on it and nothing grows. The biopsy was inconclusive. There were no viral cells in the biopsy and he does not have a nutrient deficiency which the pathogolist said it could possibly be.
I'm going to look into the tushies right now.
I can understand your frustration. When my son turned about a year old, he began having such painful rashes he would actually begin screaming as soon as he realized he was going to have his diaper changed. His skin would actually just split open in places. His doctor finally decided that it had to be the pH of his urine mixed with extremely sensitive skin. We went to the extreme, even letting him go without diapers. I don't recommend this, but we were desperate to do anything to help him. Luckily, I guess he outgrew it.
Good luck. I really hope you find the answer soon.