Diaper rash question

bumpuser7698452 · July 2013

I'm totally bummed. We've been CDing since we brought E home from th hospital but for the last few weeks she keeps getting diaper rash. We'll put her in disposables and slather her up with desitin until the rash clears, which is usually about a day and then we'll go back to cloth. After the 2nd diaper change she's starting to get red again so I'll let her air out for a bit longer, but after the 3rd change it's bright red and painful looking so back to the disposables we go. We're going around and around.
I haven't changed detergent and I've been changing her diaper more frequently trying to prevent the rash, so it's not like she's sitting in it for too long or anything.
Any ideas? I guess it's good that it happened now because she's reached her limit for her diapers and I was just about to order the next size up. But for now I guess we'll be switching to disposables.

bumpuser7698452 · July 2013

The only time it smells like ammonia is when I put them in the wash. But I figure that's from sitting in a wetbag for a few days? I'll definitely try stripping the diapers. I've seen people discussing it, but I've never done it to mine. It's worth a shot! Thanks!

ohlordy · July 2013

I'm going through the same exact thing with DD now and I am in the process of stripping all her diapers and wipes. The rash would clear up for a day and would be really red in the morning. Never any open sores, just very red. I'm also using sposies we have leftover from camping and those are making her thighs red. Poor chick can't catch a break! Hope the stripping works. Good luck to you!

Puck1182 · July 2013

I'd definitely try stripping them. I've actually made it a habit to strip mine on a monthly basis just to be safe, because even though we use a clean rinsing detergent, we use diaper cream as a preventative measure. So there's no detergent buildup, but there is some diaper cream buildup that makes them start to stink around the 5 week mark or so if I don't strip them. The only time we have rash issues is if we don't give DD's butt enough time to air out between changes.

Oh, and it actually might help if you switch detergents. Or at least so say the instructions that came with my GMD prefolds. Apparently some people find that a detergent basically "stops working" after awhile and switching detergents seems to fix the problem.

ohlordy · July 2013

Is this something that the stripping should fix? I thought it was an irritation to the detergent so I switched, but it never got better. I have also been CDing since we brought DD home and I have never stripped the diapers. I never heard of ammonia buildup before

RachelM05 · July 2013

I'm glad I saw this. DD woke up with a really red rash around her inner thighs. I'd been noticing that the wet bag smelled worse than normal, even though I still wash every other day. Would build up mess with absorbency, too? She has wet THROUGH, not leaked out of, two diapers yesterday. We have never had that problem before. Also, how do you strip diapers??

Puck1182 · July 2013

RachelM05 said:
I'm glad I saw this. DD woke up with a really red rash around her inner thighs. I'd been noticing that the wet bag smelled worse than normal, even though I still wash every other day. Would build up mess with absorbency, too? She has wet THROUGH, not leaked out of, two diapers yesterday. We have never had that problem before.

Also, how do you strip diapers??

Yup, it can affect absorbency, or so I've read. Haven't gotten to that point with ours though, just slightly stinky.

I run 3 or 4 hot wash cycles with just water, no detergent.

RachelM05 · July 2013

DC2London said:

There are a lot of different ways to strip a diaper, but it really depends on the kind you have and your machine. Your best bet is probably to check with the manufacturer of your diapers (a lot of them, I know FB and BG for sure, have this info on their websites). Usually it just involves using about a sea's worth of really hot water and rinse, rinse, rinsing until there are no bubbles in the rinse water.
If you have a HE washing machine do NOT put Dawn in your washer! It could break it bc it is too sudsy! If you're going to use blue Dawn, do it in your laundry tub by hand!

I checked Kawaii's site (that's what the majority if mine are) and it said to rinse cold, wash warm, rinse cold, and repeat this until the suds run clear. But this sounds like what I do for normal washing. Everywhere else I looked that talked about washing said to run several hot cycles. Do you think it would be ok to do that instead?

RachelM05 · July 2013

Thanks, @DC2London !

bumpuser7698452 · July 2013

DC2London said:
There are a lot of different ways to strip a diaper, but it really depends on the kind you have and your machine. Your best bet is probably to check with the manufacturer of your diapers (a lot of them, I know FB and BG for sure, have this info on their websites). Usually it just involves using about a sea's worth of really hot water and rinse, rinse, rinsing until there are no bubbles in the rinse water.
If you have a HE washing machine do NOT put Dawn in your washer! It could break it bc it is too sudsy! If you're going to use blue Dawn, do it in your laundry tub by hand!

Oh geeze. Thanks for posting this. I texted my husband to pick up some dawn after he's off work. Everything I've read so far said to use that, so thanks for saving me the headache! I'll just try the hot rinse with no soap and see how that works.

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