When my daughter was born, I knew everything there was to know about her cloth diapers. I had maneuvered through the terminology (All-in-ones? Pockets or covers? One size? Snaps or hook-and-loop?) and extensively researched which type and brand would fit our needs. I knew precisely how to wash them in my particular machine and was armed and ready with the right laundry detergent, a sprayer attached to our toilet, and a clothesline waiting patiently in our backyard. I was prepared. Or so I thought. Even with all the meticulous preparation, there was one potential pitfall I hadn't even considered and that almost did me in: diaper rash cream.
It wasn't until my daughter's first diaper rash that I learned the hard way that diaper rash creams and cloth diapers do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. As it turns out, those generous applications of Boudreaux's All Natural Butt Paste did not wash out of her diapers. "But it's all natural!" I cried. "How can this be?" Somehow, despite my research and countless cloth diaper conversations with friends who use them, I had never been warned against using diaper rash cream.
Since then I have learned that there are many brands of diaper rash creams, natural or not, that will stain cloth diapers, coating them and making them less absorbent. Fortunately, however, there are also many brands that work beautifully with cloth diapers.
If you are planning to cloth diaper, take heed. All that money and time spent on the perfect diapers can all be for naught if you've not done your diaper rash cream research.
Check out these great resources for more info:
- Autumn over at All About Cloth Diapers offers a breakdown of her favorite creams.
- Krista, who sells cloth diapers at Pinstripes and PolkaDots, provides cloth diaper compatibility ratings on over twenty popular creams and ointments.
- And for those of you who have already made the same mistake that I did, not to worry, Pooters Diapers has a great method for removing staining creams from your diapers.
I have now switched to California Baby Diaper Rash Cream, which proudly claims to be "Cloth Diaper Safe" (and incidentally smells better and seems to work better for my daughter than Boudreaux's anyway). And fortunately for me, after many washings, that Boudreaux's has almost completely come out of most of her diapers.
Have any of you cloth diapering parents out there stumbled across this same problem? Let us know in the comments about your experiences with mixing cloth diapers with diaper rash creams.
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We use butt paste with our cloth. It has never seemed to be a problem but our girls don't often get diaper rash very often.
We used aveeno with our cloth diapers (bumgenius pockets) and never had a problem. One thing is to make sure there's no fish oils in the cream - it can build up and smell.
If it is night or we are going out of the house, we use disposable diapers when there is a rash so we can use the most effective (for us) cream. If it is during the dya and we are at home, we don't use diapers at all. The rash usually disappears within hours.
GroVia has a stick that they claim is safe for their diapers, although I haven't found it to be terribly effective against a really bad rash.
I also recommend lansinoh (the nipple cream stuff for nursing). Cal. baby starting stinging my daughter's rash, but the lansinoh washes out in hot water, doesn't have anything in there that stings and is a seriously thick water barrier.
The other option is to use a flushable diaper liner with diaper creams. And be aware that the use of any creams voids some diapers' warranties.
I had to take my little one to the dermatologist for repeated, really bad rashes. She recommended Cetaphil daily cleanser instead of regular wipes. I use a little on a wet cloth or Viva paper towels (I premake a bunch of disposable wipes, this brand is very soft), you don't have to rinse it off, so it leaves a barrier film and it isn't greasy. I've had no problem using it with cloth and I haven't needed a diaper cream since I started.
I was recommended Grandma El's diaper ointment and it is indeed amazing and effective, plus cloth diaper friendly. One jar lasted 2.75 years (2 mos old to fully potty trained), so the higher price worked out in the long run. I also later purchased a tube of it to carry on the go and used the tube for extra skin irritations like chapped cheeks last winter after a long day in the cold dry weather. The chap was gone the next day! For diaper rash, I have used it proactively as soon as I see redness (like after a particularly acid #2) and it never gets to the point of becoming a rash. Just about to order another round for our new baby due soon.
http://grandmaels.com/grandma-el-39-s-product-line/grandma-els-diaper-rash-remedy-and-prevention/prod_2.html
Keep in mind, there is more than one type of diaper rash as well... If your child has a yeast rash (redness and bumps located in the folds of skin, versus on the surface of the skin), then you need to treat for yeast. Most will need anti-fungal ointment as well to treat this level of rash and occasionally, the over-abundance of yeast is also found in the child's mouth (called thrush) as the yeast is in their whole digestive track. If you are breast feeding during an outbreak, you will need to treat your nipple as well, since the yeast will travel between yourself and your nursling. If you have a persistent rash that won't go away, it probably needs additional treatment and your pediatrician will be able to confirm a yeast outbreak or if it's something else. Once I learned what a yeasty rash looked like versus a regular diaper rash, I was able to treat yeast outbreak early before it got too bad.
Lastly, I've heard that sometimes continuously diaper rashes can also be an indicator of your washing methods - ie. matching up the right detergent with your water type (hard vs soft) and the amount of water/detergent ratio you use (less detergent, more water is usually needed). For instance, I was using Charlie's soap but it wasn't getting completely clean enough... Switched to Allen's Naturally soap and the switch worked. It wasn't a rash issue for us, but a staining issue (residue build-up).
A great resource link for comparing all the detergents for cloth diaper washing and water type >
http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html
I used Burt's Bees cream with cloth diapers (several types) and had no issues with it not washing out. Was very effective on the rash, too. I also used Balmex which was cheaper and almost as good. Both are zinc-oxide based, I think. The Burt's especially seemed to stick on the skin and not smear so much on the diaper.
I also rarely used wipes (only for travel) and instead kept a squeeze bottle of water on the changing table with either baby washcloths or those little cotton pads intended for makeup removal. Even the natural wipes were much harder on my babies' skin than plain water.
I wish every parent would use regular baby wipes on their bottom for for a period of time. You would find out that they are not gentle at all. Rather than using disposables wipes or cloth wipes and a homemade or commercial solution use a cloth wipe and plain old water. It is an effective cleaner and doesn't irritate at all.
For all my diapers, I love the GroVia Magic Stick for a mild rash or spots (usually from teething poop). For more heavy duty rashes Triple Paste works wonders and has always washed right out of my natural fiber diapers (cotton, hemp, bamboo, so most prefolds, and fitteds), but not my oil based fiber ones (fleece, suede cloth, microfiber, so many pockets and AIOS).
Be careful with Zinc as it like to stick to oil based fibers, and avoid fish oil as it is almost impossible to wash out of anything. For a mild rash, coconut oil is very nice (I use it on my hands all the time, and in stir fry).
We used Bum Bum Balm (by Dimpleskins), which is beeswax based and safe for cloth diapers (doesn't leave any residue). We didn't have much diaper rash though because we practiced EC.
My daughter is prone to diaper rash and we find that Triple Paste is the only cream that reliably knocks it out. I just cut some liners out of scrap fleece that we place in the diaper when we put the cream on her, and it has saved our microfiber dipes from having any repelling issues.
We've never used anything but coconut oil in our house (at the recommendation of our cloth diaper service). It's been a great diaper cream for us. Nothing worse than a little redness in 19 months and counting...
Burts Bees diaper rash cream worked very well for us. Had no issues with it adhering to the cloth diapers and worked better (for us) than Grandma Els and CA Baby.
One has to stop & wonder what was done before the invention of all these products that are designed to make mom's life easier & babies' butts less rashed? Cotton cloth & boiling hot water seemed to do the trick at one point. We were put in cotton cloth diapers, no rubber pants & diapers were scraped into the privy & soaked & boiled. No one ever had diaper rash. If one did get a rash then a paste of corn starch was slathered on an open air bottom. What happened? Why all the rash issues with so many new invensions? Something to think about. (PS- my mom didn't have a washer or dryer either. Diapers, like all clothes, were washed in a big metal basin & line dried in the sun.)
I use CJs BUTTer. It works great,is cloth safe, and comes in lots of fun scents.
I'm still expecting, so I have no first hand experience, but I have been doing a lot of research. Apparently coconut oil works well on diaper rash and does not affect cloth diapers. Also, I think you could use any cream you wanted if you use a disposable liner.
We have a diaper service, and got in trouble for staining the diapers! My understanding is that the creams with zinc are the ones that stain, but also work the best on serious diaper rash. My diaper lady sells thin flushable liners from Bummies for us to use over the cloth to protect it when we need to use the zinc cream. For regular daily use, we use coconut oil, but that will not get rid of diaper rash when it gets bad.
We used regular diaper rash cream with cloth diapers for a few months, and ended up with diapers that repelled pee. Yuck! Luckily, a wash with dish soap followed by many water washes fixed the problem. So no, if it's a yeast ras, we use yogurt with no ill effect. For plain rashes, we like to wash baby's bottom in the bathtub w/o wipes at all. Works miracles. Normally, we use cloth wipes and water. For really bad rashes, we will break out the sposies and triple paste.
I found that putting a splash of vinegar in the last rinse cycle helped a LOT in keeping away diaper rash. A squirt of breastmilk on the effected area was pretty helpful also and totally CD safe!
Weleda's Calendula Diaper Cream. And the "no fish oil" is a pro tip! That stuff also makes everything smell horrible! Also, if you are getting a buildup that won't wash off pretty quickly once the baby has a rash, you may be using too much diaper cream. Babies just need a thin, solid film, don't cake it on. Applied correctly, most washing machines can take care of most diaper cream residues when washing with warm water.
We went to our local craft store and bought 1 yard of fleece and cut them into squares. When folded in half, they perfectly lined a cloth diaper and protected them from extra strength desitin. We threw the fleece in the wash with our bum genius diapers and the diapers remained cream free.
Just discovered a spray on diaper rash treatment safe to use with cloth diapers: Bum Ease. It is available online and a friend in North Carolina says it is also available at the Kerr Drug stores there.
We use an all natural salve made by a WAHM. Better prices than CJ's, Grovia, Mother Baby and the ingredients give more bang for your buck because you can use it on other things like eczema and sunburn. she also makes a cloth safe salve for yeast that knocked out my baby's rash in two days. https://www.etsy.com/shop/cutencrunchy