Diaper rash is inevitable

[cathya]

Pediatrician says that diaper rash is unavoidable with cloth as moisture is held to the skin.

Please help me get some perspective. Is there not bound to be some light redness with either cloth or disposable? How much redness is acceptable?

Six months. GroVia hybrids user.
ETA Thank you all! I love the idea of using a better barrier cream and a liner. During the day she is changed every 1.5-2 hours. She wakes to feed once at night and is in the same diaper for a 12 hours stretch.

wash routine: Poop is scrubbed off asap as EBF pooh stains. We run a daily prewash with 1 oz dose detergent and 15 ml bleach (fresh) hot and heavy. Top loader, about 1 hour. Main wash is done every other day. We use 2 oz detergent warm, hot and heavy, about 1 hour. Final is no soap, cold and heavy with an added cold rinse. We have soft water and it takes a bit to get out all the soap. The detergent is Grove.co Pure Power. This is a concentrated detergent. I use it on poo stains when she has a blowout. Ingredients: Water (CAS# 7732-18-5), laureth-6* (CAS# 68439-50-9), sodium lauryl sulfate* (CAS# 68585-47-7), sodium citrate* (CAS# 6132-04-3), glycerin* (CAS# 56-81-5), oleic acid* (CAS# 112-80-1), sodium hydroxide (CAS# 1310-73-2), citric acid* (CAS# 77-92-9), sodium chloride (CAS# 7647-14-5), calcium chloride (CAS# 10043-52-4), protease* (CAS# 9014-01-1), amylase* (CAS# 9000-90-2), mannanase* (CAS# 37288-54-3), pectinase* (CAS# 9015-75-2), cellulase* (CAS# 9012-54-8), natural fragrance✝ , benzisothiazolinone (CAS# 2634-33-5), methylisothiazolinone (CAS# 2682-20-4), linalool (CAS# 78-70-6), d-Limonene (CAS# 5989-27-5), geraniol (CAS# 106-24-1).

Also adding about the rash: we just had our six month well baby appointment and she has very dry red rough skin on her arms, legs and torso. We are using twice daily 2.5% hydrocortisone and a thick body cream all over every diaper change.

I think the issue is the barrier cream. Beginning Saturday, I was using coconut oil and she looked only to have a very mild redness that was going down. Overnight we are using Beaudreaux's. My husband did all the diaper changes today and used only the Grovia stick. Her booty looked good until the end of the day today. My husband has agreed to use the coconut oil for every diaper change tomorrow. We will try Aquaphor next.

 

[nassua]

@cathya We are 20 months in and have had very few diaper rashes. The few times we did they were during stomach bugs that equalled lots of poo and wiping. Thats even using Athletic Wicking Jersey, which is a synthetic material, and cotton/hemp inserts, and 100% cotton preflats at night. We do put an all-natural diaper balm (Organic extra-virgin coconut oil, 100% natural African Shea Butter, and organic candelilla wax) on him every diaper change.

Unpopular opinion, but we only wash 1x a week. We rinse poo out as it happens but then let them air dry with the rest of his dirty diapers until wash day.

 

[lindal113]

@cathya We had WeGreeco on and off with Dyper brand, because I wasn’t totally comfortable with the synthetic fibers from the cloth as I noticed LO would get rashes. Between EC, switching to organic cotton prefolds over night not tucked in the pocket, just lay inside the cloth diaper so that’s what is touching LO’s skin, we have had zero rashes. I will also say that I would use coconut oil and breastmilk for rashes which cleared it up.

Also whether formula out breastfeeding dry skin can sometimes be from diet. I eliminated gluten and dairy and LOs legs and arms were so much better! I’ve read the same is true for formula . It’s crazy what effect diet can have! Makes so much sense though!

 

[martaja]

@cathya As someone with super sensitive skin, this doctor is definitely misinformed. Natural fibers vs. synthetic, there’s no question synthetic irritate skin hands down more. Add poop fuel and cream chemicals to the fire and rash is almost guaranteed.

 

[cathya]

@martaja Cream chemicals? I think you’re the second person to say the diaper cream could be an issue. Do you use liners or how do you protect the skin?

 

[myownmynativeland]

@cathya I wanted to love our Grovia stick but I’ve definitely noticed if his bottom is already irritated, it makes it worse.

 

[cathya]

@myownmynativeland Yeah at first it seemed like it worked and then all of the sudden it was not. I think it just cannot apply enough product. I got the stick for my husband but I got good results with coconut oil. Something changed in the last month and it doesn’t work as well so I’m trying Aquaphor.

 

[myownmynativeland]

@cathya Zinc is always a winner! I use disposables with zinc when he has a rash and it always works well

 

[castiel]

@cathya The only rash my kids have ever experienced in cloth has been from poop. I don’t even keep any type of rash or barrier cream on hand because I’ve so rarely needed it.

 

[anamikads]

@cathya Anecdotally I just started using cloth and it's healed my 1 year olds chronic constant rash! Hers would break skin often it was so bad. It's basically gone now .

 

[klewanne]

@anamikads You need detergent for both washes. On whatever your heavy duty setting is. First wash can be warm, half amount of. Detergent. Second wash in hot water whatever your heaviest longest setting is with full amount of detergent. Bleach should not be necessary. I'm wondering if this could be irritating babies skin. Also not familiar with the detergent. Maybe others can chime in on that.

 

[chirho77]

@cathya That diaper cream beaudreaux gave my daughter a rash like that I would get something like honest diaper cream or another cloth diaper cream with some zinc. It sounds like your baby has eczema. My daughter had issue with her skin too. We eventually found different types of diaper creams that work. Fragrance is going to be your enemy that’s including your detergent. I also would do a extra rinse to avoid left over detergent

 

[cathya]

@chirho77 We do a full cycle with no detergent and a rinse on top of that. I don’t think she has eczema but we’re in a try this and see period with it to see if it’s just sensitive/dry or eczema. I’m open to other detergent. What do you use and are you in the USA?

 

[cnea67]

@cathya I CD my eldest for 2 years, and she never had a rash except one time when my MIL decided to use half a pack of wipes on her butt due to frequent pooping.

My second child is 3 months in, and only had a very mild rash when we used disposables for traveling for 1 week.

I personally found cloth to be better, no blow outs, no rash. I change baby more frequently in cloth (due to leaks), but I am also terrible at remembering to change the baby, so there has been a number of times baby had to go 4 hours or so without change. I usually make up for it with at least 15 minutes of diaper free time, which also clears out any redness really well.

 

[living4hisglory]

@cathya Just a warning about using coconut oil, or other food based oils on skin, especially broken skin, is associated with significantly higher incidences of eczema and food allergies. Ingesting food is much different than food entering broken skin, and in young babies who haven’t eaten those foods yet, it’s not recommended to use things like coconut oil, or even avocado oil, grape seed oil, olive oil, on their skin.

Also agree with others your paed is misinformed, so I’m glad you got some good responses and help!

 

[_ajayy_2014]

@living4hisglory Interesting! I hadn’t heard that before.

 

[tycoon34]

@cathya We haven't had any major rashes in the 5 months we've been cloth diapering. A couple times he was a little red and it cleared up within a few days with barrier cream. We did use Nystatin for a few days in case of yeast, but it was a prescription we had for his neck. I know this is not an "absolutely no rash" story, but it's what we have had.

 

[jesse123]

@cathya Chiming in as another person whose 1 year old in cloth since birth has never had a diaper rash

 

[julianav]

@cathya My LO turned 2 in October and has had 0 diaper rashes. I was just thinking that I bought a few tubes of cream before she was born and other than the occasional redness from not realizing she needed a change or an acidic BM. It was my “well that was unnecessary,” new Mom purchase.

0 blowouts 0 rashes Yay cloth!

I actually think a lot of things are kid specific rather than cloth vs disposables though!

 

[kg1963]

@cathya My first never got a single rash, using cloth diapers 18 years ago. I don’t remember the brand back then, but I can tell you it was very limited.

My second I didn’t use cloth, he’s very pale with white blonde hair and very sensitive skin. I would have to keep him completely naked pretty frequently because of how bad the rashes got. If he pooped in a diaper, it was in the bath right away. He’d still get rashes so bad they looked like chemical burns.

My third is currently 12 months. Disposables until the umbilical cord fell off, some minor rashes while using disposables. Since switching to cloth he hasn’t had one rash.

I’m using Alva baby, La petite Ourse and bum genius AIOs. He’s changed every 2 hours, and every night he has a bath and gets slathered on with earth mama organic diaper balm.

I think it depends on the human. Some humans are just more prone to rashes and have sensitive skin, while other humans have low maintenance skin and don’t rash easily. But all that to say, I don’t think it’s inevitable with every single person.