Washing/ Sensitive skin

[salt_light]

My almost 2 month old ds obviously is a very sensitive kid. Besides dietary issues that we have gone through, his skin is breaking out in our CDs :doh So now that we are getting the other issues under control, I need to takle the diaper thing.

Here is what we do. Prewash on the highest water setting/ warm/cold; normal wash highest water setting, about 1-2 Tablespoons of Purex detergent. Then dryer without fabric softener. The diapers are irritating his skin turning it red. He also will immediately start fussing when he is wet > :hissyfit (He fusses pretty quickly in sposies, too)

Do I need to change detergent, add an additional cycle, vinegar? :shrug

Thank you for helping this cd newbie out!

[milkmommy]

My DD broke out with EVERY "common detergent" we went through Tide (reg and free). Cheer (reg and free) gain. bold, Arm and hammer. all(reg F&C and baby) surf, purex (reg and Free) sensi clean, biokleen, sports wash, dreft (worked the best) Ivory, no detergent, using only baking soda basically name it we tried it. I was also having bulid odor issues usinf GSE and a splash of bleach actually helped but then the diapers started to leak :banghead. I finially broke down and bought some Allen Natural...
If we have a son I'm naming him Allen :laughtears
1) It totaly solved our sink problems
2) my wash has gone from rinse with a bleach additive wash twice with mixture of detergent TT oil GSE and baking soda rinse a billion times and have "not too" stinky diapers that leaked :rolleyes to a quick rinse a single wash and drying VERY clean diapers that totally don't leak!
3) Cost savings DH likes the stuff so much once we finished detergent we had were using the Allens for everything, yet we still estimate the one huge $40 container we got will last a least a year.
4) once we perfected our rountine DD rash INSTANTLY cleared!

So I really reccomend Allens. here is our new complete rash free wash system we use wonderoos with microfiber towels BTW and I use sposies at night :blush
1) we keep a dry pail rinsing pooy diapers in toliet if needed
2) on wash day (every two days) dump diapers into washer do a rinse cycle
3) WAsh on hot long cycle with 1/2 oz Allens and about 20 drops GSE
4) dry

Deanna

[Lady TS]

I dry pail, dumping poo in toilet. FWIW, I use mostly CPF's and Bummis/Litewraps/Proraps/other misc. covers.

Here's my wash routine:

Cold wash/cold rinse using half the amount of detergent called for on the box(we use Amway SA-8 Sensitive-very concentrated, no fillers but we have hard water so I use half the amount, no less)

Hot wash/warm rinse using half the amount of detergent called for on the box

Rinse again

Hang to dry or dry in dryer.


Sooo....you may want to rinse your diapers one more time.

Another thing to look for is to make sure your detergent doesn't have "active enzymes" in it, because if any amount of detergent is left in the diaper, the enzymes will activate when your bb pees and cause rashes/irritation.

If that doesn't work, you might try running a load using more detergent and see if that helps. I found I wasn't using enough detergent and we were having stink problems. Hard water :td Just make sure there's not bubbles still floating around in there at the last rinse, because that would let you know there is still detergent in the dipes.

HTH,
Tanya

[wuzzie]

What type of diapers are you using? I only ask because me son can't wear anything synthetic. No fleece, PUL, ProCare or anything. We use fitted diapers and wool covers. I also add some GSE to the wipes solution, that really helps with the reddness.

[salt_light]

Ok, I'll check my detergent for the enzymes. I have a few sherpa fitteds & then a variety of prefolds & bummis SWW covers. I tried doing one more wash without detergent. I'll let you know.

[Micah]

I use Motherease Sandy's, Motherease AIO's for night, and wool butt sweaters/soakers and I do have Airflow covers as well.

I use dry pail. Shake poo in toilet.

Warm wash/cold rinse with All free & clear
Hot wash/cold rinse no soap
Extra cold rinse
Every month however I do use a few drops of tea tree oil in the 2nd to last rinse and this has made a huge diffenence on my son's sensitive skin.

Our covers do not go in the diaper pail, they are washed with his clothes and air dryed only...and of course the wool is hand washed. ;)

I had lots of issues with rashies as my baby has sensitive skin too, I tried the baking soda, and vinegar they made it much worse!

I swear by extra rinsing and tea tree oil on occasion, I also do NOT add soap to my hot wash, only the prewash as this is more opportune to getting rid of soap, and no I do not have stain issues at all! :)

[Larissa]

I have a friend whose son has those same skin issues, and she rubs mylanta on his bottom and it clears it right up.

[salt_light]

Well, I checked the bottles and didn't see any mention of enzymes. I did an additional wash cycle without detergent. I'm going to try them again this afternoon, I'll keep you posted.

Mylanta, I've never heard of that, I'll have to pick up a bottle of that.

[Mama Calidad]

My son's skin is really sensitive, too. I had to switch laundry detergent. We're using Shaklee's Basic L and he doesn't have any problems with it.