Reusable nappies - redness

[blushingmare]

We had our first full day of using reusables today. Whilst at the lack of nappies in my bin, I'm concerned because dd had mild redness, particularly at the front. What would be causing this? I wondered if it's friction from her crawling around. She also has significant elastic marks on her legs and waist, but I don't think I'm doing them too tight.

We are using washable fleece liners as the paper ones won't stay in place. I've washed the liners twice before use. The nappies are Totsbots Easyfits. I use Fairy non-bio and only half the recommended dose. I'm using the Weleda nappy cream.

I'm unsure whether to carry on using them tomorrow now as don't want to make the redness any worse.

DD is 14mo is that makes a difference.

I'm not sure what waleda nappy cream is.

I always put my nappies through the maximum number of rinse cycles but it is odd that you would have redness if the washing powder is the same as normal.

I don't normally use liners with easyfits but again it shouldn't cause redness.

Personally I found the reusable fleece liners gave dd awful nappy rash. We use little lambs flushable liners. You get the hang of positioning them after a while so maybe give paper another go.

Hearmyroar I did buy some Little Lambs liners, but they seemed to be way too wide. I thought I'd have to fold them to get them to fit, which could presumably cause irritation too?

one way liners are better mothercare sell them. You can use sudocream if you are using liners.

We use tots bots disposable liners. No probs with redness. Buy in bulk on amazon. Only ones that seem narrow enough to fit our tots bots.

Usually have elastic marks but they don't seem to bother her at all. And not everyday. Worse if its hot.

How often are you changing? Find I need to do this slight more often in washables than disposable nappies.

Hope that helps some.

Sorry missed you had already tried paper?? they do move sometimes but catch most of the poo and mean its easier to flush. I put my hand down the front and back after fastening up to make sure it is in position!

Milliebow the Totsbots ones were the first ones I tried, but they were hopeless for us! No matter what I tried they ended up all rucked up [sigh]

I'm changing her around every 3 hours.

Sometimes, redness is cause by a build up of detergent in the nappies. I know that you've only just started using them but I wondered whether you were using second-hand nappies?

If so, they may need a strip wash - a high temperature wash with no detergent, some white vinegar, extra water & extra rinse if possible.

Then, to maintain them, only wash with very simple powder (liquid seems to build up for some reason) that has no whiteners, brighteners etc. We've now use Ecover powder with no problems.

See hunnybums for some useful info.

Having said that, with both of our daughters, we found that after weaning when they started eating oranges, the acid made their wee make them red for a while! It subsided pretty quickly though & they still love oranges - no scurvy in our house!

Without knowing baby's age etc. it's difficult to know but I hope that provides an alternative angle?

I think switching from sposies to cloth can sometimes cause a little bit of reaction in babies as they aren't used to the wet feeling (even with liners)? Or it could be complete coincidence. Wrt the elastic marks, I found that with TB easyfits too - they just didn't suit ds. In the end I gave up on pretties we used simple shaped terries with airflow wraps. Poo proof system

Have you got any other brands you can try? Some places do a nappy trial pack through a local nappuccino or nappy library.

It could be detergent build up. Powder is much better, just us a third of recommended amount.
Cold Rinse cycle, full 60 degree wash, extra rinse with a couple of drops of tea tree oil.
Ditch the fairy for nappies.

*use

For the detergent aspect, I totally recommend Eco balls (and a magno ball if hard water area). No detergent necessary!

Thanks all. I'll get some different detergent on my next shop! They are second hand nappies, but I have done a strip wash - 3 hot washes as recommended by The Nappy Lady. I have just ordered a Bungenius Freetime and a Bamboozle with wrap to try as I have a feeling Easyfits may not be perfect for dd as we're getting lots of leaks and am needing to change her every hour and a half! Really want cloth to work for us, but not overly sold on them yet....!

A few random thoughts, may be something that helps.... I've had some detergent build up with my easyfits and tried the nappy lady strip wash method and it didn't really last that long, had more success with doing a dishwasher tablet strip. Also, have you got any idea which version easyfits you're using? I have a mixture if v2s (bamboo interior) and v3s (minkee interior) and find that they seem to need different amount of detergents, which isn't very helpful! However, I now use Rockin' Green detergent and that seems to be working really well for us. With regards to the frequency of changing, are you boosting them? Are your DD's trousers/vests still fitting quite well or are they on the tight side? I've found we've had a few leaks when she's been growing out of one size, also use vest extenders on the vests (although she's generally not wearing vests in this weather) and I find I need to pull the nappy quite low down on the top if the leg, if that makes sense, so that it's not too high up her thigh. And the usual stuff like make sure there aren't any bits of the interior showing and the liner is completely inside the nappy. Also, we use Little Lambs' liners, I agree that they're too wide for easyfits, I just tear a strip off the side so they're the right size, they're really easy to tear and I find they're quite a bit softer and stronger than other liners.