Struggling with nappy rash with reusables

[HarimadSol]

DD 11 mo has been in reusable nappies for several months now. We've had trouble off and on with nappy rash. Whenever we have gone away I have switched to disposables, and the rash clears up. This last rash turned into thrush, and to help the area keep dry I switched again. It's taken a long time to heal. Today I switched back to reusables and hey presto, it's gone red again. It seems to be wee that causes it.

I'm using flushable liners so that all the creams she's been prescribed don't get on the nappies. I've strip-washed the nappies to make sure they're absorbent. I change DD's nappy every 2-3 hours. They just don't seem to keep her skin dry enough.

If I can't find a way to keep this rash at bay, I'll have to make a permanent change to disposables, but I'd rather not. Am I missing something? Any tips? TIA!

I forgot to add, they're GroVia nappies, and it doesn't seem to matter whether we use the fleece lined inner bit or the plain cotton.

Hmm, have you tried cloth in the day and a disposable at night? That also gives you a good chance to slather her in cream overnight. Lots of nappy free time in the garden helps my son! I've got a good Shea butter based balm that acts as a good cloth-friendly barrier cream - I think the waitrose own brand bottom butter is meant to be good too.

How are you washing the cloth nappies?

Mine used to get a rash even with disposables.

Zinc and castor oil cream sorted it - also Burt's Bees nappy cream.

How do you wash? I'd halve the detergent and try Ecover or similar, and do an extra rinse. In this weather, as much time as possible playing in the garden or bathroom without a nappy.

A disposable at night may also help as that's when they get wettest.

I wash with liquid soap, not detergent, as she was having nasty eczema breakouts with detergent. That's all under control now. I use the longest wash with an extra rinse.

I'll try disposables at night and see if that helps. I have a balm from Fill Your Pants that I haven't tried yet. I'll give that a go, too.

Thanks!

I might be missing the point here but if your baby continually gets bad nappy rash when you use reusable nappies but it stops with disposables then you just use disposable. Childs wellbeing more is important than being eco friendly.
My DD got terrible nappy rash, it was a reaction to the bum cream (asda own brand) and my mum would cover her in it as 'thats what you did with terry towel nappies' making it worse. I used disposables and only a tiny bit on sudocreme when neccessary.
She also had got a rash around her mouth in nursery. After a few months i realised they used baby wipes (weirdly again asda own brand) to wipe her face after eating. Told them to just use her cloth and water only and it went away in days.

DD2 had terrible nappy rash from reusables, so we switched to disposables.

Have you tried changing detergent? DD used to get terrible nappy rash with Fairy non bio and was much better with an own brand biological detergent.

What about using fleece liners? These wick away the moisture so that baby is still dry.

We use terries in the daytime, all in ones for a day out, disposables at night and when on holiday.

Also, flushable shouldn't be flushed unless paper based, but wrapped up and binned. Nothing except beginning with "p" should go down the loo... pee, poo, puke and paper. :-)

Hope you can find a solution.x.

Fleece liners work well for us too, we use terries most of the time, no cream unless he's already sore, and everything washed with Surcare which doesn't irritate nearly as much as Fairy NB used to. When we use disposables they are Naty so as eco friendly as poss (no plastic or gel and fully biodegradeable) and bought in bulk they are less pricey than the big brands. You do need to change them fairly frequently though, as their holding capacity is fine until you hug little one when they've got a v full nappy and then the maize starch they're made of (not unreasonably) gives up! Best of luck, it's horrid when they are sore.

Are you rinsing until the water is clear in the machine - also washing at 60 is best as helps to kill any germs and bugs .

Sounds like they have a buildup of soap which is causing the rash .

Try a strip wash - washing on 30 then 60 a few times with no soap or detergent until there are no bubbles .

Or use an Eco egg - cheap and no build up . I use for all my washing now!

Thanks, everyone, for the tips. I've very recently strip-washed as described on The Nappy Lady website. I've tried several types of detergent and DD had trouble with eczema with all of them. Since switching to soap, she hasn't had any flare ups, so I'm sticking with that.

ijustwannadance, this is my last effort before making the change! I just want to make sure I'm not missing something before throwing in the towel and paying over and over again for disposables. DD is happy as can be and definitely not suffering.

Do you use baby wipes to clean baby's bum? We went through 5 or 6 different makes before finally getting ones that didn't cause a reaction. Anything fragranced was a no go.

Seems like they are not soaking up the wee enough of perhaps the wee is reacting with the cleaning chemical left on them. Hope you find a solution.

DD1 was fine in paper liners but DD2 has needed fleece liners during the day and raw silk liners overnight.

Of course you can switch to disposables full time if it's what is best for your dd, I just find my son's skin reacts badly to full time disposables, but if he's having a rashy patch then overnight disposables helps his skin get over it.

Could you try separate fleece liners? I find the opposite - DS gets a rash in disposables but not reusables (we use terries). The fleece keeps him absolutely dry.
As for the rash, Metanium ointment is fantastic - it will heal it up in a matter of days in my experience.
Good luck

Update: since getting the above tips, I've made a couple of changes and her skin has been PERFECT.

1. I haven't used any more paper liners. I think they were holding the wee next to her skin.
2. I cut out my own fleece liners to use instead. I think they wick better than the official ones. Plus they're so much cheaper.
3. I have been using disposables overnight mostly, but the few times I have used cloth (forgot to switch!) she has been fine. I might try cloth at night more often along with the other changes in place.