Fishy smelling nappies

[HensMum]

My 7 month old son's nappies have recently started to smell stronger, and in particular have quite a strong fishy smell. We use reusables and there is quite a whiff when you open the bucket!
He's been on solids for about a month, but I've recently started introducing more new foods like cheese and lentils. He is vegetarian so no fish or milk. No changes to his formula and is absolutely the picture of health at the moment...apart from a touch of ezcema.
Any ideas? I've just dropped a bottle at lunchtime and he's not taking a lot of water...could he be dehydrated? Or something else?

Ooops! I meant to say no fish or MEAT. He has milk and dairy products.

Could be an infection.

Visit to the gp possibly?

Are they by any chance microfibre nappies (fluffles or similar)?

They get a build up of smell iykwim. I never had a lingering smell problem with cotton nappies. I suspect you would know if he was dehydrated as the nappies would be a lot drier.

Flame (she has a thread on small business ads section) gives fab advice if you don't get any solutions from this thread?

While you work out what it is, I would suggest putting a few drops of pure lavender oil on an old damp flannel and draping it over the contents of the bucket. This is a short term solution to help with the smell.

ALthough you have dropped one day time bottle it is likely he is getting plenty of fluid from his food, assuming he is having things like fruit and veg plus maybe more liquid dairy foods like yogurt?

DD gets smelly wee when she's teething - I do an extra prewash and then put white vinegar in the rinse to neutralise the ammonia.

but a pantyliner dabbed with teatree or lavender oil and stuck to the inside of the bucket lid helps too

DD's nappies always stink when she is teething, could that be it?

Have you tried stripping them (washing them a few times with no detergent)-that usually gets rid of any smell

Is it just that the nappies are 'going off' quicker with the warm weather? When it's hot DS' nappies start smelling much quicker.

Wow, quick answers, thanks!
Yes, he's getting tons of fruit and veg and yoghurt. He'll suck a piece of cucumber until it is dry! It just seems to be taking him a while to get to grips with a sippy or Doidy cup.

I've got an appt with the GP on Tues about his eczema. Would it wait till then, or worth tryng for an emergency one? Like I say, he seems fine in himself, no fever, still eating like a horse, sleeping well etc.

They are cotton pre-folds. I usually put a few drops of tea tree oil in the bucket but the smell is evident despite that.

White vineagar in the wash cycle. Do you use it ?

That and a 60 degree was should clear the worst of it.

Pantyliners with tea tree oil - I love it! Definitely going to try that and will whack some vinegar in the wash too.
He could be teething. He only has two bottom ones and they came through with not much fuss so it's possible the top ones are about to make an appearance and I haven't noticed.

Not sure, but might be good to try and match the bottle that's been missed with more fluid - will help dilute down his urine a bit. Other thing on a practical level which will help your nose is putting a few drops of lavender or teatree oil in the bottom of the bucked, I usually bung a coulpe drops on a re-usable wipe that way can just bung in wash with rest of stuff when bucket full.

Also I would suggest drying them on the line whenever possible - even if they only go out for an hour and flap about it makes a big difference and makes them fresher.

How often do you do a wash? I personally wash every 2 days. It used to be every 2-3 days, but I find that the smell is too strong after 2 days especially in the warmer weather.

If he seems fine in himself then I would probably just mention it to the GP on Tuesday. Obviously if you have any doubt, and feel that things change before then you should make an earlier appt.

Sometimes they just do smell fishy - I add a teaspoon of sanitiser which seems to sort them out and give them a wash without any powder first.

My gut instinct says he is fine, but will mention to GP.
I wash every 2 days and line dry when possible - over the past week or so they've been dried on the line. I'll try running them through with no detergent and some vinegar and see if that helps.
Will try and get some more water down the boy too! I was going to go to Tesco for fruit so will try and get some juicy things for thim.