Cloth v. plastic diapers

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Apologies to parents if this brings up painful memories of diaper rash, but...

During social hour today, a woman in our church mentioned that when her kids used cloth diapers they tended to get rashes while when they used plastic ones, they did not. Any ideas as to why this would be? We're getting ready to buy our first round of diapers, and we still haven't decided which kind we're going to buy.

[Tamara]

Apologies to parents if this brings up painful memories of diaper rash, but...

During social hour today, a woman in our church mentioned that when her kids used cloth diapers they tended to get rashes while when they used plastic ones, they did not. Any ideas as to why this would be? We're getting ready to buy our first round of diapers, and we still haven't decided which kind we're going to buy.

Because the disposable diapers wick the wetness away from the baby's skin. My sister used cloth with her first baby and had no problems but with her second baby she had to use disposables because of his eczema. His skin would become raw whenever she used cloth diapers. I used disposables with both of my babies. Diaper rash made the little guys miserable. In the summer I would let them get some airtime outside on a beach towel on the lawn.

[Trudy]

Apologies to parents if this brings up painful memories of diaper rash, but...

During social hour today, a woman in our church mentioned that when her kids used cloth diapers they tended to get rashes while when they used plastic ones, they did not. Any ideas as to why this would be? We're getting ready to buy our first round of diapers, and we still haven't decided which kind we're going to buy.

I had a friend who used to line the clothe diaper with a woman's maxi pad (sorry guys).  It would help wick the wetness away from the baby's bottom thereby helping to prevent diaper rash.

Also, clothe diapers tend to need to be changed more frequently. 

Another contributor to the diaper rash could be:  1) the laundry detergent being used; 2) not enough "rinse" cycle in the washing machine; 3) the fabric softener. 

I would suggest a non-perfumed detergent, rinse twice, and air dry the diapers.  I would also suggest greasing up that little 'bottom' with a good thickness of petroleum jelly after every diaper change.

Just my .02.  Cheap as usual.  Mother to 2 adult children who managed to survive my inept parenting...God's grace in action!   

Athanasia

[EofK]

Excellent suggestions, thank you!  I've heard of the issues with detergent, but never thought about having too short of a rinse cycle. 

[Thomas]

We used Cloth with our children and found that a Diaper Service was great, however when we tried to find one for our Daughter when she had the first one, there were none available in out area. We had to use  disposables---you know the baby had more diaper rash problems than we ever had with cloth diapers. I endorse  cloth.

Thomas

[calligraphqueen]

I have used both cloth as well as disposable.  After cleaning a few too many of those crystals off my children, especially the girls, I began to worry.  any of that which migrates into the urinary track can cause long term damage supposedly.  Finding a better diaper that doesn't tend to bust open at the slightest movement is helpful.

As for the cloth, they work great with those folding ones that are laid into a diaper wrap.  You just change the folded diaper frequently, the wrap doesn't even get wet if you do this correctly. If you have hard water however, you will find your diapers will not clean as well or rinse well. This leaves trace soaps, dyes, or perfumes on your littles one's behind.  That will cause rash on more than the average child, as they have such sensitive skin. Adding vinegar to the extra rinse will remove a great deal of this.  You can't use bleach on this cotton as it's not treated, and it will deteriorate the diaper.  You can use lanolin ointment or zinc instead of petroleum on their bums, and it creates a moisture barrier just as well.
I tended to soak my cloth diapers in a pail that I had formerly used for the other kind of diapers, but always hated as it never worked like it should.  I had water and vinegar sitting in the bottom of the pail, and washed them every other day. Cut down on odor, and stains. My dh hooked up one of those kitchen sprayers to the back of our commode to conveniently spray away any of those fouler diapers. Just don't tell the siblings!
 BTW, anyone who says bf babies make nicer stools is lying to you.

[Αριστοκλής]

Unless my daughter finally or ever makes me a papou, my diaper decision days are long gone. We went the plastic route. I'm still bothered by the environmental impact of those things however - all else being equal versus cloth.
Interesting aside: I used to export to Saudi Arabia - Pampers was #1 request. No water to wash cloth...

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