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Hi ladies, I know this has probably been answered but I am very short on time so can't browse the whole forum. My little monkey has a fungal infection on her bum which we have been given cream for. In 2 days, it has dramatically improved!Poor thing had a big bright red swollen rash the size of her diaper. Anyhoo, my question is this:
How do I wash my diapers to ensure that they are squeeky clean now that I know it was a fungal infection? My current washing is prewash in cold, wash with soapnut liquid on hot with an extra cold rinse. What should I add to this? Many thanks in advance from me and my daughters bum. :-) |
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| I never had this problem, and generally I don't use bleach, but if I had such a problem I would make an exception and use some bleach, not a lot just a little, perhaps I would boil, the diapers too. I don't know maybe washing is enough, it's just thats my emotional reaction, I think a light bleaching once in a while can't hurt the diapers too much, but I hate bleach for environmental reasons, yet I have a feeling I would make an exception if I was confronted with such a major rash. But I could be over-reacting. I don't know if it is truly okay to do, I just have a feeling that is what I would do. |
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I had the exact same problem and did use bleach one time. It worked, but then she continued to have a rash where the binding of the covers touched her skin. After bleaching the covers and the diapers together I never had a problem ever again.
So, although bleach is not a great alternative, it works and you probably will only have to do it once. |
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Although I have not had this problem so can't personally vouch for the effectiveness of this approach, one thing I've read suggested is to use a large does of tea tree oil, as it has anti-bac and anti-fungal properties. If you are hesitant about using bleach, either for environmental reasons or because of the potential for damage to your diapers, a large splash of TTO and a very, very hot wash might do the job. If you have a top-loader, I'd add boiling water, and if you have a front-loader, you probable have a sanitary cycle.
If you do use bleach, just make sure that you rinse very thoroughly afterwards, as some babies can be pretty sensitive to it. |
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For what it's worth, my first dd had a very persistent yeast rash. After months of nothing working, I finally got a prescription for a cream with an anti-fungal and cortisone in it. It worked like a charm and the rash never came back. I never did anything to do the diapers (didn't know any better) and it was fine.
Now theoretically fungal infections can indeed be harbored by cloth diapers (the same way they can theoretically be harbored by a woman's undies if she has chronic yeast infections) so not everyone will be this lucky. But I just thought I'd mention it as not everyone will have to treat their diapers.
Ok, so that said, what I'd recommend depends on how you feel about bleach and how sure you want to be that the fungus is totally gone. In theory, the only way to know for sure that fungus is totally gone is with very high heat (we're talking boiling water or steam here, not just a regular hot water wash from your hot water tank) or an anti-fungal agent like tea tree oil, bleach or vinegar. Of the three, only bleach and perhaps ironing/boiling are sure things. Vinegar is effective only when used undiluted (as in soaking your diapers in pure vinegar) and there's some question as to exactly how effective it is (I've spoken to a micro-biologist and studies show that it works but is less effective than bleach). Tea tree oil is also an effective anti-fungal but I don't know that there's ever been a study to find out exactly how much you'd have to use in a washer full of water in order to work well. Boiling and/or steam ironing should be pretty reliable but it's not recommended on diapers with snaps and/or elastic. Some do it with no problems but it could potentially damage the snaps or elastic. You could do it pretty risk free with prefolds or pocket diaper liners though...
Soooooo, all that to essentially say that if you want a guarantee then you'll have to use bleach. If not, you can give tea tree oil or vinegar a try and see what happens. They're both pretty safe and risk-free alternatives, safer for the environment and safer for your diapers. If you do use bleach, be sure to rinse well as aavt said, and I'd also suggest making sure it's well diluted before diapers come into contact with it. I'd even go so far as saying that I'd fill the washer up first, add the bleach and then add the diapers.
Karen. |
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Thanks for all your suggestions, ladies. Although I don't want to use bleach, I will consider it if all else fails. To start I think I will go with the boiling hot water and tea tree oil and see what happens. Any idea when I should add the tea tree oil to the wash and how much?
Karen, how long did it take for your baby's bum to clear? My girl (who is almost 6 months) is on day 4 of her cream and it has improved to where it doesn't look painful but the redness and spots are still there. Just curious...
Well, I better start on this laundry. I have 36 bamboo one size to get through. Wish me luck! |
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I can't remember exactly. My dd just turned 10 so this was almost 9 years ago, LOL! I think it was a few days and it was gone with only maybe a bit of red/pink where it used to be and even that disappeared soon enough...
Karen.
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My daughter gets bad yeast infections as a complication of her food allergies. If she has a bad enough reaction and the rash is bad enough, yeast attacks it. We have to use a Rx cream to get rid of it, and to prevent infection. From my (unfortunate) extensive experience... if the rash was bad enough to be red/swollen over the entire diaper area (I've been there) it could take a week or more to fully heal, although, as you said, we always see a big difference in the first few days(to the point where it didn't look painful).Luckily we have most of her allergies figured out and don't have to use the cream often.
As far as cleaning the diapers. The first couple of times I was very paranoid and boiled all the diapers. I've gotten more laxed as time went on and don't find it necessary. But that's just me. Good luck! |
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| Just a suggestion (not really for the diapers since i'm totally new on the cloth diaper scene!) Whenever my daughter gets a rash that looks like it's yeast i put a little vinegar in her bathwater. Another friend of mine had suggested it years ago and found it always helped with her daughter and i find it helps too. As long as you wash them off with soap they don't come out smelling like vinegar! |
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| also a salt water soak (i put her in the sink) helps my daughter if it hasn't gotten to the point-of-no-return stage yet. |
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| Can I ask for more details on what your daughter went through? We found out that her initial rash was caused by her allergic reaction to rice cereal and oatmeal. When we stopped the cereal, the rash on her bum was already a yeast infection so it didn't help (the rash she had everywhere else went away quickly). It has been a couple of weeks now and it is still there although it goes almost all away and comes back. We are in the process of starting veggies and so far, she hasn't had a problem with a rash anywhere but with her bum like it is now it is hard to tell. I am almost ready to give up cloth diapers over this as no matter how often we seem to change her it always gets a little worse when she is back in them full time. Although disposables don't make it go away either. Any information would help as I am finding it hard to gather information on this. What prescriptions did you get? How did you prevent infection? We are on Nystatin at the moment. |
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we call "Vusion" our miracle cream. Our doctor gave us a bag full of free samples because it is really expensive. Our pharmacist told us a recipe to make a similar lower strength cream too, although we ended up getting a discount card and a large tube for $10 (found coupon on Vusion website) so I can't remember the recipe. I'm sure if you asked a pharmacist about it, they could help you if interested. That cream was the absolute ONLY thing that worked for our daughter's rashes. Like yu said, the rash goes away quickly everywhere else but lingers on the diaper area because it is a moist, yeasty area. GRR! If the rash is still really bad, I would suggest keeping her just in a diaper (no cover) as much as possible, changing her as often as possible. We use wash cloth and water, but if the rubbing is irritating her skin just hold her over the sink and wash the bum with water and your hand. With the cream we just apply a very thin layer with every diaper change until it is better. It is usually 90% better after one or two applications, which is why we say it is our miracle cream!!
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we call "Vusion" our miracle cream. Our doctor gave us a bag full of free samples because it is really expensive. Our pharmacist told us a recipe to make a similar lower strength cream too, although we ended up getting a discount card and a large tube for $10 (found coupon on Vusion website) so I can't remember the recipe. I'm sure if you asked a pharmacist about it, they could help you if interested. That cream was the absolute ONLY thing that worked for our daughter's rashes. Like yu said, the rash goes away quickly everywhere else but lingers on the diaper area because it is a moist, yeasty area. GRR! If the rash is still really bad, I would suggest keeping her just in a diaper (no cover) as much as possible, changing her as often as possible. We use wash cloth and water, but if the rubbing is irritating her skin just hold her over the sink and wash the bum with water and your hand. With the cream we just apply a very thin layer with every diaper change until it is better. It is usually 90% better after one or two applications, which is why we say it is our miracle cream!!
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| my sister's son had a yeast rash, desitin made it worse, but monistat cured it. It looks like vusion is monistat and zinc mixed together. |
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| my sister's son had a yeast rash, desitin made it worse, but monistat cured it. It looks like vusion is monistat and zinc mixed together. |
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| I can't add anything to the diaper care question, but I can suggest a link for food allergies. The woman who first got me interested in CDing (and hooked me on ME) has a daughter with multiple food allergies. If that turns out to be the case with your LO, I recommend you take a look at sophiesafecooking.com. Lots of practical recipes and suggestions. |
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| You can get the same effect by putting a layer of zinc on top of the layer of Monistat or Nystatin. It prevents the urine from washing away the antifungal cream. |
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