Myths and Misconceptions: Babies With Sensitive Skin..

I've decided to do a series of blogs all about common myths and misconceptions about cloth diapering! If you have any ideas feel free to comment here, share on my twitter, or post to my facebook page any myths or misconceptions you have heard, especially ones that really drive you nutso!

 

Myth/Misconception #1

 

Today we are going to talk about one of my least favorite myths about cloth diapering. It's my least favorite because it's just so not true and not only does it discourage people from cloth diapering but it discourages people from cloth diapering who would probably benefit the most from doing it!

 

Cloth Diapering Will Irritate Babies Who Have Sensitive Skin and Will Cause Rash

 

One of the reasons we started cloth diapering and cloth wiping were because my little one has VERY sensitive skin. Every diaper gave him a rash, some more so than others, and wipes especially did it. Every kind of wipes besides pampers sensitive gave him a terrible rash. Yes money was another huge issue but the skin was the biggest reason. I couldn't stand seeing my little one's tush all raw! In all my research I've found a lot of great stories about moms switching to cloth and it helping clear up their rash problems. But recently I've heard a lot of moms tell me on the Internet and in person "My child's skin is too sensitive for cloth diapers, they cause rashes!" This is simply not true.

 

Stay Wet? Not if You Use Something Stay-Dry!

 

One reason people give for them causing more rash is that they stay wet. This also is not true. Yes if you are using prefolds or flats, baby will feel wetter sooner. But you don't have to have a prefold/flat up next to baby's bum! While prefolds still worked for my son we noticed he did still have a little bit of a rash when using them from feeling the wetness, so we switched to pockets. I LOVE pockets, especially rumparooz, because they have a stay-dry layer that sits next to baby and takes all the wetness away, drawing it into the absorbent material inside! You can stuff pockets with prefolds, flour sack towels, flats, or inserts. Whatever works, plus you can customize your absorbency. You can also buy stay dry prefolds. OsoCozy staydry prefolds are my favorite prefolds, and they give us a great fit too. So baby doesn't have to be wet and feel wet!

 

Timely Changes Changes Things!

 

Another thing that can help with the wetness issue is if you change baby often enough. I won't lie, you will probably need to change your baby more than if you were using disposables. But it's so worth it. The natural fibers are so much more gentle on your baby's skin than the scratchy rough paper of disposables! Just try wrapping one disposable around one knee and one cloth around your other knee. You will be able to see quickly just which one is more comfortable. As long as you change your baby often enough, baby won't be irritated by urine. It is suggested you change a cloth diaper baby anywhere between ever 2-3 hours or more if you have a light wetter and/or a very absorbent diaper.

 

Chemical Stay-Dry is Not the Same, so Irritating!

 

Last but not least, disposables tend to dry babies out. Why is this? Because there is gel inside the paper lining that is made to absorb the wetness, soaking it up. That is why a disposable diaper swells when wet. And that's why if you accidentally run one through the washer, you find beads of gel all over everywhere. Not only can the chemicals irritate baby's sensitive skin, but the gel won't discriminate against urine and skin moister, it draws it all out and absorbs it all. This is very drying to baby's bum and it causes rash and irritation.

Does That Mean Your Baby Will Never Get A Rash?

Not always. My son has had a few rashes since starting. One was due to ammonia buildup which we have since solved, and the others have all been due to being sick and/or teething. We find if you use LuSa Organics Booty Balm with a disposable liner (I like EcoSprout), both of which you can buy here at Mama's Emporium, things clear up pretty quickly, even the nastiest of teething rashes! Using an Amber Teething Necklace we got at Mama's Emporium as well has also helped tons with how much the little one drools while teething and makes things much easier on him and me! If you don't want to mess with liners, I suggest CJ's BUTTer which you can also buy at Mama's Emporium. CJ's can also be used as a nipple cream for nursing moms, for dry skin, eczema, and even as a preventative at every diaper change, every day, or just after the bath to keep baby protected.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is I encourage all mama's with children who have sensitive skin to at least try cloth. Don't just try prefolds either, try pockets, AIOs, AI2s, and other kinds. Maybe try more natural fibers like bamboo and hemp. Experiment till you find something that will work for your baby. I'm sure if you play around, change baby plenty, and use creams as needed, maybe even use CJ's as a preventative every so often, and you and baby's skin will all be much happier!

Why Cloth Diaper?

While everyone's reasoning for Cloth Diapering varies, there are a lot of things to consider. You can cloth diaper for one reason, or any combination of multiple reasons. Some people do it only for the cute factor. Some because their little ones are allergic to disposible diapers, some to be eco friendly, and some for the cost effectiveness. There is no right or wrong reason to cloth diaper, and there is no wrong or right reason not to cloth diaper. You don't have to cloth diaper all the time, many people only use cloth at home. Some don't use it overnight or when they are out and about. Some daycares won't allow the use of cloth so parents decide to only cloth at home and when they are out and about with their little ones, not while at daycare during the day. Whatever works for your family is the best thing to do! There is no right or wrong in cloth diapering. Here are just some of the reasons you may want ton consider cloth diapering:

Cost Effectiveness

This is one of the most common reasons for mamas deciding on cloth diapering these days. I know I save about $122 a month just cloth diapering 1 baby. The savings are even better if you plan on cloth diapering more than one child either at a time or after each other.

http://www.diaperpin.com/calculator/calculator.asp is a website you can use to calculate the cost of disposables versus the cost of cloth! I was using a box of diapers every week at $25 for my newborn. I was also using 1 box of wipes at $11 every two weeks between my two children. That comes out to $122 a month that I no longer have to buy! What could you do with an extra $100 dollars a month? What could you do with an extra $1200 a year? Pay off some debt, put some money in savings, buy more cute things for your babies, take a trip, or spend it on cute diapers! Whatever you want!
The cheapest way to cloth diaper is by using prefolds or flats and covers. Econbum are some cheap, good covers that I use. They are available exclusively at cottonbabies.com. You can also find them used at diaperswappers.com, the diaper swap board on BabyCenter, your local Craigslist, etc. You can also use prefolds in pocket diapers!
Another cheap option is "China Cheapy" diapers. I have some Sunbaby Cloth Diapers that I love! I also love love love my Alvas even more than Sunbabies! You can get them even cheaper by buying them without inserts and using prefolds with covers and stuffing the pockets of the Sunbaby diapers with the prefolds. Alva is another brand of China Cheapy and so is Coolababy. You can even join a co-op and buy diapers, especially China Cheapies at a much better price because you are going in on a big wholesale order with other people and paying wholesale prices! There are also many other cheap and/or free ways to cloth diaper! Plus who wants to run to the store in the middle of the night because you run out of diapers? With cloth you won't ever have to!

Environmentally Friendly

Cloth diapers are much more environmentally friendly! There aren't any extra materials or chemicals going into landfills. Even when your cloth diapers aren't good enough to be used as cloth diapers or you are done having children, you can still use them for other things! Prefolds make amazing burp rags and cleaning cloths just to name a couple! Plus it will save you gas because you will make less trips to the store which will help the environment and your pocketbook! 

Cuteness Factor

Another main reason a lot of people get into cloth diapering is because they are adorable! Have you ever been buying diapers, trying to decide between Winne The Pooh and Sesame Street characters and thought "I wish they made rainbow/blue/pink/red/camo/ diapers." or "I wish you could choose the colors and prints of my diapers!" Well with cloth you can! If you find a fabric you like, there are WAHMs who will let you send in your own fabric and make the diaper of your choosing from it! My personal favorites so far are my galaxy diapers! I got one from The Diaper Addict (a WAHM you can find on facebook) and one from A Sparkly Baby (another WAHM you can find on facebook) I got covers made from the Galaxy PUL from both of them and I am still, months and months later, beyond in love with them!

Comfort

Let's face it, cloth is more comfortable, especially for babies with sensitive skin! Have you felt a diaper? Not only are they scratchy but they are full of chemicals. Who would want to sit in wet paper like that? I know I wouldn't. I also know I wouldn't like the gel they have in them absorbing not only all my pee but all the moister from my bottom! Some babies get really bad rashes, some are just plain allergic to disposables, and some just get super dry down there or have other complications because the absorbent gel does it's job too well by soaking up all the moister in your sweet babies bottom as well.

Potty Training

Potty Training, or Potty learning (PT and PL respectively) can be easier and happen earlier because of using cloth diapers! Because the baby can feel the wetness better than they could in a disposable that has the gel to soak up wetness, children are apt to learn quicker the sensation of being wet and start noticing the feelings that come right before being wet, therefor leading them to learn how to use the potty earlier and easier than their peers in the disposables.

Like I said, you could be trying cloth for one reason, multiple reasons, or maybe your own reasons and none of these at all. That's fine! Whatever reasons a mommy has for cloth diapering or not cloth diapering, they are right. <3