synthetics allergy... HELP!?

[Allybee]

it is fast becoming apparent that synthetic fibres and my DS are just not agreeing with each other

He has had a mystery rash on and off since we brought him home.. I thought it was from washing powder so we switched to omo senstitive, but that didnt help. The nurse was puzzled, we checked my diet and that looked fine, and it isnt a dry nappy rash- its a really red splotchy irritation like he is obviously allergic to something.

So over the past few days its has slowly started to make sense- the other morning he woke up in his fleece lined nappy and all his stomach, legs and entire lower body where the nappy touched was red. Tuesday night was the worst- literally his whole body and face was red and splotchy, I was ready to make a trip to the doctors he looked that bad, but before I booked him in I sat down and though about what he has been wearing in the past 24 hours and the list looked a little like this:
Fleece jumpsuit
fleece covers
fleece lined nappies
polar fleece bunny rugs

Its fleece!!
I've kept him in a cotton singlet, linerless nappies and a wool cover.. with cotton wraps and blankets if it is cold.. and alas, his skin has come up perfect, except for a small patch on his tummy, and I think I know the cause of that too I sew my hook & loop onto my nappies using 100% polyester thread - the only part on his body that is red now is the little rectangle on the inside of the nappy where the loop is sewn onto, so poly threads are a no-no too obviously.

What do i do from here? We are seeing the health nurse tomorrow so I will be sure to mention it, but will he ever build a 'tolerance' to it eventually? Do babies grow out of these sorts of irritations?

Otherwise its all our fleece lined nappies, velour nappies, VBSNs, momobutts, VB fleece covers and alot of his clothes just rendered useless.. not that I mind if it means I can stop carrying a little red splotchman around of course, but I am literally going to lose half my nappy stash and his wardrobe.. I will need to unpick the velcro and put snaps on all of the nappies I just made.. and in the meantime I have no idea what to use as substitute nappy liners?

Argh!

[mum2henry]

Ally,

What about putting a Hemp Muslin liner to totally cover all the synthetic bits inside the nappies - that way he isn't getting the contact with the synthetic, and you don't need to get rid of all those lovely nappies I know some people swear by these for nappy rash, and might go bit of the way to fixing your problem.

[tikki]

Tracee (whizz kidz) had the same problem with Claire so when she's back from holidays she may be able to help you out, what about the silk liners?

[Eilleen]

Oh your poor little man!

I guess its now a matter of working out exactly what he is allergic to. There are a lot of chemicals used in processing polyester and some of those chemicals are also used in some anaesthetics so I would ask for a full allergy test.

Another thing is that while he might be allergic to polyester fleece, it doesn't mean he's allergic to ALL synthetics - acrylic does have the same properties as polyester from my understanding but just can't be made into fleece. However, if you are willing to hem/stitch the edges, then you MIGHT be able to use acrylic as a stay-dry liner over the top. (Again, depends on what exactly your son is allergic to).

If he happens to be allergic to ALL synthetics, then I'm afraid there are really no other stay-dry natural fabrics around - so it will always feel wet. Having said that, many kids have grown up without a liner and it doesn't seem to bother them.

Raw silk liners has healing properties and that's why its often used as a liner too but yes, it will feel wet after they've wee'd.

Anyway, all the best with your appointment with the doctor and I hope you get some answers soon!

[Bek]

fwiw, it could still be the detergent, because ben reacts to omo sensitive, even with double rinsing.

[Allybee]

thanks guys
trace is actually a good cyber mate so Ill be sure to stalk her and pick her brains about little Claire's reaction when I find some time

I still think its fleece, he seems so much more settled since I've kept it away from him... I will be asking the nurse to book us for a full allergy test tomorrow just to be on the safe side too.

[FionaK]

Hi Allybee

You'll find a few threads here where I talk about muslin liners. I much prefer them to fleece actually. And I use them the size of half a muslin wrap and fold it around the whole nappy area before putting on the nappy, so you might find it covers enough to keep the polyester stitching away. AND you prob have muslin wraps already, so if you have a spare, you could just cut it in half diagonally and overlock or zigzag the edge to test it out without spending any extra money. I just used the nice soft cotton muslin rather than the hemp muslin. I have pics of how I use it - ie the wrapping so everything is covered (not that its that complicated) so let me know if you want a link.

Fiona

[*Tracee*]

hi Allybee

Claire is just the same as Connor, anything with a hint of a synthetic fibre in it and she comes out in a rash. Took us ages to work it out as I always thought you had to have a fleece liner.
Now days we are limited (sadly) to flannel, hemp and bamboo and some 100% cotton prints. Anything else and she will rash by the next nappy change, it's a red, hot rash too.
We now use no liners at all and have had no problems with rashes from contacting her urine, even in her night nappies. We did try the muslin liners and they made no difference so I haven't used them since, we also have silk liners and I'll pop on of those in a nappy if she is particularly red.
For clothing, we don't use anything fleece on her anymore, but she seems ok with most other things (altho we really have mostly cotton clothing anyways).

For us now we have a real excuse for being wool obsessed as that's really all we can use (so ggrr to me for not packing the woollies for our holiday!).

Let me know if I can help anymore

[tikki]

On the allergy testing, I wanted to get Lily fully allergy tested as DH has a family history of LOTS of allergies and so I was refered to a paed specialising in allergies. Basically it is a waste of money to have a full allergy test at this age as if you have not been exposed to something you may show a false negative, eg. the test may say you're not allergic to egg which may not be true. If you haven't been in contact with something you can't have developed an allergy to it. (Does that make sense?)

So it's actually best to wait until they're older and been in contact with more stuff

It cost me $170 to find that out!!! LOL

[Allybee]

Tikki my health nurse said the same thing to me today. she said its best to wait until he gets a bit older before we confirm anything. She looked at his tummy and said its definitely an allergy rash opposed to a nappy kinda rash though which makes me a bit more relieved.

Thanks heaps Trace, we are def. in the same boat, the hot looking rash is exactly what Connor gets! I'm positive its the fleece I've had him in linerless terry flats and 100% cotton clothes and his skin has since cleared up beautifully. I did have a Q for you, does claire react to polyester thread when it touches her skin? I swear that is the only reason Connor has a tiny bit of rash left on his belly..

I've just finished work so I'm pooped. Time to hit the hay