Help 2nd day in MCN and a red bum!!

[Luvabub]

Have bought some bitti d'lish and started using them yesterday, today my poor little man has a red sore bum, do you guy's think he might be having a reaction to them?? Today I did also add a flushable liner could that be the problem? Mind you his right ear and check were also red, so maybe teething?? Any suggestions?? How long should I give them a go before I come to the conclusion that he is having a reaction?? Worried we are not of to a good start!

[monicat]

How many washes have they had since you bought them, maybe try giving them a few more to make sure all the residue is gone? My daughter always gets rashes from suedecloth (ittis etc), so I just bought some microfleece and cut it into rectangle shaped liners. This works well for us. Or if you have some flanelette around the house, maybe cut up a few liners out of that - it's not stay dry but you may be able to see if the reaction is from the suedecloth. Also just make sure you change at least every 2 hours or so. (Even more often if they are getting a rash). Did you get any MCN with natural inners (bamboo, hemp etc)? I'd use them until the rash has cleared up.

How long to give them - If it were me I would stop until you could try to get some microfleece/flanalette liners, and/or until you've given them a few more washes, because once their bum gets really sore it's not much fun.

And hang in there, it is sometimes a bit of trial and error, but is well worth it in the end!

[mumof3boys]

He might be allergic to the nappy, however if he's teething then his wee can get really toxic which could cause a rash. If it's an allergic reaction it more likely to be everywhere the nappy has touched, ie all the way round from front to back, if it from his wee it will be more specific to wher the nappy gets wettest. If possible go back to your other nappies you know didn't cause a problem and see if it settles down.

[BOB]

How long do you leave him in the nappy? Only time DD gets a reaction is if I leave her too long after a poo or occasionaly a wee (so IMO thats a reaction to the bodily function not the nappy)..Teething wee will also be much stronger so can possibly cause a reaction sooner.

[Luvabub]

These are the first cloth I have tried, he has only been in Huggies before now, he is 7mnths, I have only just heard about these MCN, I have to primary age children, so never new about these until now. It will be disappointing if he is allergic, I do have heaps of Flannelette in the cupboard, been there for years as I haven't sewn since my other kids were little, I might sew some liners up tomorrow and see if that helps, gee I hope it's teeth and just a co-incidence that it is happing the same time I try MCN for first time!!

[Luvabub]

The longest he has been in it is 3 hrs, is that too long?? He is not a big wetter, I guess you do get used to Huggies absorbency though! He sleeps 12hrs at night, so he will be in one all that time overnight too!!! Sorry if I seem a bit unsure but this is my first attempt at MCN"s.

[BOB]

It depends, how old is he?

If he wees as soon as you put himin one and then you don't change it for 3 hours, then thats a long time IYKWIM.

My dd can go 1-4 hours in a nappy depending on wee. She's a bit over one, and goes a while between wee.

What do you use to wash themwith? He could be allergic to that in 'that' sensitive area?

ETA DD goes overnight (mostly) in an MCN. But ATM she's teething, so if she wees she tends to wake up (you can smell the amonia) and wont go back to sleep untilchanged. You might need a more aborbant nappy for overnight.

[Luvabub]

I have been using Ecostore laundry powder. They are still new and only been washed a few times as well. I will keep at it and see how we go, I thought this would be better for us, we do have a lot of allergies in the family ie. eczema & hay fever, so I thought cloth would be a better choice over disposable but maybe not if you have sensitive skin!! I don't know, to confusing sometimes!!

[BOB]

You could try a silk liner? Some bubs can only handle natural fibre inners (not sure how they handle sposies if this is the case). It's only been 2 day, keep at it. Don't forget you don't have to bin them/buy more so don't be afraid to change more frequently.

Try washing them with just hot water and see if that makes a difference.

[Luvabub]

Yes that is so true, he hasn't had a reaction to disposables, have you seen the fake man made crap thats inside of them!!!! So you would think it can't be the MCN''s, I do want to buy more, $$$ is a bit of an issue, it was a big purchase for me to buy these ones, on one wage, but I will see how we go. Thank you so much for you advise and quick responses.

[Ying]

How much detergent you use is also another issue. 1/4 of the recommended amount is enough on a full nappy load. It's possible that there's detergent residue left on the nappies that causes red bum. Try washing with just hot water and see how it goes.

Like other suggested, it could also be the inner fabric that he reacts to. And yes teething could also be the cause.

I know it seems very confusing at first, it's a bit of trial and error so don't lose heart just yet.

[MadMel]

Hey and welcome

My little one Ashton, he's 9 months, but he has super sensitive skin too.

First thing I would suggest is making sure that you've prewashed them with 1/4 of the reccomended washing powder, then given them another couple of rinses to make sure they are nice and clean and absorbant for him.

Some babies have a reaction to synthetic inners, these are suedecloth, fleece etc. We have that issue here. Don't stress though because it's really as simple as either buying some silk liners online, or making up some flannelette ones yourself. I saw you have some flanny in the cupboard, why not whip it out and cut some up.

Teething CAN be an issue, it is here at the moment. Their wees and poos can become a little more burning than normal meaning red bottoms. Really helps here to use some baby beehinds hemp fitted nappies at least once a day. I swear it clears up the red bum. Ashton has had really bad nappy rash before and we've used them for a whole day and night and the next day it's clear, no cream needed.

Another reaction issue here is wipes. We use cloth wipes because the stuff in the disposable ones burns his bum. Just use face washers if you have enough, that's what I do Plus it's so easy to chuck them in the wash with the nappies no worries

Ashton isn't really a heavy wetter either, we can go 4 hours without a nappy change and still not be overly wet. But the best thing to do if they have a red bum is to change every 2 hours or so. Eventually you will be able to tell what is really wet and what isn't.

With night time, does he wake to feed and do you change at night? If not then you might want to invest in a night nappy. Most day nappies like ittis wont last all night, they will leak and get very full. Night nappies are made to go 12 hours or so. Genesa Forge make some great super night nappies. We love them here, and they really do a wonderful job. Some others are Whizz Kidz, Wild Child, Bubblebubs GNST... oh there are so many I can't even think lol

If he isn't a super heavy wetter you might get away with a boosted baby beehinds bamboo. It's just a fitted nappy and you can add more absorbancy on the outside, with a wool cover or PUL cover.

If nothing else works, the bum is still reacting even with liners etc, try washing with hot water (I am not sure what ittis say, it's usually around 40-60 degrees) without any powders. We don't use washing powder here because Ashton would get a rash, just hot water and sun No stains, no smells, no rashes

Good luck, I wouldn't give up. It's all about trial and error. Some things wont work, some things will but you will be happy you've made the switch Like you I have 2 older boys and I had no idea about MCN with them, but so glad I found them with Ashton.

[fizz]

we had the same sore red bum issues on holiday recently, clem has been in cloth since birth but only really bamboo pre-folds but we got ittys to go away with and her bum after about 4 days was horrid, blisters and all. Turned out though that the other thing we had that was new was flush-able liners and they were the culprit, once we turfed them we had no more problems and he little bottom cleared up in a couple of days. So dont despair, try that first. Do you have the snap in's ? we do and just popped the bamboo soaker over the top of the hourglass one when we though it might have been the problem. Hope you have some success troubleshooting :-)

[5cutekiddies]

If you use flannelette as liners it will not wick the wetness away from the skin. You can use polar fleece, very cheap at the moment at spotlight.
When I first switched my 7 month old to MCN fulltime he also broke out with a red bottom, I thought maybe it was the material, just used a different nappy for a few days, and now we have no problems with redness at all.

[MadMel]

I think the problem with fleece is that it isn't a natural fibre, flanny is. If it's a reaction to the synthetic fibres then fleece is going to agrivate it more. That is one issue we have here.

I might be wrong but you want microfleece, not polar fleece?

[*Tracee*]

Another who's bub could not tolerate synthetic fabrics on her nappy area, she' break out in a red, burnt looking rash that would peel off layers of her skin like sunburn.

Best way to work out the issue for your bub is to try a natural inner nappy for a few days, for us it took less than a day to realise that it was going to work. Just be sure to cover as much of the nappy area as possible with the liners you're going to make and change as often as possible as the natural fibres keep the wetness against the skin.