Using cloth nappies and nappy rash prevention and treatment

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"Cloth nappies?

But won't my baby get nappy rash??"

Many of today's mothers have been so indoctrinated with the hype from the marketing of disposable nappies that they forget (or simply didn't realise?) that such things only began to be used in Australia about 1970, and healthy children all around the world have been raised for generations both before and since 1970 using cloth nappies.

So what is the story about nappy rash? Here are my thoughts on the matter...

Basically there are three causes of nappy rash:

· strong urine burns the skin (ie the child is dehydrated)
· skin infections and
· chemical sensitivities.

All these causes have simple but different solutions, so I'll go through them one at a time.

Strong urine is most likely to cause nappy rash if the child is left too long in a wet nappy or when the child is not well/ is teething/ etc. Dehydration may also make a child more prone to get nappy rash in a spell of hot weather. When this is the cause of nappy rash you may be able to smell the 'ammonia' smell of strong urine. The simple prevention is to give the child some extra drinks of water between feeds to ensure fluid intake is sufficient in hot weather or when they are off their food due to illness or teething.

Bacterial infections can cause rashes and sore bottoms when nappies are not well washed. The most economical, time saving, envirnomentally friendly way to sterilise nappies is to dry them in the sunshine! When this is not possible, many parents use commercial agents such as Napisan; WHEN [see below] have a great brochure, "The Art of Cloth Nappies", which lists more environmentally friendly alternatives. Don't use chlorine bleaches; if considered necessary to bleach, use oxygen bleaches.
Many parents find they never have to resort to the stronger chemicals... try using the least chemicals you can to wash the nappies, and only resort to alternatives if the baby's bottom indicates more care is required!

Chemical sensitivities are a likely reason for any child having frequent nappy rash. This child is just as likely to get a rash in a disposable nappy as in a cloth nappy! Change the way you wash the nappy; use a different detergent. Give the nappies an additional plain water rinse. Experiment! Some babies tolerate a liquid detergent better than a powder, others may need you to avoid detergents and use simple old-fashioned solutions such as in the WHEN brochure. Sometimes the use of a soft cloth (or disposable) nappy liner may help. Very rarely, food sensitivities can be the cause, and it may be the child or the mother's diet (of breast fed babes) that needs to change to completely eliminate rashes.

Any nappy rash can be complicated by a Thrush (Candida) infection (especially if they have had to have any antibiotics). If this occurs ask the chemist or your doctor about appropriate creams to treat the yeast bugs that are the cause.

For any nappy rash do:

· change nappy as soon as possible after it is wet/soiled to reduce 'burning' sore skin.
· wash baby's bottom with soap and water when changing nappy, rinse and dry well; avoid chemical 'wipes'.
· use a soothing cream such as old fashioned zinc cream, or a herbal healing cream.
· give baby lots of 'air time' without a nappy to promote healing; a short exposure (10 minutes or so) of sunshine each day may help too.

All the above 'do' list applies to healthy bottoms too!!

So to answer the original question... using cloth nappies does NOT automatically give a child nappy rash. A sore bottom is the occasional warning to parents to take special care for a few days; and a healthy bottom is a good thankyou to parents for doing all the 'right things'.

Happy cloth nappying to you!

Pip

Would you like to read a brochure with good ideas on 'The Art of Coth Nappies'? Download TheArtofClothNappies.pdf to view and print The brochure has been written by the Australian branch of Worldwide Home Environmentalists Network (WHEN).
You will need the application Adobe Acrobat on your computer - it is available free from Adobe.

Would you like to read some really practical parenting tips?

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