Are you saying: “I need help with cloth diapers”? Each week, I answer a reader submitted question and other readers can weigh in.
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If you have a cloth diaper question, have it answered in a Mailbox Mondays post, and get other Moms’ opinions too!
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Sadie says::
Hi Maria
I’ve been scouring your blog posts and archives to try and find if/where you review diaper rash creams for cloth diapers. I know enough to know that some of the normal kinds (desitin) aren’t good for cloth but I dont really know why (what to look for in other brands) and what you should be using instead. My hubby and I are expecting in 4 months (our first) and have committed to cloth. I’m working on my registry and want to make sure to add the right items for cloth diapering. Thanks so much!
Sadie
Congratulations on the baby! If you’re ever looking for something, you can click the review archive link at the top of the page, and skim my reviews by category. My site has a search box, but I usually have better luck going to Google and typing “change-diapers.com rash cream” (or whatever.)
You can use zinc based, or medicated rash creams if you need to, just use a fleece liner between baby & the diaper. In general, you probably won’t see a whole lot of rash with cloth, though that’s not to say it won’t happen.
There are several cloth-safe creams out there, including Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm, Grandma El’s, GroVia’s Magic Stick, Motherlove Diaper Rash & Thrush Salve, Thirsties Booty Luster & CJ’s (among others). Many moms have luck with plain old olive or coconut oil. With any of these, be sure you are using a very small amount, or use a fleece liner.
For me, one application clears up any redness, and if one of my boys isn’t feeling well, a preventative layer serves as a barrier against acidic or just repeated bowel movements.
What is your favorite rash cream?
This post contains affiliate links.
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Help me give cloth diaper advice! If I’ve received a question, I will answer it on Monday and ask all of you to help too..
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Jessica says:
Hello. Sorry to bother you; I’m just not sure where to turn for information about this and was hoping you might be able to help. I use cloth diapers with my daughter and am attempting to use cloth wipes as well. Initially, I cut up some old receiving blankets and used a solution of water, tea tree oil, and baby shampoo. Very shortly after switching to this, my daughter developed a very red and irritated bottom. I switched back to disposable wipes, and the rash quickly cleared up. I thought perhaps the receiving blankets were too rough because of how old they were, so I bought some cotton flannel fabric and sewed up some new wipes. This time I used only water on the wipes in case the solution was irritating her bottom. Sure enough, after a few changes with the cloth wipes, her bottom is red and irritated again. She cries whenever I wipe her with them, and I am at a loss as to why this is happening. I don’t really want to continue using disposable wipes forever. Have you ever experienced this or heard of this, or is there a cloth wipe you might recommend? I understand if you do not have time to answer this, but I would appreciate it if you do and if you have any ideas.
Thank you,
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
My initial thought was that the TTO or shampoo was irritating her bottom, so I was surprised to hear you say that water irritates her bottom but disposable wipes don’t!
First I’d say make sure they are totally saturated so you can get all residue off her bottom without scrubbing. Have you tried anything but flannel? I’m wondering if perhaps she is sensitive to that.
My favorite wipes are GroVia wipes because they are soft, stay soft, wash well, and are more affordable than others (under $1 ea, I believe $10.95 for 12.) I like to use Thirsties booty luster and spray right on the bottom. When the bottle is empty, I refill it with dissolved wipes bits like booty cubes.
Have cloth wipes irritated your baby’s bottom? Did you figure out what was causing it?
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>
I had heard of Earth Mama Angel Baby Organics in the past, and when someone suggested that I review their products, I decided to look into it.
I ended up having a phone conversation with Tracey at EMAB. I hate talking on the phone; I get nervous. I think I always sound like a doofus and end up saying something stupid! Despite that, Tracey and I chatted like old friends. We talked about everything from tear-free shampoo to teething babies.
Tracey directed me to EMAB’s reading room, and I ended up spending quite a bit of time there and learned a lot. I highly recommend you take a peek if you’re at all interested in natural and organic products.
To try to keep this post from becoming a novel, I’ll get to the point! I emailed with Julie at EMAB and they so generously sent me a 2 oz jar of Angel Baby Bottom Balm.
Since switching to cloth, we rarely, if ever, see any diaper rash, but my son usually gets red after he has a dirty diaper. It doesn’t matter how quickly I change him, I suppose it’s the acidity that bothers his skin.
He made a dirty diaper while in his exersaucer and wearing the one cheapie diaper we have, which doesn’t do much to contain messes! Between the diaper and the pressure from the exersaucer, we ended up with an explosion ( or a “poo-nami” if you will). Up his back, on his legs, everywhere! It was the perfect chance to try the Angel Baby Bottom Balm.
I was initially worried about it being in a jar; I don’t like having to dig my fingers in stuff, like lip balms or creams in a jar. However, I didn’t have to. I just lightly rubbed my fingers on the surface and it melted onto my skin.
The balm glided easily onto my son’s skin, and covered well without being thick or gloppy. The product I had been using was in a tube, rather waxy, and difficult to spread without using a little too much. Any “cloth safe” diaper cream really isn’t if you glop it on too thick. I was not at all worried about the bottom balm damaging my diapers.
After I applied it, my fingers weren’t all goopy. I just rubbed it into my hands and used a little hand sanitizer as usual. Even after the sanitizer, my hands were soft and smelled wonderful.
Angel Baby Bottom Balm contains organic olive oil, shea butter, candelilla wax, organic jojoba oil, organic calendula extract, tea tree leaf oil, lavender oil, organic St. John’s wort flower extract, organic chickweed extract, organic plantain extract and myrrh oil. It has a pleasant, lavender scent. There’s no zinc and it’s vegan (no beeswax).
I tend to shy away from products with tea tree oil or lavender due to a study linking their use to gynomastica in boys. As far as I know, it was just a single study and I haven’t done much research into the matter. Until now, there really weren’t any products I needed or wanted to use which contained TTO or lavender, so I didn’t worry about it. The ingredients didn’t stop me from using it, but I do wish it had a different oil used for anti-fungal properties, such as grapefruit seed extract.
Back to the subject at hand. At the next diaper change, there was no redness. Zero. Zilch. None. This stuff is great! It was a nice change to open up a wet diaper and get a whiff of lavender!
A 2 oz. jar retails for $14.95. I think that’s quite a good deal considering how little you need to use to get the job done.
The 1.67 oz. bottle of Happy Mama Body Wash they sent along was a nice surprise! While I don’t have a problem investing in natural and organic products and foods for my kids, I tend to put myself last! I use whatever I get for free at CVS (I’m a coupon/bargain shopper).
Like many moms I’m sure, my showers aren’t exactly relaxing. I can’t count on one every day, and the ones I do get are usually hurried and accompanied by an audience and questions of “when are you going to be done” before I manage to get both feet in the shower! So, the ginger grapefruit body wash was quite a treat!
The wash contains organic coconut oil, organic olive oil, organic aloe leaf juice, Kosher vegetable glycerin, organic shea butter, Potassium citrate, organic ginger oil, organic grapefruit peel oil, organic lime oil, organic vanilla bean extract, and organic calendula extract. It smelled fabulous, like ginger and citrus. It did take some getting used to; it smelled more like something tasty from the kitchen, since I’m used to stinky, perfumed, chemical filled body washes!
The foaming bottle dispensed just the right amount, and it lathered nicely. It smelled so fabulous, and rinsed off my skin easily (quite a feat in our soft water!) It left my skin feeling clean and soft.
A 5.3 oz bottle retails for $10.95.
Earth Mama Angel Baby has a wide array of products for pregnancy, labor ease, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, baby and baby loss comfort as well as gifts and teas. I’m highly impressed with the company, as well as the people who run it. I look forward to trying more of their products in the future!
Want it? You can get 20% off your order during April (that’s tomorrow as of the date I’m writing this) by entering coupon code CLOTH20 at checkout! Earth Mama Angel Baby also shares some great specials and discounts on their Facebook fan page.
Lastly, if you twitter, mark your calendar for the April 21 #ecowed Twitter party. If you have questions, contact EMAB. I don’t Twitter, so that’s Greek to me, LOL.
Thank you so much to Earth Mama Angel Baby for sending me these awesome freebies! Though I was given these samples, the freebies did not affect my review in any way. 🙂
Edit August 2010: We don’t often need diaper cream since switching to cloth, but this jar is lasting forever! I think we have nearly half left, and it knocks out redness like nobody’s business!
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>My kiddo usually ends up in sposies in the evenings & overnight, but I had a clean one at bedtime last night & put him in it.
Before I did, I used a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of the cloth safe diaper cream I’d bought. It had a very mild but pleasant scent that reminded me of something I couldn’t put my finger on. It warmed up and spread very easily and didn’t leave a disgusting, gloppy mess on my hands. In fact, my hands felt soft after.
Usually my son is very red in the morning. This morning was the first time in a long time I have seen him look completely normal. Not a trace of redness. I am sure part of that was from being in a cloth diaper all night, but that cream is a miracle! Huge, huge difference. I’m planning to keep it right by the diapers & just put a tiny bit on at each change.
His second diaper of the day was the Happy Heiny’s. I did look on their site and the 4th snap is a newborn/extra small setting. However, the medium setting seemed much larger than the medium setting on the bumgenius. Even my daughter commented that the diaper looked big. Not a problem, it still fit him great. I imagine that it would fit him longer than the BGs if it is a bit bigger.
The diaper is soft, flexible and really easy to put on. It has large, overlapping velcro tabs. The insert was really easy to put in, though I had to be sure not to put it too close to the front or back of the diaper so it wouldn’t wick onto his clothing.
Overall it is trimmer than the BG. The print is flipping adorable!
When it was time to change it, we had no poop blowout and no leaks. Usually after a poopy diaper, even if I change it within seconds of the poop actually occurring, he has redness where it touched his skin. The breathable barrier of the diaper cream certainly works because there was no redness at all.
Edit August 2010: We still love Grandma El’s but I’m just not able to get a good fit with my Happy Heiny’s. They always end up leaking, so they’ve been relegated to the “laundry day” drawer. I’m hoping they might work in the future when my son is older.
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Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
