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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It’s hard to believe that I’ve been cloth diapering as long as I have, and I’m just now trying CJ’s BUTTer. I’ve heard so much about it, that I contacted them to see if I could buy a bunch of samples to use as prizes (they are sponsoring the next few months of “top fans” runner-up prizes) and they sent a few extra for me to try too.
BUTTer is a cloth safe diaper cream (as long as you use a thin layer!) that seems to work for just about everything! It’s available in tubs, sticks and tubes from $6.97 for a .75 oz stick, up to $19 for a 12 ounce tub. BUTTer comes in tons of yummy scents, as well as a plus formula (formerly the yeast formula) and a vegan version (shea butter, cocoa butter & sesame oil.) They also have a spray version, foaming cleanser, body lotions and more!
CJ’s BUTTer ingredients: shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, lanolin, beeswax, cocoa butter, vitamin e, colloidal oatmeal, fragrance
CJ’s BUTTer PLUS ingredients: shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, sesame oil, vitamin e, neem oil
Most of the samples had a safety seal, which foiled my plan to sit & sniff all your prizes. Hmph. If you want to try lots of scents, you can create your own sampler of .5 oz tubs.
When using this as a diaper cream, I got just a tiny bit on my fingers, rubbed them between my fingers & applied. I used a lot more in these photos to show the texture. It looks greasy above, but within a few minutes, it absorbed and left my skin super soft, but not greasy. I have terrible eczema and my hands crack & bleed in the winter (you can see band aids on my hands in some videos, LOL.) Luckily, my hands aren’t bad when I am pregnant or newly breastfeeding, but I’ve had bad patches on my upper arms lately. I applied CJ’s overnight, then lightly exfoliated in the shower and they are all but gone. I also used it on my feet and wore socks to bed (yuck on the socks in bed, but it worked.) I even put a bit on my fingertips, rubbed them together, then smoothed the ends of my hair. It tamed my frizzies without making my hair gross!
Oh yeah, it’s a diaper cream too. 😉 The fragrance was pleasant but not overwhelming, and didn’t seem to irritate my sons’ skin.
I also tried the CJ’s lip balm, which sells for $3.30 for a standard .15 oz tube. You can also get a 4-pack for $10.50 if you can’t pick just one flavor!
CJ’s BUTTer lip balm ingredients: soybean oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, apricot kernel oil, almond oil, coconut oil, vegetable glycerin, beeswax, flavor
I tried the strawberries & cream flavor (yum!) but I think they all sound fantastic, especially liptricity (peppermint), mint chocolate chip, mochaccino, lemon cheesecake & vanilla chai latte!
I’m particular about my lip products. I don’t like anything sticky or waxy. The CJ’s slicked on smoothly (didn’t need much at all) and felt satiny. Even after it started to wear off after drinking, my lips felt soft for hours. The overall texture of the stick seemed softer than most store bought lip balms at first, but after I used the top bit of lip balm, the rest of the stick was firmer.
Browse all of CJ’s products and find CJ’s on Facebook.
Giveaway: One reader will receive a 4 oz. Tube of CJ’s Original BUTTer® in his/her choice of scent. The retail value of this prize is $9.00. In order to be a “giveaway” the prize has to be free (of course) so this giveaway is open to the lower 48 states of the U.S. only. However, if you are outside of this area and would like to enter, CJ’s would ask that you pay half of the shipping. Void where prohibited of course! Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.
FTC compliance: I received samples at no cost in order to review. I was not otherwise compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.
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Motherlove Herbal Company makes fantastic products for pregnant and breastfeeding moms, as well as for baby. They have everything from pregnant belly salve to sitz bath spray. I seriously wish I had known about the belly salve when I was pregnant! I was up half the night trying to claw my skin off to stop the itchiness during my pregnancies!
Motherlove sent me a jar of their diaper rash and thrush salve to try.
It is cloth safe, and is rated zero (zero toxins) on EWG’s Skin Deep Database.
The simple ingredients are 96% certified organic.
The salve is fairly solid in the jar (I’d expect it to become softer in warmer weather, as a similar product I have does.) The 1 oz. jar seems fairly small, but a little goes a very, very long way.
Lightly rub your fingers on the surface, and the salve melts onto your skin. It doesn’t really have a smell. I practically stuck my nose in it, and it just smells very lightly of the ingredients.
I get terrible eczema in the winter, where my knuckles, the joints of my fingers and the backs of my hands crack and bleed. It’s not bad yet, since winter weather is really just beginning here. For giggles, I thought I’d try the Motherlove salve on one such spot.
It did not sting or burn, so I wouldn’t hesitate to apply it to a sore baby bottom.
The next day, there was a noticeable difference!
We’re lucky that we don’t deal much with rashes since switching to cloth. However, my son does get a bit red sometimes after he dirties a diaper. The other day he pulled what I call “the stealth poop maneuver.” He hates having his diaper changed, and sometimes he manages to hide all evidence that he needs to be changed. I didn’t see, hear or smell anything that made me think he needed a change, and I was surprised with a stealth poop the next time I changed him. I do change diapers about every two hours, but he might have been sitting in it for a while. I applied a thin layer of Motherlove salve, and by the next change, the redness was gone. You could also apply it at every change as a preventative barrier.
The 1 ounce jar Diaper Rash and Thrush salve retails for $9.50.
Motherlove also sent me a sample packet of nipple cream. Breastfeeding my first child was anything but sunshine and roses for sure. Fortunately, nursing my son was far easier (maybe because only one of us was a noob!) but I still had some soreness for a few days. Luckily, he’s a champion nurser now at 18 months old!
Motherlove nipple cream is made with 100% certified organic ingredients, contains no lanolin, and does not need to be washed off prior to nursing. Like the diaper salve, it’s also rated zero (zero toxins) in the EWG database.
Yep, you’re getting nipple cream action shots, tee hee! It has a nice texture, that melts easily into skin, and very little is needed.
Don’t worry, this is my wrist, LOL! A 1 ounce jar retails for $9.95, and would probably last a long time!
Be sure to check out the Motherlove Blog for great articles on herbs, breastfeeding and more.
Giveaway: Motherlove is offering a full size, 1 ounce jar of Diaper Rash & Thrush salve to two winners! I’m offering bonus entries, so in the unlikely event that I choose the same winner twice, I’ll choose again.Here’s how to enter: All entries go in the form below. I love comments, but comments don’t count as entries. Mandatory entries are name, email address and what other Motherlove product interests you. You may receive a bonus entry if you “like” Motherlove Herbal on Facebook. Receive another bonus entry if you follow Motherlove on Twitter.
I will accept entries until Tuesday, December 21st, 2010 at 9:00 P.M. Eastern. I will select a winner using random.org’s true random number generator and notify him/her by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is chosen. View my giveaway rules page for complete details. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S.
# of entries received as of December 21st at giveaway close: 107
https://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?formkey=dFNQVlAxOERkVUJIM3ZMU2JrNjluYVE6MQ
FTC compliance: The pictured products were received at no charge for review purposes. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.
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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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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. 
