Dreaded Yeast Beast

I love that we cloth diaper. I love how cute my kids look in their diapers. I love never really running out of diapers. I love that cloth and not chemicals touch my babies. I love that I am not throwing away 12-16 diapers a day. I love the money that I think that we have saved. BUT what I don't love is YEAST!

I feel like I was a little blindsided by yeast. I had heard a little about it on diaper forums, but I had no idea how bad and annoying it can be and how much trouble shooting I had to do to figure it out and get rid of it. 

I am not exactly sure when our yeast issues started, but at about 14 months, Calan started to get rashes. I would get one healed and then the next would start. I would think we conquered it and another would appear. Luckily most of the time, they did not bother Calan, but a few times, the open wounds (yes open wounds) were pretty painful for him and it broke my heart. 

I used so many disposable diapers over the last 5 months that I hate to use, but I just could not figure out why my yeast kept coming back. 

Here is what I think I did wrong:

• I kept thinking just washing and using would get rid of the issue.
• I kept thinking that if I could get rid of the rash that it would disappear in the diapers. 
• I kept thinking that using enough cream would cure the issue.
• I kept thinking that my wash routine was fine.
• I kept thinking that toddler pee was the same as infant pee.

Needless to say, I had denial issues when it came to yeast. When I was researching cloth diapers, I read how few diaper rashes babies in cloth had. I have horribly sensitive skin. I figured that there was a good chance my kids would have skin issues, so fewer rashes sounded great to me. 

Not sure when Calan had his first rash, but I totally believe that rash-free diapering in cloth or disposables is a complete myth. I truly believe that rashes are unavoidable.

However, when it comes to yeast, there is hope. I never thought I would figure it out, but we have been rash free for 2 weeks and his butt looks great. 

Here is what I did:

• I finally took all of his pocket diaper micro-fiber inserts and boiled them for about 10 minutes. I could not believe all the pee that boiled off. It was my first hint that my wash routine was not as great as I thought it was. 
• I changed my wash routine. I was having yeast issues before we got a new washer and dryer for Christmas, but the HE washer was just another obstacle to resolve. I currently have a LG HE Top Loader. I start with a rinse and spin cycle with an extra rinse at high speed spin. Then I do a rinse cycle with no spin. I then do a hot cycle with detergent and  a 30-minute soak and an extra rinse. 
• Sniff test does matter. I do way more smelling. If the diapers seriously do not smell clean, then I do another rinse. I use to think that they smelled OK, but I now see that a little smell does matter. 
• I dry on high heat. I know that high heat is not great for PUL, but it is killing the bacteria that causes yeast. 
• After spending a ton of money on cloth-diaper safe cream and still battling rashes, I have fallen in love with pure coconut oil. At about $10 for a huge jar, you just can't beat it. 

For first-time cloth diapering mommas, it is nothing but trial-and-error. From leaks and fit to washing and rashes, I have struggled with it all. I still love cloth diapering, but it hasn't all been easy. The bright side to problems is that there really is a solution out there. Hang in there. When you have your second child, these issues disappear. Cloth diapering Maisie has been a breeze.