The Friday Feedback Forum

January 14th, 2011 - filed under: Furthermore » Feedback

From our recent vacation:

Waits had a profound experience on the courthouse lawn. Photos by Kate.


Oi there! We’re cusping on the weekend and I’m writing this from bed, slain by some mysterious virus. Boo! But I’m taking good care of myself and I’m damned determined to recover in time for MY 30TH BIRTHDAY next weekend. Please send me get-well love. And in the meantime, leave your comments, critiques, thoughts, support, and suggestions.

And now, the best way to kick off the weekend, with a little list of big love. My 3 =
1. THIS!

Oh my lord, it’s a mockumentary mini-series all about Portland and it looks hysterical. Starts Jan 21 on IFC. Can. Not. Wait. (but I’ll have to – I don’t have tv!)
2. Damian being so strong and wonderful taking care of me when I’m sick.
3. Forcing my introverted self into extroversion . . . well, working on it!

Now please share yours!

Oh also, I recently recieved a question about cloth diapering/diaper rash tips. She wrote,
“Happy birthday Sayward! I love reading your blog. I get so much inspiration and have implemented many monthly missions in my home! I was wondering if you could re-visit your cloth diaper post? Have you changed anything about your routine or learned any tips you could pass along? I’ve been cloth diapering for about 12 weeks but my son has a diaper rash that won’t go away. I’m curious about things you’ve learned along your journey, and/or if other readers have more to add on the topic!”

Any mamas out there want to share their experiences?

As usual, the Feedback Forum will remain here at the top of the page all weekend, so if you’ve got an idea or a question or you just want to introduce yourself and say ‘Oi!’, you can stop back by any time. This is your community, so get involved and have your say!

Have a great one guys!

  • http://www.twitter.com/jbuesch Jacquelyn

    GET WELL SOON! We still have some vegan debriefing to do, after your fab birthday party is over, of course. You’re a busy lady!

    Love list:
    1. 50 degree weather in January. Heck yes.
    2. Owen’s week-long sleep refusal jag is over. Huzzah!
    3. Hubby’s promotion at work.

    I could share some CD/diaper rash experiences. What exactly is she looking for? Recommendations for products?

    ~Jacquelyn

  • http://www.soapwallakitchen.com Soapwalla Chef

    The premier of Portlandia is on Hulu for free :-)

  • http://www.youtube.com/whatsheknowsaboutyou Rachel

    AHH! Portlandia = AMAZING AWESOMENESS! Mhm! Thank you for sharing again!

    Love List:
    1. Best friends making me laugh when I really need it
    2. Getting License in 2011 while 21
    3. Having a vegan breakfast made by my non-vegan father!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Jacquelyn – Thanks lady, and yes, much vegan analysis to do! Have you joined the vegan families group yet? (I think I emailed you the link?)

    I updated this post with the original diaper question. =)

    @ Soapwalla Chef – OMG Thank You!!!

  • Lenn

    Hope you get to feeling better. :(

    <3 list
    Move is getting closer YAY!
    Fiance's wedding ring ordered…It's epic.
    The massive bag of vintage buttons I found at the thrift store for $3…Not entirely sure what I'll do with them yet, but open to suggestions.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Rachel – Yes, Portlandia is AWESOMENESS SUPREME!

    @ Lenn – Thanks for the well wishes. Also, I <3 vintage buttons, score!

  • Kate in SB

    That Portlandia song has been stuck in my head all day.

    I’m sick too! What the H? Stomach flu. I raise my sip of gatorade to you. Get well soon, and we will rock out next week!

    xoxo

  • Ali

    Ugh! I feel your pain! I’m 9 months pregnant and have a damn cold myself that I can’t seem to shake. Pregnancy+getting sick=NO BUENO. I’ve been drinking copious amounts of water so hopefully it subsides.
    ((sending get well vibes your way))
    Also, that video is rad. Thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.windycityvegan.wordpress.com Monika {windycityvegan}

    Sending you lots of get well vibes!

    1. Re-discovering yin yoga.
    2. Dandies!
    3. My cat Goblin.

    My daughter tended to get diaper burns more than diaper rashes, but these are some of the things that worked for her:

    1. As much air time as possible
    2. cornstarch
    3. The only type of salve that ever worked for her was EMAB bottom balm and EMAB nipple butter. (I suspect they are basically the same thing.)

    If she uses any sort of paste-like ointment/cream/whatever, she should be REALLY careful that it doesn’t get on the diaper lining or they will probably be ruined. A friend of mine uses a really thick barrier cream and puts a layer of cloth inside the diaper to keep the cream from touching the inside of the diaper.

    Also, we paid really close attention to my diet (when she was still nursing) and her diet and eliminated things that seemed to cause or exacerbate diaper burn/rash. She had no allergies, but a lot of foods changed her ph level on a dime.

  • http://www.twitter.com/jbuesch Jacquelyn

    I’m with windycityvegan- EMAB bottom balm is the stuff to use. We always use it when there is even a hint of redness, and it clears it right up. Never had any issues with it ruining the diapers, either. When the rash becomes full blown, however, we use a zinc oxide cream (burts bees is great stuff) and switch to disposies so as not to ruin our CD’s. Dietary modifications help too. And air- lots of air.

  • http://www.windycityvegan.wordpress.com Monika {windycityvegan}

    I meant to add that EMAB bottom balm did not ruin our CDs, either! It was the only ointment we used that was CD safe.

  • http://urbanana.net Lauren

    We’ve been using cloth diapers for 14 months now. My son had a rash that would not go away and we eventually found out from his pediatrician that it was a yeast infection. But no matter how much Nystatin we applied, the rash stayed. Turns out, yeast can live in the cloth diapers and washing them in hot water won’t kill it. You have to wash once with 1/3 cup of bleach, no detergent. We use FuzziBunz One Size diapers and the fabric is dye-fast or whatever, so the bleach didn’t fade the colors at all. No rash ever since!

  • RK

    1. A three day weekend with the kids.
    2. Teaching my daughter about MLK and her actually, really grasping it this year.
    3. My daughters drawing of her and I holding Dr. Kings hand. So sweet!

    *As for the diaper rash situation…. Corn starch does work really well. Just put a bunch on the booty then put the diaper over it. You can also put some baking soda in the bath, it helps dry it out. If the prior two don’t do the trick, there is a product called: Butt Paste it has the highest about of zinc oxide of any of the OTC diaper rash ointments.

    *Another thing to consider is if you are using baby wipes look to see what is in them. I know that a lot of kids get rashes from fragrances and other chemicals that can be in baby wipes.

  • Korina

    Sending happy healing birthday vibes! 30 was one of the best years of my life, hope you enjoy it ;p

    Biggest on my love list right now is my first batch of homemade kombucha, thanks to your excellent tutorial on this site! So delicious I didn’t even want to add juice, although the effervescence needs work. I think it will happen in time as my SCOBY matures, fermented the tea for 3 weeks! Thank you so much for giving me the confidence to do this.

  • wendi

    I know CD frustrations! My son had a rash for months (I think 5 to be exact!) It was awful! I did and tried everything. I aired him out but one thing I read and what I still do today is use the blow dryer on cold. It dries him so much better and I let him go around naked too. I am not comfortable with corn starch but each their own. I use powdered clay which is an antifungal(yeast) and healing. It keeps him be drier as well.

    You probably need to put the baby in disposables for a week or little more. I bleached his diapers and everything and it still stayed. Maybe got better for a day but I had to stop it before I could put him back in. For the creams, I used calendula lotion. Its all that worked on his sensitive skin! I used Weleda brand but any is good. It helps with healing too. I feel your pain! I hope it clears up soon :)

  • Pat

    GET WELL FAST!!!!!!!
    as for the Diaper rash: AIR AIR AIR! i leave the wee man naked on a thick rug in the warm bathroom on the floor for 15-30 min a couple times a day. also any ointment that contains lots of Zn oxide (i use weleda)! very important he needs to be absolutely dry be4 applying the cream!
    love list:
    1) the SUN yesterday!
    2) a free Weekend without any appointments
    3) the hike planed tomorrow

  • http://miraz38.livejournal.com Mandie

    Feel better Sawyard!

    Love list:
    1. My meeting for a promotion! *fingers crossed*
    2. Planning my garden, starting some seeds!
    3. Not LOVE, but extremely thankful: my husband’s job survived his company’s lay offs.

  • http://miraz38.livejournal.com Mandie

    Oh, clumsy fingers! So sorry Sayward!

  • http://indiearsenal.com Farmingtheburbs

    So many reasons for a diaper rash and it sounds like most of them are cover. My boys hardly ever got diaper rashes in CD as opposed to Posies but I would throw the posies on with a zinc based cream and that would help. I had two in CDs at the same time and both my boys rashes would be different and at different times so I was able to tackle the source, yeast, diaper, sensitive skin, food sensitivity, etc. I would start by ruling out yeast and then the diapers being the problem (ie build up of detergent, I know everyone says no bleach but sometimes on a rare occasion it is the only thing that get the things totally stripped). Otherwise just give the bum a break and use something zinc based cream in a disposable. Usually one disposable session at night with zinc on the bum will clear my little one up.

  • April

    Hoping you get well soon!!!

    1. Eating the vegan coconut lime cupcakes my husband made for me this week. I love that man.
    2. Watching my 9YO son read his poem, titled ‘Messy Room’ at the 3rd grade Poetry Cafe. He is a hilarious and talented lil dude :)
    3. Upgrading our family vehicle from a station wagon to a minivan! Imagine cramming 5 people plus baby, a stroller, a diaper bag and a big ole tuba into a 7 passenger station wagon on our way to a High School Band Concert. Needless to say, the extra space is needed!

    Re cloth diapers: We are still using a diaper service to provide clean prefolds for us each week for our 3 month old son. The only time he had rash issues was when we were trying to use up the disposies left over from our baby shower. I know the service we use finishes the diapers with a ‘conditioner’ which balances the pH of the prefolds when he pees (or so they say). Sayward, do you know of a homemade remedy which can do the same thing for home washed prefolds?

  • Minna

    Aww. Get well soon, dear!

    (I guess I haven’t been vegan for long enough (vegetarian for 3 and vegan for just over a year), but it’s amazing how I haven’t been sick once ever since I became veg*n! I used to be sick quite often.)

    Things that make me happy right now:

    1 discovering that I actually have a ‘thirst for knowledge’ when studying for exams
    2 my newly decorated apartment and all good friends who gave me their furniture they didn’t need (yay for sharing!)
    3 living alone and doing what I want!

    PS! Super fabulous haircut on that picture =D

  • Melisa

    Wondering if you have a recommendation for a good vegan lube. Random, I know.

  • Laura Burris

    If she doesn’t want her baby to have a rash. Buy some Rockin’ Green, rock a soak over night, and then wash as normal. I love this stuff, I use it for all my laundry.
    http://rockingreensoap.com/

  • Alley

    My baby and I had thrush TWICE. Which is a pretty gnarly yeast infection on the nipples. Fun, right? I wore home-did cloth breast pads and my secret was washing ANYTHING that touch my nips or baby’s mouth in hot water with my regular detergent and a healthy glug of vinegar. I also used a mixture of vinegar and water on my affected areas after each feeding, so I’m assuming the same could be used on the little ones bum bum for wicked rashes.
    As for run of the mill diaper redness my family for three generations has used brown flour. You bake a fine layer in the oven careful not to burn it and it works wonders. But at the first sign of redness I also used a small nip of lanolin. That stuff cures everything from bottom spots, face scratches when they grow nails and dry nose skin in the winter.
    Just my two cents, take it for what it is ;)

    And love list:
    1.) Officially banished paper towels and store bought cleaners from my kitchen.
    2.) I’m rocking my pre-baby jeans.
    3.) Baby girlis finally up on hands and knees. Next stop, Crawlsville!

  • Goober

    As far as the diaper rash goes, what does her wash routine look like? What type of soap is she using? Aside from diet,a lot of times diapers are not getting appropriately cleaned because too much/not enough soap is being used, the water is not hot enough, proper agitation is not taking place. If you had not changed anything in your baby’s diet, I would recommend looking at the wash routine. There are products out there, NATURAL products which can get her diapers amazingly clean and safe for baby…I definitely recommend using Rockin’ Green as well. I use it aaalllll the time and love the results.

  • Darciefaro

    Thanks Sayward for featuring my diaper dilemma. Everyone has given me lots to think about! I use Charlie’s Soap, and did a blue Dawn strip on my diapers. I’ve tried eliminating foods but with no success. I thought it was Thrush but the doc said no. I’ve been using Lotrimin (in case it was yeast) on and off in combination with a myriad of creams in a disposable for almost 7 weeks now!! Every time I try to put him back in cloth (not because the rash is gone but because I don’t want to buy ANOTHER package of sposies), the rash gets instantly worse, which I attribute to the fact that my diapers are 100% cotton so there is nothing wicking the moisture away. I don’t think the cloth diapers originally caused the rash but at this point they definitely exacerbate the problem. I do let him air out as much as possible but even that doesn’t seem to make it better. The only thing I can say that’s causing it is he’s teething. But now I do have some other things to try. Thanks everyone for your advice and willingness to help.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    Thanks everyone for all the get-better wishes. It worked! A restful weekend and now I’m back in good health for my fabulous birth-week, muahaha. Thank you!!!

    Also, WOW, so much great advice here. You guys are so awesome! Thank you thank you for sharing all your incredible wisdom. Such an awesome community. <3

    @ Korina – YAY! I love to hear about fermentation experiments. So so rad, here’s to your adventure – so glad I could help. =)

    @ Mandie – *crossing fingers*

    @ Minna – I definitely got sick a LOT less after going vegan. Like, basically never. Damian too! But now having a baby? Lots of work for the immune system with these germy little love bugs, ha!

    @ Melisa – COCONUT OIL. Seriously, best stuff ever. And so natural!

    @ Alley – Yay on all three of those! =D

    @ Darciefaro – So glad I could help. Hope some of this works for you and you get it all sorted out soon! I understand how tough it can be.

  • RachelPoo
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