Frustrations For The Day

First of all, this is what my washer looks like, thanks to my detergent switch.

I usually use Gain, but the store closest to me doesn't carry Apple Mango Tango.  I've used original Tide in the past and it worked fine, so I picked up some of the "Free and Gentle". BIG MISTAKE.  You see, when you wash cloth diapers it's important for all of the detergent to get rinsed out, or it can irritate your baby's skin.  This usually involves doing at least one extra rinse, sometimes two.  Ideally, the water in your final rinse will look pretty close to this-

Nice and clear!  No bubbles!  Colors enhanced!  This stuff is getting demoted to clothes detergent, and I guess that I'm going to have to suck it up and choose a new Gain scent.  And spend the rest of my day resetting my washer to "rinse".  Fun fun.  Please, learn from my mistake and once you figure out what kind of detergent works for your diapers, DON'T CHANGE IT.  EVER.


Another thing that is going on and driving me nuts right now is chafing.  For the past few weeks, Arthur has been getting a little red and rough on his thighs.  As far as I can tell it wasn't bothering him, but I didn't like seeing it.  He would be fine when he woke up in the morning, but it would get progressively worse as the day went on.  I was starting to wonder if his legs were getting chafed from rubbing against the material that the diaper covers are made out of (PUL), so this morning I put him in a prefold and fleece pants to see if that would keep his legs clear.  After 2 changes, his legs were not chafed and he also didn't have any red marks that he usually gets from the elastic in the PUL covers.  This is honestly kind of a pain in the butt.  Fleece is not a waterproof material, but as long as the diaper underneath is not completely soaked then it won't leak.  The outside does get damp sometimes though, which is my issue with it.  Arthur is a moderate/heavy wetter, so unless I change him very often, the fleece usually gets damp.  I've been adding a bamboo insert inside of his prefolds today and they seem to be helping.  My husband will still use pockets on him while I'm at work, so he might still get some irritation on his skin, but it won't be as bad anymore.  Hopefully this is just a temporary thing due to try cold, dry air.  Plus, he is very active and gets around by scooting on his butt, so that has got to make the diaper rub his legs quite a bit throughout the day.  I guess sometimes it's a good thing that I have a bunch of different types of diapers to use, because you never know when you're going to have to switch it up a bit.