Homemade Diaper Spray

I’ve written before about my daughter’s diaper rashes. Her skin is sensitive, and she breaks out very easily, depending on the type of diapers and wipes we use. This rash isn’t simply a little redness or some bumps. It’s a full-blown, red, inflamed, scabby, awful rash.

We had a system that was working well for us. We had her diaper rash under control. That all changed when she started teething. I’m not sure why teething affects diaper rashes, but I know that it caused hers to return. I again found myself trying and testing new methods to see what would work for her.

I did a little research, asked around, and tweaked our system a bit. I’m happy to report that so far, so good. We continue to use bumGenius 3.0 One Size diapers and Pampers Sensitive Wipes. The new addition?: A spray bottle of homemade wipe solution.

A friend of ours uses this solution on her cloth wipes. She puts two cups of water, one tablespoon of olive oil, two tablespoons of baby shampoo, and two drops of tea tree oil in a spray bottle. Each time she changes her baby’s diaper, she sprays her wipes with the solution.

Since we had a bad experience with flannel wipes, I decided to try this with our Pampers Sensitive Wipes. I made a trip to the local drugstore, stocked up on supplies, and headed home to make the spray. Each time I changed our daughter’s diaper, I’d give the wipe a few sprays of the solution, or I’d spray a little right on her butt before I wiped.

Her rash went away within two days, and it hasn’t come back. As always, I’m not sure if what we are doing is what made the rash go away or if it would have gone away on its own. All I know is that she had a rash we couldn’t get rid of, and as soon as we started using the spray, it went away.

Ready, Aim, Poop!

“Ready, aim, fire!” I’m convinced that if my daughter could talk, she’d be saying that phrase every time I change her diaper.

During her week-long stay in the hospital, she successfully pooped on my mom, my husband, the nurses, and me. She’s a pro at fooling people into thinking she’s done pooping. She’ll let out a bunch of grunts, accomplish a few good poop explosions, and everything will be calm for quite awhile. “Time to change her diaper,” we’d all think.

The unsuspecting victim would calmly slide a new diaper underneath her, undo the dirty diaper, and get ready to wipe. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the changer would feel a warm, wet spray, and her hands would be covered with mustardy goo.

It was funny at first. Now that I often change her on our bed, however, it the laughter has turned to fear. I have enough to do during my day without having to add “wash sheets and comforter” to the list.

I suppose I could be better prepared. I could change her on a changing table, or lay a blanket underneath her to protect the bedding. I could always have a diaper partially covering her in case of an aftershock.

No matter how many precautions I take, however, there are always a few moments when I am utterly vulnerable. These are moments when she is in prime launching position, when all odds are in the favor of a successful mustard attack.

These are the moments when I’m holding both of her legs up in the air and I’m ready to wipe.

There’s nothing protecting me during these moments, and there’s no way around them. I have to lift her behind up in the air to be sure I’ve completely cleaned it. I can’t cover it up or I won’t be able to see if I’ve missed anything. I can’t keep my face partially turned away, or I won’t be able to get a good view. No, I have to face my fears, and allow myself to be in the most dangerous position possible.

I think she can sense my nervousness. Sometimes she lets a little gas escape, just to keep me on my toes. Every now and then, she’ll sneeze, making me cringe in anticipation of what the force of the sneeze might push out the other end.

Rent a suspense-filled movie on a Friday night? Nah. We’ve got diaper changing to keep us at the edge of our seats.

Choosing Cloth Diapers

With the “Going Green” trend being bigger than ever, most new parents have probably considered, or at least heard about, the idea of using cloth diapers.

Although I have always known I’d like to use cloth diapers on my babies, I knew I’d need to convince my husband if it was going to work. I began reading articles on why cloth was better so as to be armed with plenty of information should he decide to argue on the side of disposable. He never did argue (lucky me!), but I gained a wealth of information on the topic.

After hours of reading, I discovered that parents who use cloth seem to do so for one (or all) of three leading reasons. They are as follows:

• It is better for the environment (just think of all those landfills full of disposable diapers!).

• It is cheaper (it is AMAZING how many diapers a baby can go through in one day!).

• It is healthier for the baby (what’s that stuff called that turns the pee into gel?).

My husband and I care about the environment, and we like to save a buck as well as the next couple, but the deciding factor in using cloth was the fact that cloth would be healthier for our baby.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a disposable-hater. We use them for convenience when necessary. For example, when we flew to visit my family, we used disposable. The thought of lugging poopy cloth diapers around the airport for hours didn’t exactly appeal to me. Neither did paying for another checked bag so that we could bring all of our bumGenius diapers and diaper sprayer along. However, there are several alarming ingredients that go into most disposable diapers that make me not want to consistently put them on our baby.

Many disposable diapers are bleached and contain dyes and perfumes. These can be irritating and harmful to a baby’s sensitive system. The scariest ingredients to me are two things called dioxin (a byproduct of bleaching diapers) and sodium polyacrylate (the stuff that turns all the pee into gel, the reason a baby can wear the same disposable diaper after peeing many times in it without ever leaking on her clothes). Type those words into Google, and you’ll find phrases like “cancer-causing,” “birth defects,” “banned in other countries,” even “death.” Put that on my baby’s soft, bare little butt? No way!

To be perfectly honest, if I knew cloth was better for my child but was worse for the environment than disposables, I’d still use cloth. If I knew cloth was better for my child but cost more than disposables, I’d still use cloth! My number one priority is the health of my child.