Warning To Cloth-Diapering Mamas Whose Husbands Have Selective Hearing

Okay, while I love my cloth-diapers more than I love cheese, lately we've been having issues with them that I just couldn't put my finger on, and I have been ready to scream! You see, for some odd reason, the babies were both getting horrid rashes whenever they were wearing cloth. And I do mean horrid...My babies were getting red, irritated, blistering rashes from their diapers. And I don't mean from wearing them for extended periods of time, either. It seemed that sticking a diaper on at noon would result in a rash in less time than it took them to dirty their diapers. I hated seeing this, and have literally shed tears over it. Were the babies eating something they were reacting to? I KNEW they were being changed often enough, probably too often. Was there a problem with the baby wash I have been using? Not likely, since it's organic. I was stumped, and feeling quite helpless.(Thank goodness I had a back-up supply of Earth's Best Chlorine-Free sposies on hand while we figured it out!)

I should point out right here that my well-intentioned husband has been the one doing the cloth-diaper laundry for the past couple of months. When he offered to do it, I certainly didn't say no! (Who would refuse this, right?) We have been washing our diapers every 2-3 days, and they seemed clean. Nothing appeared to be wrong with them. We have a front-loading, HE machine, so we even rinse them more times than needed to make up for the water-saving features.

So last night, I was all upset about the persistent, recurring rashes, and I was talking to my husband about this, trying to figure out why this was happening. I asked him which soap he was using. He indicated he was using the right detergents for the diapers. Okay. Next question: How MUCH are you using? His answer: "Oh, a whole scoop. Sometimes more if there are a lot of poopy diapers."  WHAT!? DADDY FAIL!  I flipped out. You're not supposed to use a WHOLE SCOOP, especially in an HE machine! No wonder the kids were getting mysterious rashes! He used way too much detergent, causing a build-up in the diapers. Detergent build-ups can cause the diapers to not come clean enough, which can lead to what?...RASHES.

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So while I am grateful that my husband is willing to help wash the diapers, I had to school him a little more on HOW to properly do it. We'll call it Cloth Diapering 101, Angry Mommy Style. I have explained the process to him many, many times already. I think this time it will sink in. I'm not mad at him, per-se, but I wish he didn't have such awful selective hearing! Now he knows you don't use too much detergent, it won't get the diapers cleaner, and that this can cause uncomfortable rashes on the babies.

At least I finally got to the bottom of the rash issue. But guess what I am stuck doing all day today, and probably tomorrow, too? Stripping every single diaper in the house. Which has to be hundreds of them. Can we say Daddy Fail? So ladies, if your hubbies are willing to help, make sure they know what they're doing before you let them anywhere near the washing machine!