I’m a bit overdue for this post — the “three months” part of the title is quickly becoming dated — time to write! We’ve made a good bit of progress since my first Elimination Communication (EC) post. While he’s still most definitely in diapers, Gabriel pees and poops on his potty regularly when we’re at home, and we’ve had some 24-48 hour stretches with only one or two wet diapers 🙂
I’m not amazing at reading his pee signals (if he’s giving them), so pee catches involve putting him on the potty at regular times: when he first wakes up, right after a meal, if he’s hanging out and it’s been awhile since a pee, etc. Poop signals are easier to read, but I still hesitate to interrupt a good feeding to rush him onto the pot.
The biggest issues at present? Diaper rash and the daycare dilemma.
Diaper Rash
Given the amount of diaper-free time The Dude has, and our use of cloth diapers, the diaper rash caught me off guard. After a weekend of intense air time helped, but didn’t heal, the irritated skin, I began to fear a yeast-based diaper rash. If you wish to avoid seriously disturbing photos, do NOT do a Google Image search for “yeast diaper rash.” You’ve been warned.
Unfortunately, I conducted the aforementioned search, and freaked out, sure that, despite looking nothing like most of those photos yet, Gabriel’s cute little bottom was doomed. I talked to the nurse at our pediatrician’s office, and based on my description, she recommended an OTC anti-fungal cream. Despite my preference for more natural alternatives, the possibility of the rash intensifying scared me into compliance.
Unfortunately, after a week and a half of the cream, plus a few natural remedies in the mix (cleaning with apple cider vinegar; applying tea tree oil and coconut oil), I question whether we’re making much progress. Although the general trend seems to be that it’s looking slightly better, it varies, and mommy’s not happy!
We’ve also switched to a different laundering method for our diapers, somewhat based on the method here, which means, for the time being, we’re using the gas dryer instead of the line to dry the diapers.
The biggest factor with the rash’s persistence may be the area where we have the least control — daycare.
The Daycare Dilemma
I really appreciate the caregivers’ willingness to work with the cloth diapers (I’m pretty sure Gabriel is their only CD baby), and they do a decent job of keeping him changed and dry, but they are still the weakest link, and, therefore, the major culprit in the ongoing diaper rash, at least in my mind.
Given how well Gabriel’s doing on the potty, it seems unfair to have two (and soon to be three) entire days where no one offers him the potty. Two weeks into daycare, I tentatively brought up EC with the caregivers. Not interested 😦
Solution: Potty him myself. I’m fortunate to be in a situation where I can go over and feed him while he’s at daycare. Offering him the potty while I’m there just makes sense, though it does add some extra time to the feedings.
Perhaps a well-established pattern of me offering the potty will lead to less wet and poopy diapers for the caregivers. Eventually, this may pique their interest in EC and offering the potty themselves. A girl can hope, right?
—-
For more on EC, especially part-time EC, check out this article.
Her Green Life 
I know absolutely nothing about diaper rash, but I’ve had terrible dry skin problems all of my life. My doctor recommended something called Theraplex Emollient. It’s a total petro-product, so I’m not thrilled about that aspect of it, but it was pretty much a miracle cure for my cracked and bleeding skin.
Anyhow, I bought the stuff on Amazon, and I read a bunch of reviews before I bought it. It seems like there were people having great luck using it for diaper rash. You might want to try it, or at least read the reviews and see if I’m remembering that correctly.
Good luck with everything!
I think you are right about the Daycare being the weakest link. It’s really unfortunate, but I will hope with you that they will begin to see that ECing isn’t as much of a chore as bottom wiping on a changing table. Seeing is believing right?
Oh, salt kills yeast, perhaps adding some salt to your wash or soaking in a high salt water solution might help you fight the beasties?
EC, I’m really enjoying reading about your family’s EC journey on your blog. Looks like you’ve had a wealth of experience!
I dislike unnatural remedies too as you know, but every mother I know swears by the following product http://www.triplepaste.com/ and I use it myself when Mr. B gets irritations. When using products like this you are supposed to put a liner between baby’s bottom and diaper as the creams will clog the cloth and prevent good absorption later on. I used fleece and found that it made the problem worse, so now I use no liner and strip my diapers whenever needed. Although I admit he has never had true diaper rash and cd seems to work great with him. Another mom I know tried different diaper detergents hoping her problem was an irritant based one. Daycare is an interesting part of the mix. I use all in one or pocket type diapers for days when he is with someone else. Since they have the stay dry part next to his skin, it is difficult for others to know when it is wet. I have had to remind several care providers that changing every 1.5-2 hours is best as well as checking a diaper they said wasn’t wet and finding out they were wrong. Plastic diapers get a gel type squishiness when wet and that’s how they know they are wet, so they have no understanding of cd.
Good luck,
Tracy
Nice to hear about your EC journey. That is FANTASTIC that the daycare is willing to do cloth – we couldn’t even get ours to go that far, let alone EC (don’t get me started on the awful conversation I had with the EC director when I brought it up). I think you’re absolutely right that daycare is the cause of the rash. Even very well intentioned DCPs cannot be as vigilant about changing wet diapers as at home. Parttime EC is still better than no EC, and it sounds like you’re having some success, which is great!