The Yeast Monster

Levi has been a yeasty baby.

In his 2 months of life he has had 2 yeast infections (evidently more common in baby boys, to my surprise!) and thrush.

Poor buddy.

Just so you know...since I sure didn't...yeast rash looks similiar to diaper rash, but it has red bumps. Not just red skin.

During his first yeast infection, he had JUST started in cloth diapers, and it was recommended to us to switch to disposables until it cleared up. Luckily we still had some disposies left from gifts, so we did that. Our pediatrician recommended a combination of monistat and aquaphor on his bottom with each diaper change. Also to make sure he is very dry before applying it.

Levi is a hot box and a sweaty little man. This obviously gives the perfect environment for yeast to thrive.

Cloth diapers are also wetter on the skin which also contributed.

With the combo of disposies and monistat/aquaphor, the yeast went away.

But we had to disinfect the cloth diapers he had previously worn as they could still contain yeast spores which could bring that awful Yeast Monster back.

I googled my little heart out and decided to do a combination of tea tree oil and bleach to disinfect them. All I did was add a capful of tea tree oil and the bleach (totally safe for those cute colors!) to the first rinse cycle, then washed (make sure it's HOT) and dried as normal.

A few weeks later the yeast came back, and we were out of disposables. I was not about to go out and buy more. So, I googled again and found a great idea! Fleece liners! Fleece is a great material to put in cloth diapers as they are dry to the touch even when wet. And since they go on top of the actual diaper, you can use any cream you want on baby's bottom as it can't harm the diaper. So I went to Hobby Lobby, bought a yard of fleece and got about 30 liners out of it. (I just traced a pocket insert and cut around it) and fleece doesn't fray, so no need to sew! Just cut! So for $5 I got 30 liners and went ahead and put them in all my diapers (they just lay on top of the diaper, against baby's skin).

The liners have been wonderful! I was able to again use the monistat/aquaphor combo without damaging my diapers and his bottom is much drier after a dirty diaper, which helps combat the yeast as well.

Another way to be proactive with yeast is that I added a drop of tea tree oil to the California Baby Diaper Area Wash that I use with his cloth wipes. Tea Tree Oil is a natural anti-fungal, so it fights the yucky yeast.

I also use coconut oil as a diaper cream when he isn't yeasty as this is a naturally anti-fungal as well.

Another great thing to do to prevent any type of diaper rashes is having some diaper-free time each day. Since Levi is supposed to do Tummy Time everyday as well, we just do it naked! (Him...NOT me!) That really helps air things out and prevent rashes.

And of current, he is yeast free!

Hope this helps any fellow cloth diaperers if they come up against that yucky yeast monster!