Before we switched to cloth diapers, my daughter was getting a lot of diaper rashes.  After doing some research on diaper rash creams, I decided to try some natural ones.  Since my daughter had at least a couple of yeast diaper rashes, I decided to try the Motherlove Diaper Rash & Thrush Relief cream.  It was an expensive cream, but it did work well for us.  Once the cream was gone, I decided to go with something a little more readily available.

The diaper rash cream I decided to try next is made by Lunar Eclipse and is available in Loblaws-owned supermarket stores.  It’s the cream I still use from time to time.  It’s not the cheapest diaper rash cream, but you shouldn’t be using a lot of it.  If you find that you do need to use diaper rash creams a lot then something’s definitely not right.  I would either try a different detergent (if using cloth diapers) or a different diaper.  Some rashes that do not want to go away might be something more serious, so please check with your doctor.

Other natural diaper rash creams I’ve used:

• Weleda diaper cream
  It’s not an amazing cream but I still use it from time to time – as a natural sunscreen.  It contains zinc oxide which isn’t recommended for cloth diapers.
• Substance Nappy Rash Ointment
  It smells a little strong because of the essential oil used.  It contains myrrh which is good for yeast rashes.
• Budger Baby Balm
  Quite a strong smell because of the essential oil used.  A little too runny in my opinion.  Might be great for massaging though.

If you need to use something everyday to prevent and protect from rashes, I would recommend using organic extra virgin olive oil and/or organic coconut oil.  Extra virgin olive oil has anti-inflammatory properties and coconut oil is anti-microbial which might be great for killing that stubborn yeast responsible for quite a few diaper rashes.

Lately, I’ve been asked a lot about PC Green Diapers.  These diapers are still relatively new and there isn’t a huge lot of information about them online.  So, I decided to tell you everything I know about them.

As I’ve written in a previous post, PC Green disposable diapers are chlorine and fragrance free.  Those of you who have had trouble finding other eco disposable diapers close to home, might have better luck finding these since PC Green diapers might be available in your supermarket store (owned by Loblaws).

What I do like about this diaper:

• Very stretchy tabs.  None of the other eco disposable diapers I’ve tried have tabs that stretchy.
• The diaper is quite a bit cheaper than other “green” diapers.  The regular price of PC Green diapers is $15.99 for 46 diapers in size 4.  Seventh Generation diapers are $17.99-19.99 for 30 diapers in the same size.  Also, you can sometimes see the PC Green diapers on special for $12.99.
• No rashes so far.  It does not promote healing of rashes very well though.  I found that bamboo cloth diapers with wool covers at night promote healing much better than the PC Green diapers even though cloth diapers get quite wet overnight.  I guess it’s not a surprise since cloth diapers do allow more airflow.  Also, bamboo is antimicrobial.

What I do NOT like about this diaper:

• SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer)
• Still has some plastics in it however, according to the manufacturer some of the plastic components were replaced with “revolutionary plant-based polymers”.
• Packaging is not biodegradable.
• It’s still a disposable that takes hundreds of years to decompose.  One of the few reasons why I don’t use disposables is that the thought of mountains of disposable diapers in the landfill really bothers me.
• I wasn’t impressed with what’s written about cloth diapers at the back of the packaging.  It might mislead people into believing that cloth diapers are made from pesticide sprayed cotton ONLY.  Trust me there’s LOTS of diapers out there (including my daughter’s) that are not.  I also wasn’t impressed with the mention of detergent as if tons of it were being used on diapers.  The truth is, most people use only 1/4 of the recommended amount of detergent to wash their diapers.  Also, a lot of people these days use front-loading washers which use quite a bit less water.

NOTE: These diapers do fit a bit bigger than SG diapers, so if you’re using SG diapers and your baby is almost outgrowing a size, PC Green diapers in the same size might still fit her/him well.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Just please keep in mind that I’m not an expert on disposable diapers – I normally cloth diaper only.