How to heal an ammonia burn and terrible diaper rash

We have been dealing with this NEVER ENDING diaper rash in our house! I started to REALLY research what else could be wrong. I thought it was a yeast rash. It wasn’t. Not only did I treat my diapers for yeast twice, but my dear daughter’s (DD) bum tested negative for yeast when the pediatrician swabbed it for a culture. So what the heck was causing this blistery rash that looks WAY too much like a burn? I mean, I was AFRAID to take DD to the doctor the first time because this rash was SO BAD!

So, what have I learned? I have learned that it probably was a burn. Apparently, if ammonia builds up in your cloth diapers, it can cause a burn. Ouch. Ammonia build up sucks. I will write a blog on how I got rid of the ammonia at a later time, once I have made sure that it is really GONE FOR GOOD. I am waiting for my DD and DS’s little bottoms to completely heal before I attempt to write about how to fix the problem.

What I do want to write about is how to help heal this burn. The first thing is to get them out of those diapers while they are healing and treat the diapers. We have been using a biodegradable, disposable inserts in our GroVia AI2s as well as GroVia biodiapers. Second, get some Ching Wan Hung Soothing Herbal Balm. I was telling my acupuncturist about this ammonia burn rash and she said, “I have this great burn balm!” Great? You can say that again! I have applied half a pea sized dab on my daughter’s ammonia burn area 4 times now. As of the third application she was 50% healed over most of the worst area and almost 100% healed on the less affected areas. Wow. Ok, so that’s not all I’ve done, but I give the herbal balm most of the credit. I also started using GroVia’s Magic Stick and Aveeno’s Soothing Relief Bath Treatment. I also read somewhere along this blog-o-rific journey, that you can make your own soothing bath treatment. Um, yes please! I’d love to save some money!

Homemade soothing bath soak for diaper rash, burns, and skin irritations:

1/2 cup whole oats, 1 Chamomile tea bag or spoon full of loose tea, wrap in a small square of cheese cloth and tie off.

Use a new bag with each bath. Do not reuse the soak!

Place in a warm (not hot) bath and swish around to release oat milk and tea. My DD’s hair and skin has been super soft as an added bonus!

So, to recap, I have been applying the Herbal balm when the twins wake, before nap, and before bed (after the bath soak). Because they have been in disposable inserts, I have covered the balm in either Aquaphor or Magic Stick (remember that you shouldn’t use Aquaphor in cloth because it can decrease absorbency of your diapers), and use the Magic Stick alone for all other diaper changes. This is the quickest this type of rash has EVER healed, and I am super excited to give you another option for those of you that are dealing with similar problems!

For those mom’s that dealt with burns from some of the chemicals in overnight disposable diapers, I would think that this concoction would greatly help you as well!

I’d love to hear your feedback in a comment on this post!

GroVia affiliate program

I am constantly amazed at GroVia‘s customer service. When the elastic wore out prematurely in my All In One (AIO) diapers they REPLACED them with NEW AIOs. When I mailed GroVia my velcro closure diapers for snap conversion, and they couldn’t get them back to me in a timely manner, they mailed me NEW snap closure shells. Then they introduced an affiliate program! Now I can share my love for GroVia with all my blog readers, and if they click on the GroVia button in my right side bar, AND decide to purchase any product, then I get a commission! I think this is a great program since I’m sharing a product I really believe in AND may get some pay for time and effort!

GroVia has an option for EVERYONE. They have cloth diapers of most every kind – reusable shells and cloth inserts, all in one cloth diapers, biosoakers (which are disposable inserts that fit in their reusable shells), AND biodiapers for those of you who just can’t handle the whole reusable and/or washable diaper. Biodiapers are disposable diapers that are biodegradable and compostable. Yes, the Biodiapers are expensive at $61 for 160 size 1 diapers – BUT – if cost is your main concern then you should be considering cloth as your first option – it saves THOUSANDS of dollars over a 2-4 year life span of EACH child. Did I mention how cute cloth diapers are?

Anyways, what really got me excited this morning was a Facebook post from GroVia.

I have a FREE GroVia AI2 reusable diaper shell on it’s way! If you write a blog, you too may be eligible for a GroVia AI2 shell through the month of May!

Can you guess what i’m going to do with this diaper shell? I’m going to GIVE IT AWAY to YOU readers! MommaWords did great gaining Facebook fans with the last giveaway, so i’d like to work on gaining Google Friend Connect followers and subscribers to the MommaWords RSS feed (an email notification of new posts). I will be keeping a close eye on these numbers and when we get to either 100 RSS subscribers or 100 Google Friend Connect followers I will give the shell away! Once I receive the FREE shell from GroVia, I will post an official Giveaway post that you will be required to comment on for entry. If you want to get a head start, follow or subscribe now and spread the news about this GIVEAWAY! The quicker we reach 100, the sooner I will give away the AI2 shell!

Thank you GroVia and thank you readers!