Is this normal?

[hmvanhoof]

I had my son in a prefold with an insert of somekind---new here and these were given to me, so I don't really know what they are. Anyways, I put a wool cover over the prefold for his nap. About 2 hours later when he woke up, I could almost immediately smell ammonia and it only got worse as I began to change him. His wool cover also smells really bad and I have only had it for over a week, so I don't think it needs to be washed yet. I thought diapers only began to stink like that when they had been in a diaper pail for a long time. I also noticed that my diaper pail smelled of ammonia really badly today too and I wash ever other day or two. I got the prefolds used, but washed them well before he wore them. What do you think the problem is, or is this common after a nap? We haven't started CDing overnight yet, so nap-time is usually the longest he ever is in a diaper. Please tell me that this is normal or, if not, can you suggest what might be the problem and how can I keep it from happening again? THanks....

[hmvanhoof]

[sherrydeanne]

I'm guessing it's a vinegar issue. Try stripping and don't use any vinegar when you wash

[hmvanhoof]

I have never used vinegar, but maybe the momma that I bought the prefolds did??? I havne't had a problem before, but I never used her prefolds either.

[mom2fussy]

I'm fairly new at this too , but here's my guess: Since you got them used, there might be build up or residue of some kind. Try stripping them & include a LOT of rinses if you see any bubbles in the rinse cycle.

[negrapy]

i've never had this issue with prefolds or wool ....
but in the am my sons pees a river. he holds it all night now and that first am one is stinky. He's in a fitted and doubler and a thick wool cover, so I don't get wet nursing him but I change him as soon as he's done.
depending on how old he is as well he might need a little more liquid, which would help too to lighten his pee

hope you figure it out soon

[titania]

when we had ammonia stink really bad it was suggested that i had buildup. i bleached the inserts and did a bunch of rinses and that helped. good luck!! sorry you have to deal with this when you are still getting the hang of CDing. that stinks!!

[mom2t]

Here I go using my degree in biochem........

Urine is made of 95% water and 5% urea (protein waste). Urine is mostly sterile. It only stinks when it sits around and collects bacteria. After a while, the urea breaks down and produces ammonia. So all dipes can smell of ammonia, no matter how perfect your loaundry routine is. Some chemicals mixed with bodily fluids also produce ammonia. Example: pour some bleach in a cup of pee and WOW, the ammonia fumes can make you sick.

So ammonia smell can happen to the best of us. Now your dc's dipes could be just urea breaking down or a rection to some chemical on them. I suspect that is what is happening with your wool.

Hope this helps.

[myajdw]

am i the only one that saw that she used an insert? and that it got worse AS she was changing him....it's not the wool or the pf IMO it's the insert. you need to strip them and my suggestion is about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of bleach in a hot wash. then rinse away!!!! don't do this often though...but every now and again certainly won't hurt anything! GL mama!!!

[hmvanhoof]

Thank you fot all the suggestions. I hope to find out what the problem is soon. I changed my son 4 or 5 more times today and didn't have any problems. I was using all types of diapers though, so it would be kind of hard to narrow it down---although I didn't try a pf and an insert again. Maybe it was the insert or the pf I was using! Amazing---the wool lost that ammonia smell and smells good as new. I just think about all that pee buildup---wool doesn't make it just disappear. It really just makes the smell go away, right?