Hemp Cloth Diapers Vs. Cotton

I don't know about hemp diapers, but I did use bum Gemius diapers on my son and they worked great. I used hemp liners/doublers when he got older and they seemed to hold a TON of luquid.

I would start with 1 hemp diaper and a wool cover is a great choice too. Personally I feel that with prefolds, there is no barrier with the moisture up against baby's skin. My daughter has been having rashes pretty bad lately and I do let her run around without a diaper for a bit and that seems to have done the best job at clearing up her rash, even switching over to disposables wasn't working. But the hemp diaper is going to have the same "problem" as the prefold, moisture right next to her skin. Some babies just don't tolerate it well. I know GroVia sells a biosoaker - which is a "disposable" like insert which just lays in a diaper cover. Or maybe switching over to a pocket diaper or too? Whatever you do, I would only start with 1 new diaper, no need to spend a lot of $$ on hemp or wool just to find out they don't work!
Good luck...

Wool is used as a cover, and is water resistant but not truly waterproof, in that if it's overwhelmed with liquid, it will leak through to the outer clothes. I used wool on my LO when he was small, but it's a bit of a pain to clean as it has to be handwashed with special soap, so as to not strip the lanolin off the wool; lanolin is what gives it it's water-resistant quality.

You might look for microfleece inserts--this will give your baby a barrier between the wet absorbent layer and his skin. I think Fuzzi Bunz pockets have microfleece for the inside and PUL for the outer, waterproof, and then you stuff them with the absorbent material (a prefold, or FB inserts, etc.)

If you're using most regular detergents to wash, they are probably leaving residue, and/or If you're using diaper ointment, etc. you may just need to strip the diapers that you have. Google "strip cloth diapers" and you can find how to do it (I've never had to, so I can't remember the directions; sorry.). Then, make sure you rinse the diapers really well. I do a cold wash cycle w/ no soap, a hot water wash with soap and a cold rinse, and then another cold rinse if mine start smelling. If you're using baking soda at all, be sure to add 1/4 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle to get the pH back to normal (baking soda is a base, and vinegar is an acid, and used together like that can help restore the pH balance to neutral, which is better for the baby's skin).

To help with the immediate problem, I would say to wash the baby's skin, dry it and let the baby be naked if possible, for at least a few minutes (longer is better). Then, apply ointment, and lay a fleece liner (get the cheap fleece at Joann's and cut to the vague shape of the diaper. This will keep the ointment off the diaper itself, and it's inexpensive enough that you can throw them away after his rash clears up.

And _make sure_ to change the diapers often (like every hour if needed), regardless what diapering route you go. And if need be, go to a disposable at night--my little guy used to like to pee about an hour after he fell asleep, and then his poor skin would be sitting against the urine soaked cloth; I went the "easy" route and put him in disposables at night. I probably should've bought some of the more expensive diapers (we use mostly prefolds) but went the disposable route instead for overnights.

I discovered that my daughter's rash was from being too wet by going to disposable for a couple of days and having it clear up. If you already know that this is the case, what I ended up doing was getting some hemp doublers and just adding them. I use BumGenius and just took the hemp baby double and put it on the outside of the diaper so it wicks it away (by outside I mean NOT against the baby). Once the rash was gone from the disposables, I switched back. I still have to increase naked time, but she is doing much better. Also, know that the hemp needs to be washed and dried about 5-8 times to maximize absorbency before use.

Hemp is more absorbent than cotton so if the rash is caused by sitting in a wet diaper then they may help (I have liners). On the rare occasion my daughter gets a rash I use a paper liner and some diaper cream or a disposable diaper with the cream. Good luck.