Sensitive Wipes & Newborns

[GeorginaA]

First time around, we did all the song and dance with warm water and cotton wool balls at every change time for x number of weeks (whatever the current advice was at the time).

However, second time around I'm thoroughly converted on the convenience of botty wipes, especially as there'll be a toddler around wanting my attention back asap. No fuss, no muss. I would much rather start off using sensitive baby wipes from the start, and I've noticed the sensitive packets do imply suitable from birth without explicitly saying so.

DH, however, thinks we should do it "properly" and use cotton wool balls again to protect baby no. 2's skin. So anyway, what's the current advice? Am I doing horrible things to my baby's bottom by sullying it with a perfume-free sensitive wipe? Or is it something in the scheme of things I can be more relaxed about with the second?

That is a really good link mears! Good to see Sharon rates Mumsnet

We used wipes from birth dd suffers from really bad eczemaand the only ones that don't upset her skin are the Boots own make sensitive wipes and with these she's fine.

HTH

Got a tip from our midwife this time round ... cotton wool with Johnson's baby lotion ... absolutely brilliant at getting him clean and no nappy rash. He's almost 17w and I still haven't switched to wipes!!

I agree that it depends on the baby. I stockpiled the sensitive baby wipes before DD arrived and found that they made her incredibly sore and red. So we used cottone wool and water, we still do as her skin goes tight and shiny with wipes now even at 19 months. The reaction shows up within 36 hours of using wipes. I also have to avoid using them on her face too, they do the same to her cheeks Cotton wool and water is a fag, no doubt, but it is really our only option for EJ.

our nursery uses cottonwool on babies bottoms if you don't give them wipes. they wet the cottonwool & leave it like that in the packet, then just pull a bit off...seems to work ok and don't have to go getting bowl of water every time.

Squirmyworm -- agree about loss of brainpower, but actually my baby's bottom is far nicer than George Dubya, anyway...

If you have mmanaged to look at Sharon's site you will see that our hospital will be implementing guidelines very soon on baby skin care. That will involve advising mums not to use any products on newborn skins for at least the first 2 weeks. Nature can protect skin all by itself at a fraction of the cost

The thing that annoys me is the hold over the market that this "big company" has on people. I was bought a whole range of baby skin care products after dd was born as a present, and I never intended on using them. After a couple of weeks I decided to use a couple of them but in very small quantities. As soon as I used the shampoo my dd got cradle cap. As soon as I realised what was happening, I looked on the internet and found a company that sell organic products with none of the harmful chemicals in. I use these still in small quantities and my dd is nearly 22 months. Since then she has had no problems of rashes or scalp problems.