Disposable Nappies can cause Infertility!!!??? Tell me it isn't true??

[M2T]

Please help put someone right.
One my colleauges is pregnant with her 1st child and she is EXTREMELY critical of how anyone else raises their child. Things like.... apparently I will have damaged ds's spine coz I had a Britax Travel System..... babies should lie FLAT until they are 12 weeks old (EH??).... baby wipes are apparently terrible for babies skin and they leave a horrible residue (there was me thinking that was moisturiser!).

The latest one is...

Disposable nappies, especially Huggies (the ones I use surprisingly enough) can cause infertility in men, asthma and excema!
Apparently the research is being done in Germany according to her midwife.

Tell me this is a lot of bollocks please.

Philippat - They were quick enough to try to force me to use cotton wool and water and to breastfeed! Surely that's noones business but my own too, but they felt the need to come into my home to force their opinion onto me.

How is this any different?? Please explain what you mean?

Well said Aloha. I feel that the minute someone comes up with an idea of what might cause an illness/condition then there is mass hysteria! I studied science and I know lecturers who just thought up hypothesis in their heads to give themselves something to research! It doesn't matter about the results.... it's the fact that it's being investigated. That seems enough to scare people.

Innocent until proven guilty. hmm.

Philippat - 'They' being the midwives and HV.

They were probably only trying to save you money M2T, you don't NEED wipes, disposables or bottle feeding for that matter (although I don't want to open that particular can of worms ), you can get away with washable nappies, cotton wool and water and breastfeeding, all cheap and cheerful - and if they are better for baby, then great.

So they were only physically forcing me and my ds to breastfeed for my own convenience?? I thought it was coz of reducing the risk of:

Asthma
Excema
Food Intolerance
etc etc

Incidentally - I know you don't want to open that can of worms, but ds wouldn't latch on properly even 4 days after he was born (he wasn't premature) and I ended up with crakced nipples, a very hungry distressed baby who wasn't even allowed a bottle to calm him down and a very bad memory of the Midwives allegedly helping me for my own convenience.

And as for the wipes... I was not allowed to even bring them into the hospital, never mind use them.

I wanted to breastfeed from day one, but due to circumstances I couldn't.... regardless of whether it was best for ds or not. It's a touchy subject.

Sorry didnt realise it was a touchy subject sigh...

Enid - I think my last post came across as irate. I didn't mean it like that. Sorry.

I just had a terrible time blaming myself for not being able to breastfeed.

I appreciate that these options are cheaper, but doesn't always work out like that. And I don't believe the MW's were trying to save me money. They were trying to force their opinions onto me.

I do agree with Enid.... all these new marketing gadgets are costly... and yes tampons are nice but even on the label it does warn you !
And as for BF it IS cheaper and if going well afr easier and convenient.... hence I hate it when woimen fail becasue they could not get the right support/advice... and I have said this before :
MIDWIVES AND HEALTH VISITORS ARE NOT MORE COMPETENT IN BREASTFEEDING THAN BF COUNSELLORS..... THEY WILL ADMIT THAT IT ISN'T PART OF THEIR CURRICULUM (they get a few hours max) AND YES I AM SHOUTING

BF COUNSELLOR ARE FREE (VOLUNTEERS) AND WILL COME AND SEE YOU IF NEEDED!

Apology accepted M2T

Sorry that you had a tough time, I know people do, shouldnt really have lumped bfeeding in with wipes and nappies...oh well.

M2T, I hesitate to suggest that the reason why 'they' encouraged breastfeeding but failed to warn you that disposables cause asthma is that the former is backed up by loads of good scientific evidence, while the latter, ermmm...isn't.

THANKS PUPUCE - I'LL TRY THAT NEXT TIME.

Elliot - my point exactly.

M2T, I think you should just smile sweetly at your work colleague (whilst wickedly laughing inside) and wait until she comes in with the new babe and see just how much of this stuff she is actually doing herself.

Pupuce reastfeeding counsellors are free but in SW London when I was there, there was a lactation consultant who charged around £35 for a half hour visit iirc.

SueW.... 2 things on that one

1. Lactation consultants have a greater degree of knowledge on BF and a much higher numbers of counselling behind them...

2. What is £35 for a consultation... bottle feeding costs on average £500 a year !

Message withdrawn

The undescended testicle thing may be a big red herring as you have to look at WHY the testicle didn't descend - it's usually because of hormone imbalances which are more thought likely to be the cause of the later fertility problems than the warmth hypothesis according to experts I spoke to. I have to say, with my son, his nether regions do not seem noticeably hotter than the rest of his body. I really do not think this study was at all well-conducted (typically male not to realise that cloth nappies are invariably worn with some kind of plastic cover!) and the study has not been replicated even its flawed form.
For me, my quality of life is more important than panicking over every half-baked scare story and for me using washables would just be unthinkable. And yes, I have investigated the link and spoken to experts but found it totally unconvincing. We all make our own decisions but I feel confident about mine.

Mind you, I don't just use them for my quality of life, I have also only seen nappy rash on babies in cloth nappies. The little boy my son shares his nanny with has just agonising nappy rash with awful sores and I feel for him so much. My ds has never had a trace of rash. Of course, not all babies in cloth nappies have nappy rash (otherwise all you excellent mothers wouldn't use them), but I wouldn't risk it, personally.

ALoha - straight to the point and no messing! Love it!

I agree with you bloss. It just sounds like an interesting and different theory.... nothing more. And that's really interesting Aloha about the descending testicles. They assume infertility is due to heat the testes is exposed to within the body, but don't really consider why the testes didn't descend in the first place. Bloody hormones!

aloha - you know you have opened yourself up to a barrage of replies about nappy rash. i'll say no more

here goes....

nappy rash is caused by the combination of urine and faeces being in contact with the skin. Urine on its own does not cause nappy rash. Bacteria in the poo changes urea to ammonia (it think...my memory is a bit hazy)and it's this, and other corrosive elements in poo that causes soreness. If the nappy is changed regularly, and as soon as it gets dirty nappy rash will not occur.This applies both to cloth and disposables.

Of course, there are other causes of rashes and soreness that happen to affect the nappy area, as well as other area. Eczema, psoriasis, thrush, contact dermatitis, fugal infections.

I have to say the opposite to you, aloha, that I have only seen nappy rash in babies in disposables, and I've seen a lot of babies bums....but then again, because more babies wear disposables maybe sweeping statements should be avoided?

It may be worth considering that the Mum of the baby your nanny looks after, may have chosen to put him in cloth because he has a sore bum... if mine were sore for whatever reason, I would rather have it wrapped in cotton, than in a paper/ artificial fibre combination that is impregnated with superabsorbent chemicals and doused in perfume!

And....I don't think I'm risking anything putting my baby in cloth, quite the reverse! I made an educated decision to use it, based on the evidence of environmental benefit, and the lack of any contraindications, and the cost saving, and the cuteness, and the comfort, and the lack of leaks, and the absence of that awful nappy smell that is worse than the poo......

I would have to say that the only sound argument so far for cloth nappies is the environmental impact. No-one can deny that disposable nappies are completely eco-unfriendly.

I always assumed that re-usable nappies were big, bulky, awkward to put on, impractical(apart from the cost), inconvenient and uncomfortable when the baby starts trying to walk!

THen again.... I still have a picture in my head of my gran trying to teach me how to fold a Teries nappy correctly. i remember thinking WOW it must have been horrible to live in a world without disposables. I will now assume that re-usable nappies have come a long way since then. Do you still have to fold them??

M2T

Terry squres which have to be folded are the cheapest option still, but there is a world of gorgeous, soft slimline, easy to use nappies out there! I don't have time to do the links right now, but look at Tots Bots, Fuzzibuns, Little Chicks, Minkis, all the links will be in the washable nappies threads somewhere or other. Or you could look at Twinkle Twinkle; Miranda sells a huge variety of wonderful nappies.

And as for bulk, well some such as Tots Bots are very absorbent, therefore quite thick, but because they are shaped they are not bulky. When my dd was learning to walk on our stone floors, I was glad that she had a bit of padding on her posterior! Children naturally walk with their legs apart, when learning, as its more stable, so a cloth nappy doesn't get in the way.

Got to go now, work to do

sainsburys sell those eco friendly disposables(sorry dont know the brand)and they are no more expensive than other brands. They are very good mappies too and have cute little leaves all over(ahh)

fio2 - they're called naturebboy and girl. They don't use nearly as many chemicals in the manufacturing process and are oxygen rather than chlorine bleached. They don't have as much of the sodium polyacrylate gel crystals (the absorbent bit in conventional disposables - that's the bit you don't want to breathe in or let skin come into cantact with - I remember that from school chemistry) and I think have some kind of paper pulp instead.
They also make bio nappy sacks which are biodegradable and compostable (and have cute green leaves!)
As far as I know though, Moltex eco-disposables are a far better nappy and completely unbleached so they're coffee coloured rather than white. They're also 70% biodegradable. Only really available on mail order or online.
M2T - for a laugh have a look at Righteous Baby nappies - personalised!