are wipes really that bad?

[missytequila]

I am a new mom...Midwifes keep telling me to use just cotton wool and water. At night or on the go, the fragrance free, sensitive johnson's wipes just seem so much easier especially for a big poo.

Are they really that bad for the skin? I am confused, I thought everyone used baby wipes....

We have used all sorts over the years. Am not surprised partic. about the cancer-causing chemicals, but it's actually the smell of those J&J jobbies that puts me off. That icky sweet smell is hideous when mixed with the poo smell. Much prefer Jackson Reece myself.
However, was more of a convert to the washable wipes. Much more practical than cotton wool imho... not so, well, tiny and poo-on-the-fingers iykwim.
Can use with tap water, or a nice solution if you feel like a bit of fiddling about. Just as easy at home, cheaper, less landfill, less bogs blocked. Marvellous. Why not have some of each?

I used cotton wool and water for the first few days with DS1. With DS2 we used wipes from birth in the hospital.

I always use fragrance free Pampers. I used them for everything - taking my make up off, cleaning hands and faces, cleaning nappies. We even used them when DS1 split his chin open badly to stem the bleeding as they were wet enough not to stick until we could get it stitched up.

J&J fragrance free are horrible and sting like crazy, but we have never had any problems with Pampers.

Johnsons are HORRIBLE and always have been. On the one occasion I used Johnsons on Ds1, he broke out in a red raw rash.

We used cotton wool and water on DS for weeks if not months. We started using wipes only when out and about, but this quickly became the norm at home as well - perhaps around 3 months.

I found the Waitrose Fragrance Free Biodegradable wipes to be the best and mildest - plus much cheaper than any of the other equivalent ones like Nature Baby etc (although have also used them, plus the Sainsbury's Eco Baby ones).

I found cotton water fiddly too, so used the large cotton wool pads - SO much easier.

I used Lidl own brand on both my babies for poos and nothing much when just wet (after first few days) Neither of them ever had a sore bum.

I use them for first aid too - worked miracles when DS1 was stung by a wasp - the screaming stopped instantly (although I suspect it was just "doing something" that helped)

cotton water ? I must type slower

Cotton Wool & water...doh

Nothing really against disp wipes, but since switching to washables (cheap facecloths from poundland) have found it's much quicker and easier to clean ds, just using plain water. I just dry him off afterwards, and his skin so far is great. Cotton wool is a bit of a PITA.

Another vote here for washables - the Cheeky Wipes to be precise. Love the smell of the oil that comes with them, and they are much more effective at cleaning up sticky poo than baby wipes. We do use mild baby wipes for cleaning after food though (only because the washables are usually upstairs and I am not quite organised enough to...um...organise myself.

I used Asda fragrance free.
Cotton wool and water dried out ds's bottom and the ones that are scented pong imo.

My son appears to have a bum like a rhino hide as we use any old wipes on him with no rash yet (touch wood). 9 months and counting

Yer Its more the gel in nappies that can cause ovarian tumours, the thing that really worries me is a few mums have said they notice disposables smell more and this is due to them heating up, then we have the mainsteam news telling us fertility in men is dropping which is what happens when testicles are not kept below body temp yer and disposables are being used more and more hmm interesting lol. Baby shampoos and other toiletries can be as bad for chemicals being released and breathed in.

Anyway back to wipes, yer there is plenty of documented evidence to suggest wipes are very dangerous indeed you just have to look for it ;)Its not hard to find with a simple search online. Fragrance free wipes are of course better than the heavily perfumed ones but not totally innocent. Of course Huggies are going to tell you their wipes are close to cotton wool and water lol they want to sell you their product.

Best thing to use? washable wipes with water and maybe a bit of essential oil to make it smell nice, thats all you need!

cotton wool & water actually gave my ds1 happy rash, maybe because it took so long to dry and/or didn't dry properly. wipes have been much better and are soooo much more practical/easy to use.

M44 tumours with chemicals in them.... really?...can you send a link to the evidence for this? I am genuinely interested.

peachybums, do you have any proof for your frankly rather wild claims?

And do you suppose, just by chance, that the incidence of infertility in men could have ANYTHING to do with an increase in central heating, in car heating, office heating, and a general lack of being outdoors?

You can get eco friendly/organic wipes so maybe they might be worth a look if you are concerned about chemicals. Various products around.

I Used cotton wool and water for 6 months (kept an old pop bottle of water or cold cammomile tea in my changing bag), and still do at home (DS is 19 months). Out and about I use sensitive skin wipes.

Cammomile tea was good for nappy rash, but he didn't/doesn't suffer from it much.

I thought talc was not recommended for respiratory reasons?

coldtits - I was always told that the scrotum hangs approx 1.5cm below the body to keep their bits cool which is better for sperm and that if you wrap them up in plastic disps it can cause a temp rise. This does make sense to me but if is an urban myth or tale then could someone let me know!! I have also told lots of other people this lol

we used fleece material cut up with water for about the 1st yr and still do to wash hands/faces etc. use jackson reece or nature babies when out and about now. the fleece ones seem to take the poo off more easily though! i just wet them and put them in a sandwich bag.

would love to read all the evidence too.

nature babies from boots or sainsburys doesn't have parablens or sls in and is only £2.89 a bottle and they do shower gel and shampoo too. is such a minefield looking out for things though!

okaaay will be giving J&J a wide berth from now on. And more nappy free time to air those reproductive bits... just not sure if I would want to spend £35 on a set of special washable bum wipes! aibu?!

octo, I think that's true hence hot baths & tight fitting undies not being recommended for men ttc. But men make sperm all the time so I think any damage from overheating goes away once the source of the overheating stops.

And as baby boys don't make sperm at all, it's not really an issue surely?

No they do hang lower so they keep sperm at a lower temp and any health professional will tell you the same. The chemicals in the gel in disposables have to heat up on contact with urine to work efficiently so its not rocket science is it? Heating up testicles destroys sperm.

Im not here to preach to anyone, you wanna use these wipes use them but i personally wouldnt. Like i said in my previous post a simple search on google will provide you with more than enough information about the dangers of disposable nappies and wipes to show you my wild claims have been carefully studied. Most studies are done in europe too and some places have banned certain chemicals used in their wipes, unfortunatly the UK is not one of them although we did stop using these in tampons due to it causing toxic shock syndrome but not in nappies for some bizzare reason.

Cloth nappy users may find some of this info is actually posted on some popular cloth nappy websites that are popular on this board. I saw it on one the other day but cannot remember which is was, might of been cheeks and cherries.

SIL decided not to use J+J wipes when she saw what a good job they made of some Venetian blinds!

I use washable wipes with a solution I make up myself or if I haven't had time to make it up, I just run them under the tap. I have no idea whether dispie wipes cause anything nasty but it makes sense to me to know exactly what goes on my baby's skin.

blinkinblimey the fleece material i bought was about £3.99 for a metre square and i just cut it up to size. look in a local material shop.

DD1 always got rashes when we used disposables and wipes on holidays so she had cotton wool and water with washable nappies until she was toilet trained.

With DD2 I use a cut up muslin and water. So much easier. Why use chemicals when water does the job?

Octo, a temperature rise compared to what? Compared to being wrapped in a blanket?

Besides, the testicles have been found to recover from overheating to 45 degrees celsius within 6 months - does ANY child's nappy get that hot and do adults ever wear them?