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....

i use washable wipes (bought a cheeky wipes kit but much prefer bamboo wipes - little lambs from babybots or wipebots from softbots) with water & essential oil. buy a couple of little wetbags for out & about (one for clean, one for mucky), and at home you can soak/store them in something like a lock & lock box.

the initial outlay is a fair bit (can be made cheaper by cutting up a big bit of fleece or old towels/flannels to make wipes etc) but think how much money you'll save from birth - potty training, with disposable wipes at £1 - £2.50 a pack, & using, say, 1 pack a week ...

I just bought a couple of those giant fleece throws from IKEA, I'm sure they were only about £2 each or something ridiculous, each one cut up into about 40 squares...they wash brilliantly (come out of the machine dry so straight back on the pile) - I use them for everything! poo, sick, bogies....

peachybum - what sperm? Sperm production doesn't start until puberty.

Like ThatCaramelSweetness have always used poundland flannels, normally just ran under tap (spots for face /plain for bum) -- but am now addicted to asda little angels shea butter and cotton milk wipes.

dd had nappy rash and they acrually got rid of it - use them on me too as they smell all choclately and delish and leave a sort of moisturising coat behind them -- love 'em - and I normally detest chemically scented things but can't get enough of these.

I would have thought that DSs little balls would get hotter in a big old cloth nappy than a disposable that is a fifth of the thickness?

BTW - I have used both disposable and cloth on DS.

I did find that his nappies were hot - but only right after he had pee'd, so straight from the body iykwim

As for wipes, agree that J&J are evil! Stingingly painful. I used cotton wool and water for first week or so, then went to Pampers Sensitive. During the cloth nappy phase I used reusable flannel type wipes but found that I was always running out! His skin was also better with the wipes. Not as clammy and red.

Having just done a Web of Science search, please note the following peer-reviewed articles:

Moller, H (2002), Testicular cancer risk in relation to use of disposable nappies, ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD, 86(1): 28-29

Conclusion: No association was found between disposable nappy use and the subsequent risk of testicular cancer in adulthood

Also,

[Anon] (2003), Testicular cancer not associated with use of disposable diapers, EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS, 162 (4): 287

Google it Bicep....remember being given a whole load of info during my oncology course.....teeth, asbestos all manner of things have been found in them....

wow! what a debate! I have very sensitive skin and have used J&J sensitive wipes on my face for years... in fact all my friends ask me how I keep my skin nice and I always say I used baby wipes to take off make up...

i thought since my sensitive skin can take it, so can baby... but I certainly do not want to cause nappy rash or anything else...

now I am still torn...{confused}

Wipes are fantactic, for cleaning your TV screens, in your car, lots of other cleaning jobs.
Seeing how effective they are on stubborn stains I didn't fancy using them on my baby's bottom, after all there are some fairly potent petroleum based chemicals in them (btw I am a Chemist by education and spent 10 years working in hazardous waste).
I generally use terry wipes and water (just cut up an old towel or flannels), and flushable/biodegradble baby wipes free from SLAs and phthalates which have been linked to eczema and cancer when we are out and about. Not saying baby wipes will give you cancer, but we are are exposed to such chemicals in many other areas of life and I like to keep my and my son's exposure to a minimum to reduce the risk.

Using terry wipes will save you a lot of money in the long run, and is also better for the environment that non-degradable, non-flushable wipes.

Thanks UnseenAcademicalMum

Peachybums, I don't understand either about the problem with heat temporarily destroying sperm, when babies in nappies aren't yet producing sperm?

I always used washable wipes (towelling ones for using wet and fleece ones for drying). But as I was using washable nappies it would have been a bit silly not too.

It wasn't any more hassle IMHO, when we were going out I just took a flannel bag for the wet ones. Also, on the rare occasions that I used disposable wipes on DD she used to get nappy rash.

I did some reading a few months back apparently the constant contact with the gel heating up may affect the testicles ability to produce sperm in adulthood, they were just saying this could be a reason for the increase in male infertility. They apparently tested teenagers who wore disposable nappies as babies against those in terries and found that a large % of the disposable nappy wearers had upto 50% less sprem per tablespoon than those who wore terries. They also found a large number of them suffered from minor skin irritations from birth. I have also read studies about this and they have said there is no risk but then you need to think who did this study and who funded it? Hmm maybe the large nappy companies? They are not going to say there is a risk, neither is anyone linked to them making money.

Before i read about this i said it was all silly and how can people get away with selling us something so dangerous for our children. As i started to read more into it i realised they could and did quite easily.

As i said anyway its a parents choice what they do with their children im just saying i dont want my children sat in nasty chemicals all day and yer i would rather save money and use washable wipes than pay almost £3 for baby wipes that are full of stuff most people have never heard of.

The argument about funding of research is always an easy one. However, I don't know about your experience of carrying out academic research and/or obtaining research funding/scientific publication, but I do have many years of experience at doing exactly this. Research funded by companies where there is a conflict of interests (financial or otherwise) does have to be declared and if it is not declared can result in papers being withdrawn and/or the scientists involved being investigated for breach of research conduct.

Sorry to be sceptical, but Googling a subject is not proof for me. Anyone can set up a web-site saying whatever they like, but it need not necessarily be accurate or well researched or even researched at all (look at the amount of websites from people claiming to have been abducted by aliens after all ). This seems rather like scaremongering to me.

However, I'm happy to be proved wrong if you have serious scientific articles which can demonstrate a real link between disposable nappies and cancer/infertility.

"Anyone can set up a web-site saying exactly whatever they like" UnseenAcademicalMum

You mean this might not be true?

(not a wipes/talc/anything to do with babies link)

used wipes withall of mine

Am I the only person who keeps reading the thread title as "arse wipes"?

I will now!

I will add a disclaimer here.

I am not yet a mother. I use Pampers sensitive wipes to remove make up/ do quick houshold cleaning etc. I ran out of toilet roll once and saw the pack to hand.

I thought, I know- they 'll be fine to use, after all they are used on babies fgs. Wiped. Holy hell, they burned!

I wouldn't have thought I was particularly sensitive, but I dare you all if you don't believe me. Use one wipe on yourself. If you don't feel like you're on fire, then I'd say your child should be ok.

Don't sue me, though. I have no money.

DifferentID - I have had that experience!! They do sting like hell!

we used babywipes on DD1 and washable wipes on DD2. My DH worked out that we had saved £250 just by using washable wipes on DD2 (so even an expensive Cheeky Wipes set at £35 looks a bargain)

I found washable wipes much more effective at cleaning poo. With babywipes I would sometimes use 6 or more on a poo as babywipes just smear the poo around, whereas my washable wipes cleaned it off.

I recently looked at the ingredients of the Huggies wipes as they claim to be like cotton wool and water - they are loaded with chemicals including some parabens, which IMO are the worst!

Washable wipes all the way here! I sell washable wipes in sets of 10 for £7.50 and recommend people get 3 sets to ensure they have more than enough for fulltime use. So that's £22.50 rather than £250 and loads of nasty chemicals and more stuff going to landfill. (Mods - I'm not touting for business, just trying to put costs into perspective)

When out'n'about I sed to take my wipes dry and a little spray bottle with water. Then either spray the wipes to make them damp, or spray babys bttom. A spray bottle of water is so useful!!!

different, I regularly use pampers sensitive wipes on myself to "freshen up" especially after my sections and during periods. Cant say they have ever stung or caused any rashes etc - and this is someone who has reactions to even the mildest soaps and bubble baths!

I was surprised by how much easier and quicker washable wipes were to use, NappyshedSal - I use far fewer as well, and cleaning a really mucky bottom is much quicker with my poundland friends.

Same exp as smokinaces here. I guess all it proves is that different people's skin reacts differently to the same product, which we knew anyway.

DS has never shown any sign of discomfort with the Pampers Sensitive wipes, unless he has a bit of rash (very rare) in which case we don't use them anyway. I did, though, think he seemed a bit bothered by the rough, skanky J&J wipes when we tried them, but he was too little to actually tell me at the time so just presuming really.

We use washable wipes with water and have never had any problems, we do use nature babies wipes while out and about though for convinence.