baby wipes bad for baby???

mrcow

I used wipes on all of my children and they've all been fine. I also used Pampers nappies,changed and bathed them whenever I needed to and none of them ever had nappy rash.

If any midwife had told me in the hospital to clean them with cotton wool and water, I would have laughed in their face.

shays_mum

I used the cotton wool method in the first few weeks & if i felt able enough used to clean the little ones in the sink.
When i eventually moved onto wipes, i always used the sensitive skin ones & rinsed them in warm water before wiping down - so as to get as much of the chemicals out as poss!.

shellsuit

I used cotton wool and water with my first (1996) because that's what I was told to do in the hospital and with it being my first, I did as I was told.

Only did that for about 4 weeks then switched to wipes.

Used wipes on my daughter too and my son who is 21 months now.

I top and tailed my first born too...didn't bother with the others, they were straight in a shallow bath with their cord covered.

I can understand hospitals making a suggestion to use cotton wool and water, but to tell ladies off for using wipes is out of order!

LJM

i used cotton wool and cool boiled water on both my girls whilst they were small as they both had excema, baby wipes i used if i had to whilst we were out and about

Sweet_Pea_2

My elder DD is 15 and I was told not to use baby wipes on her in the hospital when she was born. I faffed about with water and cotton wool for a few days and then switched to baby wipes and she was fine. I did the same with DD2, however she has very different skin, excema and very sensitive also had continual nappy rash I couldnt shift. Looking back now I would have done things so differently, no baby wipes, no harsh nappy creams - I used sudocrem and I think it's really strong, only use disposables if I had to. The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing. So I think really it depends on the baby and his type of skin.

onlyroz

Cotton wool - fine - but why do you need to boil the water?

mummyinthevalley

Congratulations! My baby boy is now 6 months and have used wipes since he was born although I think I did use cotton wool and Johnsons baby lotion for first day! He has always been fine, has never had nappy rash. I always buy the sensitive skin ones though as assume these will be kinder, hope this helps

MERFE

With my first I thought we had to use cotton wool and water (that's what I had read), I had a c-section so got out of those first few yucky nappies. OH was changing DD and about 20 cotton wool balls later the midwife said 'I'd just use wipes, especially for the first few pooey nappies' Luckily you always get wipes in the bounty packs because I hadn't taken any in with me. Neither DD nor DS have had any nappy rash. New baby had dry skin but not on his bum so I don't think it was caused by the wipes and disappeared naturally on its own, he has also had nappy rash but caused by horrendous diarrhea rather than the wipes. The only time I've felt the need to used cotton wool for him was when he had a skin infection as I didn't want it spreading, so cooled boiled water and cotton wool then.

Cat1

I've got 3 kids, first one born in 1999 - I was advised to use cotton wool and water on his bum (was in hospital for 5 days after due to post c-section complications and DS with low blood sugar and jaundice) I kept the cotton wool etc on display and made sure I changed his bum using wipes when the midwifes/ hcas weren't watching! He wasn't bathed in hospital but I did top and tail him. His cord was clamped next to his tummy and cleaned twice daily and had sterzac powder to aid healing. I was told to make his bottles up in advance, turn the teats upside down in the bottle, put the disc in and the cap on top. Advised to start weaning at 4 months

DD was born 2007. Nobody batted an eyelid at me with the wet wipes, was told to make bottles up as and when needed. Her cord was clamped at the end and left to dangle! (hideous!!) fortunatley it came off after a couple days. Told sterzac was not used these days. We were home 3hrs after she was born and I think I gave her a proper bath when she was 2 days old. Advised not to wean until 6 months

DS2 was born 2009. Straight out with the wet wipes, had another csection so was in hosp for 24hrs. The heath care assistant bathed him for me (fantastic!) and I know there was a healty dollop of infaderm in the bath. Was told not to leave him in a car seat for more than 2 hours and wean at 6 months

The recommendations change so quickly, I think common sense and what works for you have to take precedence. I remember feeling so overly sensitive and open to being bossed around with my first I don't think anyone dared tell me anything with the next two. Poor DS2 was weighed at birth, once before his 6wk check and then not again until his first year development check! With my first DS I was so worried about him following the line on his centile charts I went to baby clinic every fortnight LOL!!!!

horseykitty

It's easy to be confident when you've had a baby or two or in my case six. When it's your first, though you worry about everything and it is confusing as recommendations from health professionals do change and you've also got well meaning advice from friends and family to contend with. When my last child was born 2 years ago I had the confidence to do what I thought best.

I used cotton wool and water on their bots until they were a couple of months old, then switched to wipes. I personally found cotton wool better for cleaning their first tarry nappies as you can get it wetter than a normal baby wipe.

I think a lot of 'advice' is pushed from manufacturers of baby products - if baby 'pure' wipes are as gentle as pure water and cotton wool why not just use that? The same with baby bath lotions, we like the smell of them on out baby's skin - I love the smell of Infacare baby bath, its so gorgeous and evokes so many memories - it's not as if infants get dirty and need cleaning with detergents, yet most mothers feel they have to bath their babies everyday.


I think it's best to keep an open mind and be flexible. If this is a money saving forum though we should be looking for the best way of doing things for the lowest cost. Tesco value baby bath is 11p for 500ml at the moment, it doesn't smell as nice as Infacare to me but it has a pleasant smell and does the job. Value wipes are around 18p in most supermarkets at the moment - that's go to be cheaper than cotton wool.