baby wipes bad for baby???

shirlgirl2004

zaksmum wrote: »

Fair point I suppose. They must be quite hard on a baby's bottom if they can cut through oil paint.

The midwife announced today that baby had LOST weight!:eek: My daughter was a bit upset about that even when told it's quite normal for a newborn to lose weight in the first week. He's lost 6% of birth weight which is hard when you're feeding him 12 times in 24 hours...how much more can you do?

So he has to be given formula morning and evening to try to get his weight up, and breastfeeding in between...and still positively NO baby wipes. Oh dear...!:(

Your daughter sounds like a fantstic mum. I never used babywipes on my daughters because of the chemicals in them. Try using babywipes on your face 6 times a day for a week and see what is does to your skin. I think you'd change your mind about using them. If your daughter is using washable nappies then she might consider using washable wipes too which are essentially just small flannels.

skintchick

zaksmum wrote: »

Fair point I suppose. They must be quite hard on a baby's bottom if they can cut through oil paint.

The midwife announced today that baby had LOST weight!:eek: My daughter was a bit upset about that even when told it's quite normal for a newborn to lose weight in the first week. He's lost 6% of birth weight which is hard when you're feeding him 12 times in 24 hours...how much more can you do?

So he has to be given formula morning and evening to try to get his weight up, and breastfeeding in between...and still positively NO baby wipes. Oh dear...!:(

They do all lose weight, they are designed to, and as long as it's within 10 per cent it is considered OK, so I'm not sure why the MW has advised formula.

Introducing formula before breastfeeding is established is known to make it much harder to breastfeed, and to sustain breastfeeding, so if your daughter wants to breastfeed, I would suggest she disregard this advice and speak to a breastfeeding hotline or even a counsellor at a local dropin (detasils should be in the red book, or ask HV).

Breastmilk WILL get his weight up adequately - it is designed to, and yes it's tiring, I fed every hour for 40 minutes a time so I well remember just sitting on the sofa all day and feeding all night too, but it will lessen.

feeding four hourly as you were told has been found to make breastfeeding very difficult as baby isn;t getting enough food, often enough, and feeding on demand is really the only way to know if baby is getting what he needs, and don;t forget babies like to nurse for comfort, too, not just for food (and also as a drink, which is why they do it so often. How often do you go four hours without food or a drink of any kind?)

So if your daughter would prefer not to introduce formula, assuming there's nothing you've not told us, it doesn;t sounds as if there's any reason why she shouldn;t simply continue breastfeeding in demand, resting when she can, eating well herself, and baby should thrive.

I was advised to use formula for one feed a day too, but I ignored it and DD was fine - we exclusively breastfed for 6 months, and she's perfectly healthy and was a real chubby baby.

If she's not happy with what she's been told, then she should call the breastfeeding helplines and talk it through to find something that suits her. There is no reason from what you've said for her to intorduce formula if she doesn't want to.

I'm a Breastfeeding Network Helper (peer supporter) so this information is based on my training. Hope it helps.

zaksmum

Thanks skintchick. I'm fretting a bit like I did about mine when they were babies! It just seems like all this advice - she sees different midwives each time and they all seem to give different advice - is so confusing for her as a first time mum trying to give baby the best she possibly can.

And really I worry about her too as she's MY baby and if she does all the feeding, boiling and nappy changing seemingly 24 hours a day she'll be shattered...but that's being a mum I suppose!

inkie

I'm a MW and would support all that skintchick has posted above. If I have weighed a baby and it had lost 6% of body weight - in the absence of no other 'problems', then I would not be worried. They do lose weight, which is why it's not a good idea to weight babies again in these early days, as to hear that they have lost weight can be upsetting for parents. It takes a while for feeding to get established and when they are weighed at birth they have a gut full of meconium to take into consideration too! Keep feeding, on demand, plenty of rest and fluid for mum and things will be fine. It's by day 10 when baby should have re-gained birth weight. No need for formula - just plenty of unrestricted access to the breast.

skintchick

zaksmum wrote: »

Thanks skintchick. I'm fretting a bit like I did about mine when they were babies! It just seems like all this advice - she sees different midwives each time and they all seem to give different advice - is so confusing for her as a first time mum trying to give baby the best she possibly can.

And really I worry about her too as she's MY baby and if she does all the feeding, boiling and nappy changing seemingly 24 hours a day she'll be shattered...but that's being a mum I suppose!

Well that's the nub of it really, isn't it. Everyone is giving ADVICE but we were trained to give INFORMATION so a mum can make her own mind up.

I think she will be shattered in the early weeks, which is why (speaking as a mum) she should just concentrate on baby and feeding and forget anything else, and if you or other people can help her with cleaning, cooking, etc.,then that will really help her.

You sound great, really supportive, and perhaps you can help her work out what SHE wants to do in terms of feeding, without her feeling swayed by health professionals' advice, although taking it into account, obviously.

pigpen

Loosing up to 10% of the birth weight is normal.. so he doesn't NEED formula top-ups he is doing fine!

Baby wipes made my little ones bottoms sore so I used baby lotion and cotton wool for the first several months. I used a few to get off the meconium in the first few days and lathered on barrier creams to prevent soreness

GobbledyGook

Sometimes there are some MW's who struggle with BF'ing. Some of them like to know that Baby X is having X ounces every x hours. When they can't see that they struggle with BF'ing. Some are utterly fantastic - I just wish the ones giving duff advice realised how much damage they can do to a woman's confidence and to the chances of succeeding in breastfeeding.

Losing 6% of weight is not a problem as long as the baby is otherwise well, alert and having wet and dry nappies.

I don't know if this is allowed, but there is a forum called hitched.co.uk - it is predominantly a wedding website, but their is a baby section. There are lots of Mum's on there who BF'ed and there are a lot who had poor quality information from professionals if your daughter would like to read some information about BF'ing and hear about people's experiences. It has been invaluable to me when I've struggled with breastfeeding. Particularly when my ever-so-helpful Health Visitor threatened to 'send' me to the GP for refusing to put my son on formula. Thankfully the GP had more of a clue than the HV!

It makes me so furious that health professionals go on about their Breastfeeding friendly status and the likes, yet the rubbish information about breastfeeding new mothers are given is unbelievable and the lack of support is staggering.

JBD

I'm another one who used babywipes for my babies with no ill effects at all. I also use them on my own skin and have never noticed any soreness at all. OP if your daughter wants to try babywipes then she doesn't need permission from the midwife, it's her baby.

zaksmum

I'd never say this to my daughter but I can't imagine why she's giving herself all the hassle of breastfeeding. I know it's best for baby and she's determined to get it right...but when mine were babies I just had them straight onto the bottle. You can see how much they're taking and they certainly thrived perfectly well. And I didn't have to do 12 feeds in 24 hours...that'd exhaust any new mum. Baby wipes weren't around then but had they been I'd have used them. Every midwife that comes seems to have a different opinion - the latest said to feed, feed, feed as much as humanly possible to get rid of the last of baby's jaundice. You can't possibly do more than 12 feeds in 24 hours!

I was very young when I had mine and didn't give a stuff what midwives said. I just muddled through and - fortunately - got it right. Makes you wonder though how mums ever coped in centuries gone by when there was no health advice at all but babies still got to grow up strong and healthy.

pigpen

zaksmum wrote: »

Makes you wonder though how mums ever coped in centuries gone by when there was no health advice at all but babies still got to grow up strong and healthy.

They had mums and aunts and friends and sisters who offered support and help and sometimes fed the baby additional feeds so the mum could rest.

The new mums did nothing for the first 10 days which meant breastfeeding was well under way by the time she had to get up and get on with life.

I've breastfed my brood and had very few problems that were not workable (lactose intolerance for one!) Does she have a surestart/childrens centre nearby? They usually have breastfeeding supporters who might be able to reassure her. The ones here will do home visits if she is struggling to get up and out so that might be an option too. Sometimes the baby clinics have bf supporter there too..