Baby wipes in the news

[candaceb]

I don't think I have seen this posted yet:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/baby-w...ies-2D11898693

I was diagnosed with an allergy to this chemical 1.5 years ago, after countless trips to the dermatologist, UV therapy, who knows how many different RX creams and months and months of raw skin on my hands that was painful and gross. I switched doctors, and the new doctor brought up the idea of doing chemical skin patch testing. We talked through every product I came into contact with, and the only thing we could identify that hadn't been changed during the whole ordeal was the Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free Hypoallergenic baby wipes that I had been using since my son was a newborn. I wore 74 patches on my back for 2 days including one that she squeezed some liquid out of a baby wipe onto. The only 2 that reacted were the baby wipes and methylisothiazolinone - which were an ingredient in those wipes. I got rid of the wipes and my hands got better in 2 weeks.

About a month ago, I couldn't find my normal conditioner at Target and I had a coupon for Dove, so I decided to try it. I didn't even look at the ingredients because I thought that if it was Dove it would be OK - I have used Dove soap since I was a baby. A week later, my hands were cracked and painful and I looked at the ingredients on the conditioner and sure enough, it was there.

I happened to have a Derm appt today and we had both seen the baby wipes thing in the news. She said that since she diagnosed it in me, she had found that chemical as a major problem again and again. We both thought the big omission in the news right now is that you can find that chemical in all sorts of products you would never expect (hello Babyganics foaming wash) and it is not just babies that are affected by it.

I am not posting this because I think baby wipes are evil - I am still using them - just not Huggies. Pampers Sensitive and Target Sensitive do not have that chemical. I just think more people need to be aware of this as a potential trigger, and getting rid of it could be an easy solution if you have unexplained skin problems.

[hellokitty]

Thanks for posting, I didn't realize that this was such an allergenic chemical! I tend to have a lot of reactions to things, so I will definitely keep an eye out for that chemical.

[georgiegirl]

Thank you so much. I've been using those wipes in DS2 and he has a diaper rash that keep coming back. I will buy new wipes tomorrow

[dream135]

My son always gets rashes when we use wipes. We've been sticking to viva paper towel with water.

[AnnieW625]

Thanks for sharing. Both of my girls were extremely sensitive to skin cleansers when they were a baby, but we had to use baby wipes because they went to daycare but we always had good luck with Costco wipes, Pampers Sensitive unscented wipes, and when DD1 was a toddler Babies R Us brand wipes (but they changed those by the time I had DD2 and I didn't like them as much).

This is pretty current I think, but Costco wipes don't have the above ingredient in them:
http://www.ireadlabelsforyou.com/kir...es-and-others/

I get that these probably still aren't the best choice, but they are very economical for the kids who attend daycare or have a nanny that doesn't want to deal with cloth wipes, but just thought I would post this anyways.

[mikala]

Thanks for sharing! Ds1 has a nasty hand dryness thing going on and I haven't been able to pinpoint the cause. I usually use diluted dr bronners for hand soap but I switched one of our bathrooms to an old Softsoap dispenser to use it up. It looks like it may contain this chemical so I wonder if there could be a link.

[Ceepa]

Thanks for sharing! Ds1 has a nasty hand dryness thing going on and I haven't been able to pinpoint the cause. I usually use diluted dr bronners for hand soap but I switched one of our bathrooms to an old Softsoap dispenser to use it up. It looks like it may contain this chemical so I wonder if there could be a link.

Glad you mentioned this. I grabbed a few Softsoap dispensers that were on post-holiday sale. My hands are so dry now and red in places. I'm going to switch back to our other hand soap and see if it helps.

[JBaxter]

Am I the only one that if I use a product on myself or my kids ( Soaps, lotions, detergents etc) and you START to see red or dry skin I stop ASAP? Seeing that 8 yr olds face was horrifying. I can imagine what her bottom looked like. My youngest is 5 and I think its been 2 full yrs since I bought any type of wipes anyway ( I bought 7th generation or made my own mostly)

[Ceepa]

Am I the only one that if I use a product on myself or my kids ( Soaps, lotions, detergents etc) and you START to see red or dry skin I stop ASAP? Seeing that 8 yr olds face was horrifying. I can imagine what her bottom looked like. My youngest is 5 and I think its been 2 full yrs since I bought any type of wipes anyway ( I bought 7th generation or made my own mostly)

Well my hands are a mess in the winter anyway from the dry air, but the redness started only within the last week; and that's when I switched to Softsoap, but hadn't made the connection until this thread.

[weech]

Thanks, OP. DH just bought a huge box of those Kirkland flushable wipes and has been having a really weird problem with dry red skin on his knuckles. I'm going to check our soaps and return those wipes. Ugh.