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View Full Version : Baby powder - what's it for?



LadyPeter
07-07-2010, 08:39 AM
I'm 23 weeks and my husband keeps mentioning that we need baby powder. In his mind, it seems to be more important than diapers, clothes, strollers and car seats combined. You cannot have a baby without baby powder!

I, on the other hand, don't know anyone who uses it and I'm a little mystified by the concept. I assume it absorbs moisture from the baby's nether-regions, but isn't that what a diaper is for?

Someone please explain to this clueless first-timer.

Melaine
07-07-2010, 08:47 AM
It's no longer recommended actually because it can be inhaled, IIRC?

swissair81
07-07-2010, 08:49 AM
Baby powder is actually a respiratory hazard for infants. Not too great for the rest of us either.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1669894/

mommylamb
07-07-2010, 08:52 AM
Well, in this hot weather, I put it on myself after a shower :-) but definitely not for babies.

elizabethkott
07-07-2010, 09:05 AM
I use it for making high school students' hair look grey for plays and musicals when we run out of the spray-grey! :D
But no, not for babies.
If your DH MUST HAVE BABY POWDER tell him he can put it in his sneakers. :D

swissair81
07-07-2010, 09:09 AM
I use it for making high school students' hair look grey for plays and musicals when we run out of the spray-grey!

This has almost nothing to do with anything, but... In 8th grade we did group reports on Africa & one group decided to use Hershey's Cocoa as a costume prop (skin coloring). As soon as their report was over, there was an announcement over the loudspeaker that whoever trashed the bathroom better go clean it up quick.

kam
07-07-2010, 09:09 AM
I'm going to differ from the other responses. We go through tons of it.

My DD has ridiculously sensitive skin, so I can't put a new diaper on an even slightly damp butt or she'll have a rash before I change her again. And I'm too lazy to wait for her to air-dry (not to mention that she'd be off and running!) So after a dirty diaper, or even a wet one, if she's still damp from being cleaned, I powder, cream if necessary, then close up.

In terms of safety -- the stuff that is bad for babies, due to respiratory problems, is TALC, not corn starch. J&J sells a corn starch baby powder which is perfectly safe. I do carefully apply, however, so it doesn't go anywhere near her face.

swissair81
07-07-2010, 09:14 AM
I have a dd with ridiculously sensitive skin & I cloth diaper her. No rash problems.

Talc is a carcinogen & it's good that they took it out of baby powder, but you are wrong that corn starch is safe. Particles can get trapped in the lungs & cause pneumonia. It's a mechanical thing, not an ingredient thing.

SnuggleBuggles
07-07-2010, 09:23 AM
Isn't corn starch good breeding ground for bacteria? Could that, in fact, make baby have more diaper issues?

Beth

swissair81
07-07-2010, 09:24 AM
I have noticed on sites that even if it was okay, using it on a girl is a bad idea. That's probably why. Girls get UTIs so easily. No reason to help them.

scrooks
07-07-2010, 09:31 AM
We use the corn starch kind on DS occasionally. It has really helped some of his diaper rash. You are supposed to put it in your hand and apply vs shaking it all over the baby.

kam
07-07-2010, 09:42 AM
We usually apply it the way scrooks describes.

And, honestly, we've had WAAYYY fewer rashes since I started using it, so it's worked for us. That being said, I think this may fall into the category of -- use your judgment. If you don't need it, don't use it! It's one fewer thing to worry about.

I've got one friend who can take off a dirty diaper, clean her up, and put a clean dipe on. No powder, no cream, no drying time, nothing. And her DD almost NEVER gets rashes. That's my dream.

lmwbasye
07-07-2010, 09:54 AM
Baby powder is really good for getting sand off after you're at the beach. Other than that, we don't use it for anything for the reasons mentioned.

And my son is one with ultra-sensitive skin, but we've decided to find other ways to handle it.

ewpmsw
07-07-2010, 02:02 PM
Well, in this hot weather, I put it on myself after a shower :-) but definitely not for babies.

:yeahthat:

catsnkid
07-08-2010, 09:41 PM
I bought two huge containers of baby powder before I heard that it isn't recommended anymore. I started using it this summer at about 12 mos. DS seems to be sweating incredibly in the nether regions, and cream is just not doing the job. I can't let him loll on the floor with no diaper anymore like I did last summer to dry things out.

OKKiddo
07-08-2010, 11:55 PM
I'm using a zinc oxide powder. And I use creams too. In fact, if I sprinkle a tiny bit of the zinc powder on and dust it around with my fingers, then put on the cream then the cream stays on him and doesn't get rubbed off onto the diaper. I only ever need to do the powder on a hot/humid day and the creams only after an acidic poo or after he's had too much cheese/dairy.

Sweetum
07-09-2010, 06:15 PM
I did/do not use baby powder for DS. But the only time I used it breiefly was in India. My sister, a doctor, told me it would be a good idea since the heat and moisture in that area can combine to give him a bad rash. So, I used it. I stopped immediately after we returned.

We let the bottom be without a diaper immediately after cleaning up a poopy diaper. I also sometimes lightly blow to speed up the drying :loveeyes:

daisymommy
07-09-2010, 07:14 PM
Isn't corn starch good breeding ground for bacteria? Could that, in fact, make baby have more diaper issues?

Beth

YES. It can cause yeast infections. The sugar molecules of corn feed yeast bacteria, especially in wet, warm environments (like inside a diaper or in the leg folds of a baby).

kam
07-12-2010, 08:59 AM
YES. It can cause yeast infections. The sugar molecules of corn feed yeast bacteria, especially in wet, warm environments (like inside a diaper or in the leg folds of a baby).

I just wanted to say that our pediatrician disagrees with this theory.

SnuggleBuggles
07-12-2010, 09:05 AM
From the American Academy of Family Physicians:
What about powder?


Doctors don’t recommend using talcum powder or cornstarch. Talcum powder can get in your baby's lungs. Cornstarch may make a diaper rash caused by a yeast infection worse.
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/parents/infants/051.html


I really don't mean to make a big deal about it but I have read that cornstarch/ yeast thing many times. It just makes sense to me from a biological perspective. If it's working for you, go for it. You can probably cut the step out though to no detriment.

Beth

swissair81
07-12-2010, 11:27 AM
I just wanted to say that our pediatrician disagrees with this theory.

If you've ever had or seen a child get yeast infections in a skin fold, you would know that your pediatrician has some explaining to do as to why he/she disagrees.

kam
07-12-2010, 01:00 PM
If you've ever had or seen a child get yeast infections in a skin fold, you would know that your pediatrician has some explaining to do as to why he/she disagrees.

While i'm largely stepping aside from this discussion, as I don't find it to be terribly productive (or responsive to the question posed by OP!), I found your post to be rather rude, and insulting, so I want to point out a few things:

(1) I've never said powder is for everyone. Aside from anything else, it's one more step. If you don't need it, don't use it. (I feel the same way about diaper creams, soap, body creams, etc.).

(2) I've never denied that there are risks to it -- in our case, the benefiits outweigh the risks of a rare, and largely avoidable, complication.

We never used corn starch until we had tons of rash problems, including a runaway yeast infection that took 2 months and a few rounds of oral nystatin, with probiotic "good" yeast to clear up. Our pediatrican (from a high powered academic medical center, practicing for 30 years) believes that her gut had been colonized by a bad yeast when we weaned to formula at 9 mos, b/c I had gone back to work and my supply had dried up. He thinks her ph balance changed, and allowed for an overgrowth of candida in her intestines. Normal, if unusual and unfortunate. So, everytime my poor peanut pooped, she added yeasties to her diaper area.

Our ped also said that this issue was compounded by her ridiculously sensitive skin. So he told us that she was terribly responsive to moisture, and that we should try powder to help eliminate the environment in which yeast flourishes --- damp (and dark, but you can't change that!) He explained the risks, and showed me how to carefully apply it. We haven't had ANYTHING since. Not a yeastie, and only the types of (sad and sore)diaper rashes you see with diarrhea (to be expected with a sick baby).

I did ask about the "powder as food" problem and he said that LOTS of things in a diaper are food. The trick is keeping the environment non-conducive to colonization and growth. For us, that includes regular, and careful, use of corn starch. DO I wish I didn't have to? Sure. But I'm glad never to see that poor, yeasty, sore, and red butt ever again.

luckytwenty
07-13-2010, 11:49 AM
I thought this was going to be a post about baby powder on pregnant bodies. :-P I use Burt's Bees powder between my belly and breasts (am carrying very high). I'd gotten a yeast rash because of the friction and after clearing that up with Nystantin, I began using powder at my OB's suggestion. Makes my black bras icky looking but other than that, it works.