How long until you can use baby wipes on a newborn?

[helaina]

My husband has this book for new fathers that says you can't use commercial baby wipes on a newborn and that you should use just a washcloth and water when you change his diaper for the first couple of weeks. Is this true? Did you do that? If so, for how long? So far I've purchased 5 boxes of Huggies disposable washcloths but they are really expensive for the small quantity you get.

[Saartje]

We used commercial newborn wipes on DS at first, but our pediatrician advises against baby wipe use at all, and we use cloth wipes now. You can just use regular washcloths; wash them in hot water. If you're breastfeeding, everything will dissolve in water in the washer, so there's no need to buy disposable washcloths. (Never heard of those before, myself.)

[lizajane]

we used huggies natural care baby wipes from the first day we got one and never had as single problem. i will do the same with the next if i don't get in gear and sew some more cloth wipes! i think it just depends on the baby. my child did not have sensitive skin AT ALL. i stopped using dreft after the first bottle ran out. we never had any trouble with regular ol' johnson&johnson bath products.

so use up your washcloths if you prefer to start there, and then give baby wipes (alcohol free!) a try if you feel comfortable.

[Momof3Labs]

Just use baby washcloths run under warm water, and wash them with the rest of baby's clothes. The hospital will provide a small suppply of these soft disposable washcloths that you just wet. We switched to commercial baby wipes at about 1-2 weeks, I think, after we were tired of waiting for the water to warm up while Colin was screaming and full of poop. You really don't need the Huggies disposable washcloths - they are just a big marketing gimmick, IMO.

[pritchettzoo]

I think the Huggies disposable washcloths have soap in them, which would also irritate delicate newborn skin. You can buy washcloths ultra cheap from Wal-Mart or Target and even the dollar store--regular grown up wash-cloths which would work just fine or you could cut them in half even. Or you could buy some flannel or terry cloth fabric and cut it with pinking shears into squares--this would probably be cheaper than disposable wash cloths even if you throw them away instead of washing them.

In the hospital, they provided these really harsh antiseptic wipes that stunk and burned MY skin, so I chucked them and used gauze pads and water until we got home and them switched to disposable fragrance- and alcohol-free wipes. I think I had Pampers Sensitive at the time. We now use Kirkland Brand baby wipes (also fragrance and alcohol free) and cloth wipes.

Anna

[daisymommy]

I know many books say you can't use commercial wipes on a newborn, but that's because they say their skin is too sensitive to use alcohol and fragrance on it. I too used the Huggies Natural Care wipes (alcohol & fragrance free) from day one and never had any problems with reddness, rash, sensitivity, etc. They're my favorite, especially now that they make them in pop-up style!

We use cloth diapers and cloth wipes now, and I will start out with cloth with my next child. Love the comfy softness!

[calebsmama03]

I've never regularly used commercial wipes on DS. We tried first at maybe 2 mos and he got red from them, and again at 4 mos. I just used plain water (kept a bottle of it at room temp) and cotton balls or the larger cotton cosmetic pads until he was no longer exclusive breastfed (around 8 mos). After that we've used cloth washcloths or cloth wipes with either plain water or a wipe solution similar to the Kissaluvs diaper potion. I never missed them. Commercial wipes have SO many preservatives and chemicals in them - even the natural ones - and I just felt that not exposing his skin to chemicals whenever possible is best. JMHO ;)
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]

[mudder17]

When we were in the hospital, the hospital gave us a box of disposable wipes, much like a box of kleenex. They said to just use water, as the chemicals in the commercial wipes would be harsh against her skin. We used it while we were at the hospital because we didn't have anything else, but I thought they were pretty rough. As soon as we got home, I used our cloth wipes with warm water (we just filled our peri bottle with warm water each time--great use of the bottle, btw). After maybe 4-6 weeks (don't remember), when she was able to adjust to room temperature water, we didn't bother waiting for the tap to warm up. I just kept the bottle filled with water and let it stay at room temp. We still use it and haven't bothered making wipes solutions or anything like that.


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya
born 22 February 2004

http://lilypie.com/baby1/050222/2/16/0/+10/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo..._garnet_6m.gif Breastfed 6 months and counting

http://www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya

[juliemiya]

You mentioned you purchased 5 boxes of disposable washcloths? In the 8 months of raising my daughter, i haven't found a need for these. I use the good ole gerber terry cloth washcloths- everyday. for bathing and for wiping up her mouth and hands when I'm feeding her solids. i keep a couple in the diaper bag. use them under her chin when she's drinking milk. i can never have enough of these. they make great facial washcloths for mom too!

julie

[hellosmiletoday]

My ped said same, so I used Carter's terry cloths washcloths for first two weeks.


Then we switched to BRU (generic brand) premium wipes (unscented, alcohol free) as doing so much laundry got tiring, and DD is fine with the commercial wipes...no increase in diaper rash or irritation. Plus, my friend is a ped, and she used commercial wipes from the beginning on her baby. I often skip a wipe if there is no poop, as per ped. recommendation.


Huggies disposable washcloths have soap...so that is not suitable for diaper change...they are for bathing. I actually strictly follow my ped advice to use Cetaphil for bathing. I love it b/c you dont have to worry about rinsing it completely off b/c it acts as a moisturizer as well.