Baby Life Topic

Newborns have very sensitive skin which is easily affected by anything which comes into contact with it. This means thinking carefully about anything you put on and wipe your baby's skin with. 

Baby’s skin is more fragile due to a fragile oil layer that protects the skin and thinner skin barrier. Nappy rash is common due to the high moisture environment and exposure to urine and bowel products.

There are some simple strategies to protect newborn skin from irritation:

• The use of barrier cream or spray based on zinc oxide will protect the skin by forming a barrier over the skin and won't soak into the body.
• Frequent nappy changes and nappy free time (2 times per day up to 30 minutes) can help keep skin healthy.
• Also, in the early days swapping baby wipes for damp cotton balls or soft damp cloths dabbed on the skin rather than rubbing can be gentler on the new skin.

Wipes

When the skin is exposed to wees and poos, you need something to wipe the skin clean and also to dry the skin before re-applying the nappy. This can be as simple as using cotton balls with water, using damp washcloths, sprays or disposable wipes. There are 3 main options to choose from when looking at which wipes to buy - Ready to use disposable wipes, dry disposable wipes and reusable cloth wipes. We will go through the good, the bad and the interesting within this guide. By the end, you should have a clearer idea of what type or combination of types you want to use and add these to your BabyPeg pages. 

1. Ready-to-use Disposable Wipes 

Ready to use wipes are convenient for everyday hygiene and everyday messes for newborns right through to toddlers and beyond. In fact, once you start using them, you might wonder where they have been all your life as there are so many everyday uses for them. It can take some trial and error to work out your preferred brand of wipe which can come down to how gentle they are on your baby's skin, environmental considerations, and features such as their size, texture and thickness.

Over time, disposable wipes are the most expensive option, however, the budget-conscious can shop around for the best price by working out the price per wipe and buying in bulk where you have somewhere to store them where they won't dry out. Just make sure that the wipe is suitable for your baby and your preferences before you start buying in bulk. To compare prices, you can calculate the price per wipe by taking the total price and dividing this by the number of wipes. eg. $7.95 for a pack of 60 = 7.95 ÷ 60 = 0.1325 which you can round down to 13 cents per wipe. 

If you are using mostly disposable wipes, it is worth getting a bulk dispenser box that you can re-fill for home use such as the Ubbi Wipes Dispenser - eBay or Amazon Au or the Oxo Tot Wipes Dispenser - Amazon Au or eBay or a basic, budget-friendly Huggies Tub. An on-the-go travel-sized soft or hard case is also very handy for your nappy bag.

There are definite pros and cons to using disposable ready-to-use wipes including the following: 

Best Ready to Use Wipes 

What wipes you choose will depend on what features are most important as well as the ingredients you want to avoid. Especially if you and your baby has very sensitive or eczema type skin, you will want the most gentle hypo-allergenic wipe available. If you are most concerned about the environment (but don't want to go cloth), you might want to make sure you buy biodegradable or compostable wipes. Whatever your preferences, there's a wipe to suit you and your baby.

Eco-friendly & skin-friendly options

Joonya wipes a high quality, no nasties option whilst using eco-friendly materials and gentle ingredients. They are unscented, made from soft sustainably sourced Veocel (wood/plant-based fibres) material which is compostable and biodegradable, All of the ingredients have been rated by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) using a scale of 1 (most safe) to 10 (least safe) with an average rating of 1.14 across the 8 ingredients.

Features:

• Fragrance-free and non-toxic: Free from alcohol, chlorine, petrochemicals, formaldehyde, parabens and phenols. All ingredients with low EWG Skin Deep ratings. Soothing ingredients include chamomile, aloe vera and jojoba.
• Large size sheets: Measuring 18 x 20 cm with 80 wipes per pack. Each sheet is strong, textured yet really soft and fresh smelling. Moist enough to run across the skin with ease and leave the skin feeling clean and never sticky.
• Earth-Friendly: Made from plant-based fibre- 100% biodegradable & compostable in proper soil conditions. For added eco-warrior status, Joonya are part of a forest project with Trees.org. For every order they receive, 1 tree is planted.
• Award-winning and highly rated: Recommended on many websites
• Long-lasting: Suggested shelf life of 3 years from date of manufacture
• Packaging: The wipes come in a recyclable pop-up lidded pack which seals in the moisture and the stylish design looks great too

If you order direct from their website, they have a trial pack offer, a subscription option (offering the largest discount), and a non-subscription option all with FREE SHIPPING. 

As a subscriber, you can enjoy free shipping, convenient order scheduling and it is no-risk since you can pause, adjust, or cancel your subscription anytime prior to the next scheduled order date without penalty.

• Trial offer - includes 3 packs of 80 wipes with 3 nappies free with the first wipes purchase
• Choose from bulk buy options - 12 pack carton or 24 pack carton as a subscriber or non-subscriber (one-off purchase)

Get Price from eBay 

Ecoriginals are a proudly Australian business bringing ground-breaking eco baby care to a growing market of conscious parents. Following years of research and development, Ecoriginals plant-based nappies are more than 90% biodegradable and boast 40% greater absorbency.

Their bamboo fibre wipes are 100% home compostable, manufactured in New Zealand using renewable energy and all-natural ingredients.

WORLD'S FIRST PLASTIC NEUTRAL NAPPY COMPANY. For every order, they invest in making our world a better place to thrive by planting 1 tree, recovering 25 plastic bottles from the environment and removing 10kg carbon with our environmental partners. 

Wipes packs contain 70 wipes each - 3, 12 or 24 pack bulk buy options. Choose from Purified New Zealand Water, Certified Organic Manuka Honey or Certified Organic Goat Milk.

Get Price from Ecoriginals.com.au

Skin-Friendly:

WaterWipes are a high quality, no nasties option for ready to use wipes suitable for newborn skin. They contain 99.9% purified water and a drop of grapefruit seed extract which is a natural preservative and skin conditioner (however this does contain trace amounts of Benzalkonium Chloride). The wipes are made from 20% viscose and 80% polyester so are currently 20% biodegradable. To their credit, they are hypoallergenic and approved by the Eczema Association of Australasia. On their website, they state that they have "made a commitment to develop a 100% biodegradable solution by 2020, without compromising on our minimal and pure ingredients". In another section, they state they working on making their product fully biodegradable by 2023. Although they are not the thickest wipes, they are tough, textured and wet enough to do a great job at cleaning the skin.

Some reviewers have complained that the wipes become waterlogged towards the end of the pack, for this WaterWipes recommends storing the wipes upside down until ready to open and then periodically inverting the pack with the lid shut and massaging the wipes to re-distribute the water through the pack. They recommend the use of the pack within one month of opening. Additionally, they should be used out of their original pack, kept sealed between uses and kept in a cool and dry place (which rules out using in a wipes warmer). For more information, you can check out their website.

They are comparatively more expensive than other brands, but you can save by buying in bulk. They come in a pop-up lidded pack of 60 with each sheet measuring 17.5 x 19.5 cms

Get the price from Amazon Au or eBay where you can buy in bulk

Disposable Dry Wipes and Sprays

Dry wipes, as the name implies, are those that you buy dry and are ready to use once moistened. To moisten, the wipes you can:

• Use a spray bottle
• Dip into a container or bowl of water and wring out the excess
• Wet under a tap or from a water container
• Instead of using water, you can spray a use a formulated spray directly to your baby’s bottom and wipe clean with a dry or wet cloth. You can buy bottom wash sprays or make your own at home.

Shop for Dry Wipes at (Amazon Au) & eBay

Cloth re-usable

Cloth material washable squares (made of cotton, bamboo or fleece) are a great option to replace the need for or cut down the use of disposable wipes. There are many types you can buy or if you are handy with a sewing machine, these can easily be made by cutting squares of fabric and sewing over the edges (to prevent fraying). Cloth wipes keep on giving - when no longer needed for bottom wiping, they are great for bath washers and general cleaning wipes around the house. Buy for the first child and you can keep using them as your family grows.

Re-usable wipes are the most eco-friendly option of all since compared with the other options, it saves on packaging, materials, freight and manufacturing energy.

You are in control of what touches your baby's skin since you control what goes on the wipe (if anything). You can pre-wet the cloths and have them in a sealed container such as a wipes dispenser box. You can make your own reusable baby wipes by following this tutorial. Alternatively, you can keep them in dry storage ready to grab and then wet them as needed by wetting them under a tap or spraying from a bottle as required. 

Where to find them:

Pea Pods Bamboo Cloth Wipes or search organic washcloths (eBay)

Organic Cloth Wipes/Washcloths (Amazon Au)

Search 'Wipes' at Biome Eco Stores

Search for Bubby Gump Baby Wipes 10 pack and Earths Tribe Cloth Baby Wipes 5 pack from Nourished Life

Ubbi Wipes Dispenser - eBay or Amazon Au

Oxo Tot Wipes Dispenser - Amazon Au or eBay

Wipes are super handy for all sorts of parenting and home-based activities. We hope you find what works for you and your baby. 

Please note: Above all, any information on this website aims to provide general ideas for informational and educational purposes only. We encourage users to investigate several information sources, including, where necessary, independent individualised medical advice before making any decisions that could affect you or your child’s health or wellbeing.

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