Hello again Frens! Welcome to part 1 of toxic-free for babies and children. Over the next two issues, I will be covering baby products and products marketed toward children. Today we’ll discuss diapers and wipes.
When I had my first child, an IRL friend warned me about Costco’s wipes. They are marketed as being for sensitive butts, but my daughter almost immediately developed a diaper rash from them. I was lucky to have had the warning and switched her over once I noticed what was happening. But as a new mom, I didn’t have a lot of tools under my belt yet and I had to frantically search for something that would be better for her.
Early in my pregnancy I thought that we would cloth diaper. Which I believe is probably the best solution to the diapering question, but it didn’t work out for us at the time. Our washer and dryer were not up to the task. But luckily for us, I knew all about toxic chemicals in pads and tampons and I assumed my baby would suffer similarly if I used common brands of diapers like Huggies, Pampers, or the equivalents.
What’s the Problem with Disposable?
The inner layer (the part that sits against your baby’s skin for 3-5 years) is made from materials that are not always disclosed on diaper packaging. I urge you to buy from companies that disclose ALL of their ingredients. This layer of material is also often bleached with chlorine.
The inner core of a disposable diaper is made from a material called Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP). Whether this material is toxic remains to be seen. However, when this material becomes saturated, there is risk of transferring chemicals onto your baby’s skin. This material becomes squishy and when baby shifts, the fluid can push out of the core and back to the inner layer, taking potentially toxic chemicals with it.
The Outer shell of the diaper is always made with waterproof material. In conventional diapers this is likely a petroleum-based plastic or plastic-treated material. In “green” diapers, this material is more likely to be a plant-based plastic.
What I have noticed is that a lot of the marketing on diaper packaging shows us what’s NOT in their diapers and ignores what IS in them.
Things to Look For
What I know to be toxic in diapers is chlorine and dioxins (even cloth diapers contain traces of these), fragrance, dyes, and phthalates. Rely on your instincts and use the clever marketing to your advantage. If the package doesn’t say it’s NOT in there, assume that it is.
Diaper Recommendations
We use Seventh Generation diapers. We have had good luck with them and my daughters have never developed a problem from them. However, this company recently became very ‘woke’. Just FYI if that’s of concern to you. But their products ARE good. You can also subscribe and save to them on Amazon, which is what we do.
OR you could cloth diaper. I think this is probably the best option and might consider going this route if we have more children now that we have a better washer. Overall it’s better for the environment as well. There are plenty of resources online that teach how to do this, but when I was going to do it initially, I found Green Mountain Diapers and they was very informative.
Baby Wipes
Did you know that you can also use cloth wipes, similarly to cloth diapering? Yep, that’s a thing!
But, most of us use disposable wipes. I do. Let’s look at some conventional wipes.
Huggies Natural Care Wipes (beware of this greenwashing!) contain fragrance which can cause skin and lung irritation. It also has Malic Acid which is known to cause skin, lung, and eye irritation. These wipes also contain ingredients that are linked to non-reproductive organ toxicity (though low), and allergic reactions. That’s some major BS for wipes that are marketed as “natural”.
There may be some brands that are actually going the green route and changing their formulas, but I am ALWAYS skeptical of conventional brands like these because I don’t think they have the best interest of my family in mind.
When it comes to wipes, I would recommend cross referencing The Dirty Dozen or read below for product recommendations.
Wipes Recommendations
When I discovered that the Costco wipes weren’t going to work for us, I decided to try the Seventh Generation wipes because I was already using and happy with their diapers. This proved to be a good choice and I’ve been using them ever since.
I have also used Eco by Naty wipes. They are nice and work well, but mine were small. Maybe the baby wipes are bigger.
Natracare also makes baby wipes. I haven’t used them, but I trust this company as they have clean feminine care products.
I know a lot of people who use Water Wipes as well. These wipes have three ingredients, water, grapefruit seed extract, and Soapberry fruit extract. That’s it. I actually might switch to these after doing research for this sub.
Next week I’ll talk more about baby products like diaper creams, lotions, shampoo, etc. We’ll also discuss products that are cleverly marketed towards children. See you then!
-Angel