There Will be Poop (apologies to Paul Thomas Anderson) it's one of those things about babies, soft skin, tiny hands, POOP.
Poop means baby wipes. LOTS and LOTS of baby wipes, we were using as many as 5-6 per poopy diaper.
The trouble with that is can take up to 500 years for a baby wipe to decompose. Lets get that into perspective, if Henry VII' mum (Elizabeth of York) had used Huggies wipes on the royal botty, they could still be around today.
Armed with this pretty horrifying knowledge I went searching for an alternative.
These are a few of the options I found:
1. Organic Cotton Wipes, $7.39
These are made of organic cotton, and they are biodegradable, (though it still takes a while for cotton to breakdown). But EXPENSIVE!!!! Holy cow. We would have to have them shipped, as NOWHERE around here carries them.
These would work best if you're using fabric diapers, the washing isn't really an option for us, as we have a shared laundry room and frankly sucky machines... yup I am racked with guilt... If you are using cloth then A'ly good for you and B'ly you could try making your own wipes, there are instructions here.
3. Make your own...
Actually it turns out this is a whole 'nother post...
4. Use Fewer Wipe
In the interests of using fewer of the wipes that we do have I have cut them in half, down the middle like this:
They are still big enough to cover my hand... (hey, nobody wants poopy fingers), but we are using literally half the amount we were before.
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Bit of an update for you - my son is now on solids and things have, well, solidified, in other areas too. However, still no babywipes for us - I just use some toilet paper to wipe and put that in the toilet. Then I give him a quick wash under the tap as before. Sorry if a bit tmi!
He is still on breastmilk exclusively, so we have yet to discover the effects of solids on his "output". Perhaps we will add some toilet paper into the process then to remove any that is stuck to him (eugh).
Ideally we'd like to try elimination communication (early toilet training) and bypass this problem, but parenthood has so far taught me that nothing goes to plan. And no, my baby doesn't pee under running water. I thought he would too, but it seems he only pees when his nappy is off and I am least expecting it!
Hi Ribs! I had never even thought of that! I guess we are conditioned by commercials and the like to assume that Pampers knows best. Good for you for thinking outside the (baby wipe) box.
It's definitely an interesting idea. I have heard though that when babies start eating food food (as opposed to breast milk or formula) that their poop gets more... well solid, smelly, and yucky... we haven't noticed this yet. Is your baby on solids?
Have you noticed that your baby pees when he's put under running water? I've also heard that this can be an early toilet training method.
I have another solution - don't use wipes at all. right from the start we've simply held our baby over the sink and washed his bottom with water from the mixer tap. Baby changing areas nearly always have sinks in them, so this works when you are out and about too. We have some wipes in our change bag, just in case, but rarely use them.
To do this you have to accept a few things:
1. The sink will need to be cleaned regulary for hygiene's sake.
2. You can't wash your face in the sink anymore (but it's fine for washing hands under the tap).
3. You need to remove all bits and pieces from the sink, like toothbrush holders etc. We've got ours on the wall, along with a soap dish that sticks to the tiles with a sucker.
4. You have to get the poop on your hand, but really, that's no big deal. After all, you wash your hands afterwards and it isn't toxic waste (though sometimes it might seem like it).
You have to have a mixer tap for this, so that you can set the water temperature. We check our baby's nappy on his change table and if it's a poopy one, we carry him, sans socks, to the bathroom and remove the nappy there. Then we bring him back all clean. Easy.
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