Another day, another question that has cropped into my mind 4 u lovely mommys :p

I attended my first antenatal class last week (which was a bit of a shambles may I add) and th midwife made a comment referring to what I need to buy for duration of time spent in hospital. She insisted I do not waste money on wipes/sudocream/johnsons baby shampoo or any other baby product that contains chemicals in it as th baby shood only b in contact wif cotton wool and water when cleaning their dirty bums up until they are 1 month old.
Is this true?

love siobhan + lil 1 (34 weeks)

I only use water on my baby's skin at the moment, but thats because we all have pretty dry, sensitive skin. I was oblivious to all this when I had my son 3 years ago and used wipes, baby bath etc from the word go but then wondered why his skin was so dry and flaky. He also had really bad cradle cap, and still gets a dry scalp now if Im not careful with what he puts on his skin. Then he developed a mild infantile ezcema at a few months old too, although he seems to have outgrown that now. So this time I have only used water with Eden. She looks like she will have the same dry skin, so Im being as careful as I can, and the only other thing I put on her is olive oil to help the flaky bits in her creases. There will be no chemicals or manufactured products near her for a while yet, although I do take baby wipes for nappy changes when we are out as its so much hassle otherwise to find good clean water!

Hugs Lisa n 10 day old Eden x

Ive used Johnsons baby wipes with aloe vera (the extra protection ones) on Harrys bottom and Johnsons baby top to toe wash ( which is milder than baby soap) in his bath, since he was born.

I only use creams if he is looking sore, and use a bit of talcum powder on him after his bath.

To be honest, I think its a personal choice but I would stay away from highly fragranced products (such as johnsons baby bedtime range which I used on him and it brought him out in a rash) until baby is older

Jo amd Harry - 4 and a half months xxx

We've just got in from antenatal class and funnily enough the midwife said that at ours today aswell. I had no idea, and seemingly just stocked up on loads of Johnsons stuff at the weekend unecessarily!!! it will keep though I guess.....

She also said you get a little pot of sudocrem which lasts plenty long enough in the bounty pack so not to buy that either, which of course typically I've already done!!

Love N xx (32+1 pink bump)

We're still using cotton wool and water at 3 months because we bought an industrial sized mountain of cotton wool! I use wipes when we're out and about and for night changes though because they're so much quicker.

I think there's only any point using sudocream if there's actually a problem otherwise it's a waste of money.

I know plenty of people who've used shampoo etc a lot earlier than a month and it's certainly not done their babies any harm but I'd heard it can cause dry skin/ cradle cap so I avoided it.

Hope that helps xx

water and cotton wool to clean their bumbums. I use a wipe to get most of a 'difficult' poo away then wash with water. It really helps keep rashes at bay and it's no bother.

If you use bum creams unneccessarily then when they do have a rash they may be immune to whichever cream you have been using and it makes it harder to treat.

I know, it all changes. When I had my first 2 we were told to apply sudocrem at every nappy change.

Jen x

used sensative wipes and johnsons all over wash with all 3 of mine and they are all fine my gp said they give that many guidelines now just to be safe but use what you like just watch out for sore bums etc only thing i would say is don't use creams on bums too much unless they need it or it can actually make them get sore round the creases xx

I didn't get told that at parentcraft classes but when I took wipes and baby lotion into hospital, I was told just to use warm water and cotton wool on my newborn. I must admit the wipes did seem a bit too cold to use on her. I'd been bought a lovely Johnson's box with everything in it too, but but will keep for later on. I have used Johnson's baby shampoo on Elise now we're home. But I'll continue to use the warm water and big cotton wool pads for bum changes for the time being.

RE: bathing. I wasn't going to give Elise a bath until her cord had dropped off but one of the mw said to have her in the bath with me or Dad instead. I'm taking milk and lavender baths each night (to help my stitches heal - TMI!) and the mw said that would be fine for the baby too. And she loves it!

Misschiefy & Elise (12 days old) xx

I used baby wipes with my son straight away however I did buy non fragranced wipes to start with. I also used a tiny bit of Johnsons baby bath when I bathed him a few days after birth and he seemed fine.

These are guidelines that midwifes give you but I think you need to do what you think is best for bubs. Half these guidelines weren't even thought of 60 odd years ago and children turned out just fine then

Hope this helps

x