Out, Damned Toxins.

Published on by Darlene Dee

Out, I say. Get thee chemical self beyond my house!

Yes, perhaps I am being over-dramatic. But maybe not.

As I have mentioned over and over again, our home had the Plague for a full month. Many plagues in succession, actually. So I bought some Clorox bleach wipes and cleaned everything. Every. Thing.

What is better for Babystar to lick — bleach or germs? I genuinely don’t know. I DO know that the bleach destroyed the skin on my hands. The infinite hand washing likely did not help either. (Oh snap, I AM Lady Macbeth!)

I love Babyganics high chair and toy cleaning spray, but it has been out of stock at Target and Babies R Us whenever I have checked for the past two month. We ordered some from Amazon and seriously WHY didn’t I just do this earlier? It was $7.98 for two bottles.

During the height of the plague, Babystar got a diaper rash. She rarely gets diaper rash, and it could have happened for many reasons: she was sick, she was wearing disposable diapers for weeks, and she had a LOT of extra poopy diapers which meant a LOT of wipes against her skin. I can fix two of these things.

She’s back in cloth diapers. (I do not know for sure that the disposable diapers CAUSED her rash; Target brand disposables do not usually cause a rash and we use them as her overnight diapers. Ironically, Babyganics diapers DO cause a rash along the elastic edge but I think she is just sensitive to something in those particular diapers. Anyway.)

And after lots of research, we ordered a box of Water Wipes for $31.79 from Amazon. We had been using the Costco wipes with no issue, but I think the recent extra diaper changes using these wipes could have caused the rash. I totally, scientifically, tested one of the Costco wipes on my own (clean) bootie to see how it felt. It stung. Poor baby. Hopefully the Water Wipes will live up to the hype. (I totally tested them on myself already and there was no sting at all. It was a bit cold, though.)


Can we start a freaky internet challenge like planking and tebowing and owling (w.t.f.) called, um, wiping(??) where we test baby wipes on ourselves? Probably not; it would get X-rated pretty quickly. But I highly encourage every parent (DADS TOO)  to test your baby’s wipes on yourself. You know, in the privacy of your own bathroom or youtube channel or whatever. It totally stung and kind of blew my mind.

Yes. YES. I challenge you all to try using your baby’s wipes on your own bits. Report back. Let’s get real.

Oh, also relating to this dark time of winter, we bought a humidifier ($49.99), we bought an extra 3-pack of pacifiers to switch them out more often ($6.99), and we paid a $15 co-pay at the doctor’s office. Y’all. The humidifier is an elephant. Meet Elly.

RAISING BABYSTAR:  $15,272.14

9 thoughts on “Out, Damned Toxins.”

  2. I hadn’t thought to try the wipes on myself. Every brand I tried gave wallace a rash and as a nanny, many induced ecxema on my hands. I have heard of some extreme reactions where baby completely breaks out all over their body from diapers and wipes. I mostly cloth diapered and used cloth wipes. He tolerated target, honest company, and 7th generation diapers and I made disposable wipes with heavy duty paper towels, water, dr bronner’s, and tea tree oil when we needed them. Flannel wipes are so easy to add to the cloth diaper routine and I just used warm water on them for pees.

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    1. I wanted to use cloth wipes, but they scared the poop out of me. I don’t know why. I just couldn’t do it.
      Good for you!!
      Did you ever find a god hand lotion? I have the driest skin ever and the combo of increased hand washing and winter is making the skin on my hands painful. I have a few good options that I rotate but have yet to find the perfect hand moisturizer for myself. I have been looking for years and years. Any and all insight is welcome.

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      1. Try just using them for pees to decrease the disposable wipes you use. Wallace started potty training early so I didn’t have to deal with many poopy diapers after 18 months. I use very mild soaps, shea butter, coconut oil, and tallow cream. I am very chemically sensitive so I have issues with most hand soaps, especially in public bathrooms and anything scented. I saw you mention Method soaps. Way back I thought they were decently green then I got a horrible migraine after using one scent once. I emailed asking for information on what the fragrance was and they refused, so I threw it away and never bought their products again.

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          1. Check out this blog. She does amazing detective work so people can make informed decisions on what products they use. We have been using a simple unscented glycerin bar soap that i got at a craft fair on our hands. We are out and I need to grab some dr bronner’s bar soap (the liquid can be drying, but works diluted in soap pumps, might be a good thing to try). I sell for a company that I feel meets my standards and use them for my shampoo bar, shea butter, and hair wax (but then I shaved my head again).

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