My friends poor baby, "bitten" by sposies!

Poor little baby. I hear these sorts of stories all the time and they really upset me

Dry max nappies are actually why we switched to cloth. DD was in one of them for literally 20 minutes before she developed the most awful raised weeping sores everywhere the nappy had touched. She screamed in pain for hours. It was awful. MY GP said she's never seen anything liked it and compared it to chemical burns. DD hasn't been in a sposie since.

Our GP was great (used cloth on her own kids as it turned out) but do I wish more health professionals were switched on to the problems some children have with sposies. Recations must be pretty common, I'd have thought?

Hi there. I just thought that some of you might like to know all the 'ingredients' that are in a disposable. It is frightening. I had to do the research as part of my job and the results took me back so here goes. The percentages are how much of the disposable is made from that particular constituent

Fluff Pulp 42.77 % made up from Paper fibres (cellulose) which come from conifer trees pulped and bleached in chemical process
Super-absorbency polymer (SAP) 27.63%
Sodium polyacrylate, a polymer which absorbs water which is made from acrylic acid (from oil) and sodium hydroxide. also contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and sodium mainly. Nice!
LDPE (outside cover) 7.74 Low density polyethylene (polythene) which is made from crude oil, via chemical processes
PP-fibre layer next to baby’s skin 15.25%
Polypropylene, a plastic like polythene made from crude oil. Likely to contain wetting agent to draw moisture away from skin
Other 6.61% made up from Tape,chalk, PDT,PET, polyester

Just one of the many reasons why we decided to use real nappies!!

Fluff Pulp 42.77 % made up from Paper fibres (cellulose) which come from conifer trees pulped and bleached in chemical process

Wow I knew about the chemicals but never heard of this ... me & DH both come out in horrific sore rashes when we have to cut back our conifer trees & so do lots of people I know ... great thing to put next to babies bums then

that's why i was so worried about taking eco disposables on holiday, never seen nappy rash as bad as the month after pippa was born when she was in sposies, we switched and it cleared up. poor baby i've never yet met another health professional that uses cloth
xx

It is really all about education and the benfits that real nappies have. I know lots and lots and lots of people who still think in this day and age that using real anppies will mean lots of soaking, boiling and pins. I have managed to change their thinking but if people only took the time to actually focus on what they were buying for their children, we wouldn't be in the predicament we are today. It is too much of a disposable throwaway culture in which many (not all!) think that someone will come along and clear up the mess behind them. How do we clean up a mess i.e. disposable that is going to be in a landfill for the next 300 - 500 years?!

Rant over. Just infuriates me that people don't consider reusables when they are breathable, softer and gentler for baby and can save money. Baffling

Poor wee thing
I really can't believe that after the bad press they got in the US causing chemical like burns on babies that they are now on sale in the UK, some people will do anything to make money I guess!

Agreed. It is profits before anything else.

I do think it's quite common for babies to have a reaction to disposables. I wrote a couple of times about the Pampers on my blog here http://www.twinkleontheweb.co.uk/blog/?p=51 - some useful links to other articles about the issue. Interesting isn't it? All about marketing really.

My GP 11 years ago was very pro cloth - he was past retirement age and very old school, and thought everyone should use cloth and keep disposables for occasional use. His pet grumble about disposables was that he felt they encouraged people to leave them on for too long and this along with the chemicals was the reason so many babies had nappy rash. Apparently 30 years ago hardly any babies ever had nappy rash. He also thought that people were too lazy about potty training, in his day majority of toddlers were out before they were two, and this delay was encouraged by the disposable firms writing the guides to potty training. He thought rather than 'leave till they are ready' parents should catch wees and poos from an early age, thus encouraging early use of the potty and hence out of nappies sooner.

Agreed - it is frightening what is in sposies. If more people knew what they were really putting against their baby's skin, surely more people would use cloth? I'm sure I've come across articles linking prolonged sposie use to various medical conditions - I seem to recall one study linking it to an increased risk of male infertility later in life. Wish I could remember the link...

I seem to recall one study linking it to an increased risk of male infertility later in life. Wish I could remember the link...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/941174.stm
http://www.babiesnappies.co.uk/2008/06/ ... y-sposies/

I've read a lot on this particular point, it was one of the main reasons I decided I'd go for cloth full-time even if it was creating extra work for me as everyone kept going on at me about - turns out it isn't any extra work ... well yes a few extra loads of washing but I'd rather that than going out to the bin 5-6 times a day in this weather!