Homeade Baby Wipes

So, my kid has had a stomach virus twice in the past month.  The first time was a lot of puke and this time is more of the runs.  He also has a sinus infection on top of the virus.  The sinus infection wouldn't be a big deal if it didn't come with antibiotics.  Antibiotics = diaper rash on top of the one he already has.

Worse than the puke and poop? The diaper rash and the screams that come with a diaper change.  The diaper rash itself isn't horrible, but wiping hurts him so much.  I've never heard him scream like that and it has made me cry on more than one occasion (could we go ahead and blame that on the pregnancy hormones?).

Last night I was thinking about how to make this better and it dawned on me to check to see what was in his wipes.  Do you want to know what I found in the wipes? This: Water, Potassium Laureth Phosphate, Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, DMDM Hydantoin, Tetrasodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Malic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Zea Mays (Corn) Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Fragrance.

What the heck!? I can't even pronounce most of that quickly!  I feel terrible that all of that junk has been going on his booty for the past 2.5 years.

So what did my impulsive self do? Well, I decided to make some DIY baby wipes.  Instead of using paper towels like many of my friends and people online do, I decided to haul out my (over stuffed) drawer of tshirts and sacrifice a few (I'm really never going to wear those size small tshirts again anyway).

I cut the tshirts up into small rectangles, washed them in hot water and my DIY laundry soap, dried them and got out a Sterelite container I've had in the bathroom with pads and tampons in.

I put all of the tshirts...er...wipes into the container

 Next, I mixed up:

• 4 cups of distilled water (warm)

• 2 Tablespoons of Baby shampoo/wash

• 2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil - It’s naturally anti-bacterial, microbial, and fungal, and a moisturizer! (olive oil or vegetable oil are both options, too)

I used Burt's Bees Baby Shampoo and coconut oil

 

I poured the mixture over the wipes.  I also picked up half of the pile and poured some of the liquid half way down just to help the wipes soak up the liquid a little more quickly. 

Just as I was closing up the bin and shaking it around, I smelled the stomach virus and got to use the wipes right away.  There was no screaming!!  He wasn't happy about having his butt changed, but he didn't scream!  I may have converted for life!  I have already been looking into flannel options and thinking about that for B and the new babe.  

We will still use packaged wipes when we are out, but I think that this is our new route!

My husband will be so excited when he gets home from work and sees what his impulsive wife has made changes to today! ha

Oh! And you may be wondering, "what are you going to do with all of those poop covered wipes?" Well, you see, I have this awesome wet bag that I got from Lilies and Jasmine when B was tiny for wet bathing suits/clothes.  That will now be hanging on his dresser for dirty wipes. Shoot Megan a message on facebook, she can hook you up with cute wet bags, reusable breast pads (that are also amazing!), and all sorts of other hand made goodies!