wipes solution for VERY sensitive skin? help!

[Julybug]

I'm not sure I'm posting in the right place, but here goes... a bit of explanation is needed at first!

The issue is actually far less my son's skin than mine. I have had eczema as long as I can remember, along with acne. Since I had my son (he's 15mo), the acne has been a lot better, and without my doing much to help it along. However, my eczema - which had been somewhat worse in bursts over the last few years - has gotten much, much worse - particularly on my hands. My fingertips are all cracked on three fingers on my right hand, which is a real problem for getting anything done when it's particularly bad. (I've had this particular issue on various fingertips off and on for years, but this is the worst it's been for the longest in a while.)

Needless to say it's really hard to avoid contact with substances on my hands - even too much water aggravates the skin on my hands sometimes. But I have a toddler, so no choice a lot of the time but to get my hands wet, wash them, etc! We've been using commercial baby wipes for wiping our son, but I know for a fact some of them irritate my fingertips rather badly, although they almost never seem to bother my son's skin. I can't do anything that involves my hands in water - or even in plastic gloves - for any length of time, or my skin goes crazy.

So, I'm thinking I should try to make paper-towel-based wipes solution to use at home, at least. I don't think plan water will work. Obviously I'll be washing my hands as soon as I can after changing him, but I still shouldn't use anything that might leave ANY residue or acids on my fingers or his skin, but it still needs to work to get him clean. My son's poop is sometimes sticky (I guess depending on what he ate the night before, ), and even with baby wipes it can be a bit of a challenge to get him fully clean, so just plain water won't work. I would prefer something in a pump bottle that I can spray on him and/or the wipe, rather than something with a container of water where the wipes sit.

Any suggestions on what I could make that would be gentle, but would work?

Thanks in advance!

[mama.monika]

Washable wipes? we use them on our DD it works on even the gooey goo lol!!

http://www.cheekywipes.com/

[Chamomile Girl]

I agree with the cloth wipes. Use a spray bottle to put the wipe solution directly onto his butt so you minimise contact with your skin. If you add a bit of oil to the wipe solution it will work better on sticky poopy messes.

I use lavender hydrosol as the wipes base (I can get a bunch locally at the farmers market for a good price) with a bit of dr. bronners and a bit of olive oil. Works great, and I don't generally notice that I get much on my hands.

[RoamingWidgeteer]

I find water on cloth works just fine. No soap, no chemicals, no other ingredients necessary. The cloths go in the wash with the diapers. EC training also helps to keep the cleanup to a minimum too, even if we have plenty of misses.

The cloths are cut up flannel sheets (leftovers from a blanket project) and cut up tea towels, both with serged edges. The towels are especially effective - the rougher terry side for the poop, and the soft fuzzy side for tidying up. They made miserable dish drying towels, but are fantastic for wiping bottoms

[atpeace]

Hmm, I'm not sure about specific recipes for very mild wipes solutions, but I second the suggestion about using just water.  We use it for our DS and it works very well.  We have a little squirt bottle of water at the change table (actually the peri-bottle that they gave me in the hospital when I had him!), spray onto the wipe, and go to town.  My hands rarely touch the wet part and it still gets the job done (I even smell his bum to make sure everything is gone :D).  

We just cut up an old towel into little squares (and random shapes too), no need to sew or hem anything.  We've been using them since he was born and no fraying yet.  

Do you not want to use just water because you're worried that it's not thorough enough?  I figure that compared to what the norm is in North America (compared to Eastern countries), i.e. dry wiping your own bum with toilet paper after a BM, a water wipe is probably much better.  And it's what is used in many other countries in the world, even for adults.  

[goldenwillow]

Originally Posted by RoamingWidgeteer 

I find water on cloth works just fine. No soap, no chemicals, no other ingredients necessary. The cloths go in the wash with the diapers. EC training also helps to keep the cleanup to a minimum too, even if we have plenty of misses.

The cloths are cut up flannel sheets (leftovers from a blanket project) and cut up tea towels, both with serged edges. The towels are especially effective - the rougher terry side for the poop, and the soft fuzzy side for tidying up. They made miserable dish drying towels, but are fantastic for wiping bottoms

This.

We just use water and old blankets or whatever I find that I sew into a small square.  Maybe a tad of tea tree if you are inclined.  I find just plain water is best for us. 
 

Also... for your hands...  when my hands crack and are hurting... I use rescue cream over night for a few days and it heals my hands quite quickly... so painful.. I am sorry. 

[mum4vr]

We've used washable cloth wipes and paper towel wipes with spray on solution, plain water, or a solution to saturate wipes in. They all get the job done, so choose what will save your skin the most! C:

My favorite solution is

1 c warm water

1 tsp liquid baby soap (we liked Dr Bronners or Aubrey)

1-2 T oil (plain olive oil works fine)

a few drops of lavender oil, optional

I saturated the wipes in this solution, but it workd fine to squirt on, too, if you shake it first. We also like the little dollar squirty bottles w plain water from the discount store bc my babies thought it was HILARIOUS to have their bottom squirted clean before it was wiped.

[detroitgirl77]

My daughter has quite sensitive skin and we make our own solution. I bought a 2 lb brick of melt and pour glycerine soap-I use shea butter, but you can also get olive oil, goats milk, or just plain. I cut 1/4 lb chunk off and put in the microwave to melt. I add some drops of fragrance and a few drops of tea tree oil, which can be omitted, and then poured into the molds you use to make candy. I work at Hobby Lobby and bought the small flower shape molds. Pop them out and I use 1 piece per 2 cups of water. I just melt it with a little bit of water in the microwave, add to my container with more water and shake it to combine. No more rashes for my little girl.

[chel]

i agree, just a terry wash cloth with water does great.  the terry really grabs the poo.

[katelove]

Originally Posted by chel 

i agree, just a terry wash cloth with water does great.  the terry really grabs the poo.

Yep. We've never had a poo we couldn't get off with this system. Although some have required two washers! 

[corrabelle]

I've done just plain water in the past, with a piece of terry. I made a huge stack of them after my second son was born, he had the most horrid heiny rashes-and wet wipes didn't help.

As far as your fingers go...have you tried galaxyl base? (a cream...it smells darn funky, a little like an electrical fire, to me anyway, but it works SO well.) That, and palmers cocoa butter cream worked wonders for my hands. I had the exact same thing-and exposing your hands to moisture many times a day really doesn't help, does it! :(

[Cutie Patootie]

We use cloth wipes and plain water.  We have never used any kind of wipes solution.  All of my kids have mild eczema and I prefer not to use anything that will leave any sort of residue.  Plain water works just fine, even on the worst diapers. :)

[hikingfortruth]

I've been reading Tom Brown lately, who is an incredible author trained by an old Native American Indian when Tom was just a boy.  One of the remedies for all things skin related is a tea made out of young birch leaves, birch bark and twigs.  You simmer the birch parts for 10 minutes, turn off flame, add boiling water, then let steep for 30 minutes or so.  This tea can be kept in the fridge and is a miracle worker on rashes and skin irritations.  It's very mild and isn't acidic either.  We used it when my dd had the measles.  Before the rash got below her diaper area, we made the tea, applied it when it had cooled enough to be soothing, then gave her a bath in it the first day.  The measles rash started going away immediately.  For the next two days we washed her with a sponge and the tea a few times.  By the third day, the rash was totally gone. 

It was really amazing!  Try it on your eczema too, but a bum wash would be great out of this. 

We just use water and cloth wipes, but if dd had skin allergies or rashes, on goes the tea, and off comes the agitation.

[JudiAU]

Have you actually tried plain water?  A wet baby washcloth was all we ever needed. We just used cheapo baby washclothes + plain water.

have you considered wearing gloves?

[psmama]

We also use plain water and baby cloth wipes.  We always air dry as well, daily, and haven't had any issues with infections! Hope this helps!