Baby powder. (Old moms, new moms, expecting moms).

[Mrs-M]

With Stella, and Kat, and TVRodriguez (and do forgive me if I've overlooked anyone else) all expecting babies, I thought we could talk baby powder.

I had a strange relationship with baby powder when my kids were babies. It's as if I couldn't change a diaper or dress one of my kids without it. It truly was one of my "got to have it" nursery staples. I used it religiously for the first three, then somewhat weaned myself off using it with my last three (mostly due to reports and stories I read on it), but I did still use it.

For all you moms (young and old), was baby powder a staple in your home? Did you use it all the time?

[mtnlaurel]

Never used it. Had kids in 04 & 08 and I was told not to use it b/c it was tough on their little lungs ???

I needed it though for all the weight I gained and the occasional thigh rub on long walks :~) TMI!

My favorite diaper rash cream was Balmex - for some reason it seemed to work the best for me

[redfox]

I loved baby powder, and found a non-talc kind that is cornstarch based. We still have it in the house, and I use it when it's hot out (so it will last for a decade in Seattle!).

[Stella]

I go in spurts of using it. I actually just use cornstarch, though, since it works as well and I have it on hand anyway. It definitely helps when they have diaper rash, which isn't often. Mostly when they are teething.

[Rosemary]

Never used it.

[H-work]

Never used it. Nor the baby soap, the baby lotion, or the baby bubble bath. And a big bottle of baby shampoo lasted me thru 5 kids. My mom-in-law would always lather up my kids with lotion after they had a bath (during our visits). I never understood that, isn't their skin so amazingly soft and smooth already?

[domestic goddess]

Never used it. It is a respiratory irritant, and I have asthma, so I was kind to myself in that respect. DD never missed it, and neither did her two.
For those of you using cornstarch, please don't use it if the baby should have candida (yeast). The yeast will eat it and grow like c-r-a-z-y!!!

[loosechickens]

I never used it....couldn't stand the perfumy smell, plus I was cheap, so just used corn starch, which worked fine. Luckily, it turned out, because later on, all those findings about the dangers of talcum powder to lungs, and as being carcinogenic came out, and just by luck, cheapness and an absolute hatred of cheap perfumy smells, my kids had been spared.

[Wildflower]

There was a medicated baby powder that I used on my little ones bottoms in the late 70's and early 80's. Really helped keep diaper rash away. I thought it was great. But when my DGD was born in 2004 my DD said powder was now a no-no for babies. Which was a good thing since she had asthma and it would have really aggravated it.

[Mrs-M]

Thanks for your thoughts everybody! Let's talk cornstarch. I used cornstarch on and off but allowed myself to fall victim to the fresh baby scent of Johnson's. My mom mentioned to me that back in the day she would lightly brown a batch of cornstarch in a pan or in the oven on a cookie sheet when we got rashed up, so that's what I used to do for my kids. Did you guys brown the cornstarch before applying?

[Glo]

I had my babies in the mid 70s and was told baby powder was not good so I never used it. My doctor also said corn starch helped promote diaper rash so never used it either. About the only product I used was baby shampoo.

[Mrs-M]

Hi Glo. I've given this a lot of thought over the years and I think one thing in particular that sold me on using baby powder was using cloth diapers. Somehow it felt right to me (the two), I don't think I would have been so anal about using baby powder had I used disposables, and maybe- just maybe, had I not used powder, maybe what little diaper rash the kids did get would have been wiped out entirely.

Other than baby powder the only other baby related thing I used was baby oil, a drop or two in their little baby baths from time to time when I felt a little extra moisturizing was in order, other than that I avoided "baby this" and "baby that" products.

[domestic goddess]

I used cloth diapers, but never used baby powder. It bothers me way too much, and I could only think about how it might make baby lungs feel. Dd never had a rash except when I was dumb enough to follow pediatrician's instructions to give her more milk, even though she couldn't tolerate it. Then she got major diarrhea, which just ate her little tushie up, and I'd have to soak her little behind in cool water after each bout of diarrhea. That didn't happen too often, believe me! He got a bit aggravated that I was giving her soy milk rather than cow's milk, but then he didn't have to clean up the mess or listen to her cry. Although he was a very well regarded peds dr., I soon found a new one.

[Mrs-M]

Hi Domestic goddess. Isn't it funny how early exposure to certain things plays such an instrumental role in how one does things later in life. I remember long after the diaper days were over with in our home (when I was a kid) mom still kept a large bottle of Johnson's Baby Powder in the bathroom closet. It was a staple of hers and we were never without it.

I did try and limit the amount of dusting when using powder by dashing a little into my hand before applying. A temporary fix no doubt (using powder) in the fight to help keep baby's bottom dry, because a half hour after I'd apply it to said kids bottom I'd find it settled (in clumps) around the inside elastic leg holes of said kids rubber pants.

On the diarrhea front, I was always amazed (dumbfounded) as to where it came from- and so fast. One minute baby is good, the next, he's got it!

[domestic goddess]

Oh, Mrs. M, I know what you mean about diarrhea! DD never had it unless I had given her too much milk. Up to a certain point, she could handle it. But after that point...WATCH OUT!!
I was always pretty casual about the diarrhea, because I knew that if I stopped giving her milk, it would come to an end. But I mentioned to my mil once that she had diarrhea, and she promptly got hysterical. Her first baby was born with a congenital condition of the liver, called Bante's syndrome, and he had diarrhea when he died. So she associated diarrhea with death, something we rarely think about in this country. I was floored, until a day or so later when I had thought it through. It can be easy to forget how one's experiences color their thinking.

[Mrs-M]

How sad about your MIL's first baby. My heart always goes out to parents who have lost a child. Bouts with diarrhea occurred in our home day and night, but it's the night bouts I still remember most. I'd change baby and give him/her a bottle, then lights out. (7-7:30 pm). Kid was perfectly fine at that hour. Crying in the middle of the night was common with three of my kids. If they woke due to hunger or wet or dirty pants, they let me know it, and loud and clear!

Anyhow, I'd get up thinking- a quick diaper change and a new bottle, and I'll be back in bed in a few, well, just not so when diarrhea struck. Sometimes there was no settling the child down, so there I'd sit with baby in arms, me wrapped up in my housecoat. Hour after hour I rubbed, patted, soothed, calmed, and changed, hour after hour the reality of sleep-deprivation setting in.

Now even though I probably need not mention the fact of running out of rubber pants to you seeing that you used cloth diapers too DG, I'll mention it anyway. I'd go to open up the drawer of the dresser to fish out a clean pair of rubber pants at change time only to find that there wasn't so much as a single pair of clean rubber pants left to be found! So, on top of all the crying, an unhappy and uncomfortable baby, and, lack of sleep, I'd have to start up the washing machine and put a load of diapers through so I could carry on changing baby's pants twice every hour- sometimes three, and all this at four in the morning! (I can honestly say I do not miss those days)!

[debi]

I worked in the medical field. The medical opinion is use cornstarch in place of baby powder as the baby's lungs can't handle it. Medical research also states that it can cause the likes of asthma, SIDS, etc. I, too, love the scent of Johnson's; but if I had a baby would not use it.

[Mrs-M]

That's really spooky Debi. SIDS has always scared the dickens out of me. An old friend of mine (way back in elementary school) who's mom did babysitting out of their home had a baby die of SIDS. The controversy was over the top. People nattering over whether or not is was murder, neglect, abuse, it was awful, and to think what my friends mom went through and how she felt.

Knowing what I know now I wouldn't use it anymore, but darn it all anyway, it smells so fresh and clean!