butt-wipe bonanza

almost all baby wipes (and most diapers) have aloe or chamomile or some other plant-derived, supposedly good-for-your-skin kinda product in them. I'm sure most folks dont really pay much attention to such details. but it so happens that the medication Michelle takes for her fibro has an adverse reaction whenever she comes in contact with plant products. namely, it just doesnt work that day. given enough days in a row of "blocking", she'd be feeling consistently miserable again. so we have to watch out for plant stuff in every last thing: soap, hair gel, tissues, cleaning products, and yes, baby wipes.

one of the very few wipes that were plant-product free were the walmart generic "newborn" style. until last month. they changed the stinkin formula for no good reason! they added chamomile without any notice. it's a good thing Michelle was paying attention to the ingredients, because manufacturers are devious that way. so she checked the fibro email list and fibromyalgia treatment website to be sure no one else got caught unaware, and found out that the change was indeed quite recent. the only other option we could find is twice as expensive. so the race was on to find some wipes on the shelves that had the old formula.

Michelle and Caleb went to 4 different area walmarts (and twice to one location) in 2 days, scoring a couple dozen packs. then she called in the troops: Grandma T found some at her wally, and Grandma and Grandpa W went above and beyond the call of duty, traipsing all around central NC to get something like 40 packs! and the amazing thing is they apparently had a fun time doing it. so a big thanks to the fam for helping out. and if anyone out there (not in the Chattanooga, TN or Chapel Hill, NC area) wants to get in on the fun, let me know.

so at last count, we now have about 80 packs of wipes, for a total of 6400 individual baby butt-wipes. we're not sure where we're going to put all of them, but if we use less than 10 a day, they'll last us 2 years.

I used to use about 3 wipes on a poopy diaper, and usually none for pee, but now I'm trying to get it down to 2, which is possible as long as it's not too nasty. and we'll soon have 2 bottoms to wipe, and one will be flowing with wipable material for a little while, as the breastfeeding newborn poops often, if I recall correctly.

we could always make our own with paper towels and soap and such, but the last thing we need right now is another time-consuming task. but when our stash runs out, we may go that direction. meanwhile, we'll urge the manufacturer to take out the evil and unnecessary plant product.