There are times when you need clean and safe hands but there just isn’t a sink and soap handy. You can almost guarantee that when you’re out and about your baby will decide to fill their nappy after holding on for a couple of days! You'll need a supply of wipes and hand sanitisers - wonderful and hygienic modern inventions. 

Wipes are essentially moistened, disposable cloth-type tissues. They’re designed to remove the soil and fatty residues from your baby’s skin during nappy changing. They must be durable enough for heavy-duty cleaning tasks, yet still be disposable. Obviously the most important thing is to keep the moisture in, hence many packs have resealable dispensers, pop-up lids or plastic tubs to keep wipes in.

Choose baby wipes that are soap and alcohol free to avoid irritation and harsh drying effects. Many brands come in fragrance free options if you’re concerned about fragrance irritating your baby’s sensitive skin. Often aloe extract and vitamin E are listed in the ingredients and these soothe and calm sore skin. Glycerin may be included and this helps to moisturise skin and prevent the wipes drying out. Some wipes are moistened with baby lotion to help remove the soil and leave a protective layer moisturising the skin to help reduce soreness and chafing.

Most wipes are hypoallergenic, which means they’re less likely to cause allergy or irritation.They’ve also been dermatologically tested so have been observed after being used on baby’s skin. Some wipes are made of woven material, others are made of non-woven fabrics. The non-woven fabrics use a process that presses a single sheet of material from a mass of separate fibres. Examples of the fibres used are cotton, rayon, plastic resins and wood pulp (cellulose) fibres.

If you don’t have soap and water available for hand washing you can use a hand sanitiser. Hand sanitisers are alcohol based and don’t need water to cleanse hands. You simply squeeze enough into your hands to thoroughly wet them and rub briskly until dry.

The alcohol (ethanol) breaks down the cell walls of the germs causing them to die. It evaporates from your hands in seconds leaving that cooling sensation. Most sanitisers have claims on the packaging as to the percentage of common germs that cause illness or infection that are killed by the sanitiser. Repeated use of any soap or sanitiser can make you hands dry, so some sanitisers have added emollients that help to soften and condition skin, like aloe extract and vitamin E.

Some primary schools are now advocating the use of hand sanitisers in the classroom. This is to reduce the number of students and teachers being away from school with tummy bugs, colds and other infectious illnesses.

As your baby gets older you may think when they’re toilet trained you’ll no longer need wipes or sanitisers…think again! Wipes are so handy to have in your bag, as they’re wonderful for cleaning up hands, faces and clothes wherever you are. Children can use hand sanitisers too. It’s best to supervise them to make sure they have enough product and rub it all over their hands. When you’re out and about it can be just the job to squirt on a blob of hand sanitiser before eating.

Endorsed by our New World Nutritionist  ||   Proudly Partnering with Parents Centre

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