by Beth Ann Morgan

Even when I’m 85, baby wipes will accompany me in the car, in my purse, and in my home. I love them. I can think of few items that are so versatile yet affordable. I’ve even made them myself.

When I delivered my oldest daughter, Hannah, I’d needed to stay in bed more than the average mom, so my wonderful husband changed all of her diapers. He looked around for baby wipes, and finding none, he called and asked for some. Both he and I could not hide our surprise when the nurse returned and handed him a stack of what appeared to be fabric softener sheets.

He looked at me, I looked at him. The “wipes” were completely dry. No compact plastic box, no powder fresh scent, no nothing. Upon the nurse’s return, she kindly instructed my husband to moisten them under running water. The hospital had recently switched from common packaged wipes due to multiple incidents of diaper rash and yeast infections amongst their newborn patients.

We found them quite wonderful. I admit that initially, I couldn’t wait to get home and use my fancy new box of lavender-scented wipes. Not using a product (other than tap water) to clean a little bottom after removing a soiled diaper was foreign to me. However, after returning home and using our wipes for about a two-week period, Hannah’s little bottom reacted to the fragrance.

I dug out the dry hospital wipes.

Since then we’ve used any and all types of wipes. When a child appears to have any type of rash, we immediately switch to water-wipes, but other than that, we’re not fussy about wipes. We think they’re fantastic.

Definitely on the Top Ten Practical Life Helps – full list posting soon.