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01The first six weeks

Whoopsie Wipes for newborns

Water and something soft is what the pediatricians and the health services ask for on a newborn. A dry cotton square and your own tap is that, cut to eight inches.

  • 3 boxes, one square
  • 5–10¢ per wipe
  • 17–100 days at 12 a day
  • $19.95 to $59.95

The box this job usually calls for: Whoopsie Wipes 200 Count.

Skin in the first weeks has not settled yet, and every body that publishes guidance on it says the same thing: warm water, something soft, nothing perfumed. The NHS describes topping and tailing with cotton wool dipped in warm water and a fresh piece for each eye, each ear and the nappy area. The American Academy of Pediatrics asks for a damp washcloth rinsed in soap-free water and warns that soap dries the skin. None of them mention a wipe from a sealed wet pack, because a sealed wet pack has to be preserved to stay wet, and a preservative is exactly what a newborn does not need.

A Whoopsie Wipes square is cotton wool that has been bonded into an eight-inch sheet, so you get the method without the fibres it leaves behind. Keep a spray bottle of warm water at the table, wet one square for the nappy area, use a dry one for milk and drool, and use a fresh square for each job the way the NHS uses a fresh piece of cotton wool. Dry between the folds afterwards; the wipe does the cleaning and the towel does the drying. At this age a change every one to three hours is ordinary, so the two-pack is a fortnight and the six-pack is most of the first two months.

This page is general information about cleaning a baby’s skin, not advice about a particular child. A wipe cleans skin and does not treat it; a rash that is not getting better, blisters, oozing, unusual pain or a fever are questions for a pediatrician.

Every box is priced on its own; the Whoopsie Wipes selection keeps the figures current and the till is what decides. The sources behind any statement on this page are on how we update the catalogue.

02About this job

Questions about Whoopsie Wipes for newborns

The first six weeks

Are Whoopsie Wipes safe for your newborn’s skin?

They are cotton and nothing else, which is the material the newborn guidance already asks you to use; the water is yours, warm from the tap. That is what we can say. What we cannot say is that no baby will ever react to cotton or to water, so if a patch of skin is getting worse rather than better, a pediatrician is the person to ask.

How wet should a Whoopsie Wipes square be for a newborn?

Damp rather than dripping. Two pumps from a spray bottle is about right; under a tap, a second and a squeeze. A very wet square leaves the skin wet, and wet skin under a diaper is what the guidance is trying to avoid, so follow the wipe with a dry square or a towel and dry between the folds.

Do you need soap with Whoopsie Wipes on a newborn?

Almost never. The pediatricians say soap dries a baby’s skin and to use a mild, neutral-pH one only where a heavily soiled area needs it, rinsing it off right away. Warm water on a cotton square handles a wet change and most dirty ones on its own.

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Every Whoopsie Wipes pack size

Every box in the Whoopsie Wipes range sits behind this button, with the price we last updated against each one.