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Should you quit using talc on your baby?
Categories: Newborns, Babies, Health & Safety
Baby powder smells good and feels good too, that's why it's been used on babies' bottoms for decades. But for the last several years, pediatricians have been telling parents to resist the urge. Not only is there little evidence that talcum powder prevents diaper rash, it's easily inhaled and can irritate the lungs. A new study, however, gives one more solid reason to avoid using talcum powder. Researchers found that when women used talcum powder every day in their genital area, their risk of developing ovarian cancer rose as much as 40%. Experts believe that the talc travels up to the ovaries, causing inflammation that can develop into cancer. It's important to note that most women who use talc will not develop cancer, but even so, they're recommending that women either stop using powder altogether or switch to a cornstarch based formula.
I think that based on previous recommendations regarding lung health, combined with these new studies, it's probably time to put baby powder to bed for good. What do you think? Do these studies cause you concern, or are you reluctant to give up this diapering tradition?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
c_rousseau05 9-30-2008 @ 3:44PM
Well for me it's a matter of necessity. If I don't use powder on my girls bottom she gets diaper rashes so easily even though I change her often. She uses both disposables and cloth which do a good job of keeping her extra dry but somehow she still gets the rashes if I don't use powder. I suppose i'll be switching to the cornstarch based kind.
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CLM 9-30-2008 @ 4:20PM
I quit using talc years ago because of the inhalation issue (I have allergies). So when the boys came along, it never occurred to us to use it. I'm actually surprised it's still on the market.
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windex 9-30-2008 @ 4:29PM
I am kind of like the previous poster - when my son gets a rash I can not use cream on him because the rash becomes so severe it starts to bleed. However I do use the cornstarch based stuff and since I only use it when he has a diaper rash I am not that concerned.
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Jenn 10-01-2008 @ 5:23PM
I thought talcum powder (at least for babies) had been removed a long time ago, and replaced with cornstarch. I know that's all I can find around here.
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poproxy07 10-17-2008 @ 2:24AM
Well I have always been afraid of using baby powder on my daughter, for fear of a kind of infection. So I just use Aveeno's version of Desitin. My daughter's skin is extremely delicate and that has worked miracles for me. As for the baby powder...I just sprinkle some on her little feet because she seems to have "funky feet" sometimes! ; )
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