This is what I wanted to know, so I tried to contact every disposable diaper company I could think of:
Parent's Choice - I actually couldn't even find a web site for them, or any contact info. So. Status unknown.Luvs - E-mailed, no response.
Luvs update 8/15/08 - Luvs are gluten free too! WOOOOO! This makes me very happy!
White Cloud - "Our diapers do not contain gluten." (Actually this e-mail came from Covidien.com and I had to Google around a bit to figure out WHICH diapers they were talking about. My understanding is that this corporation makes several store-brand diapers, none of which contain gluten.)
7th Generation - E-mailed, no response, though they are sold on several GF web sites. So, assume from that what you will.
Huggies - "Kimberly-Clark consumer products do not contain wheat, rye, barley, spelt, triticale, kamut or farina. Certain Kimberly-Clark products do contain oats. The only Kimberly-Clark products containing oats are HUGGIES® Soft Skin products." Majors props to Huggies for the thorough response. Too bad these diapers don't work for us, like, at all.
Pampers - Lindsey called and was told that the diapers are gluten free. However, in this thread a poster stated, "I did call Pampers and their response was that there is gluten in the diapers but it cant be absorbed by the skin." (I, Tenille, personally do NOT believe this to be true. My kids have both reacted to topical products containing gluten, including shampoos and lotions. They reacted. Period.) I also e-mailed Pampers, but haven't yet received a response. Anyway, Pampers has obviously provided conflicting info on this, so be wary!
8/14/08 Update on Pampers: Pampers has an awesome employee in Bev! She found this post on my blog and took the time to let me know that Pampers ARE gluten free (which is a big relief to me, since this is what the hospital uses, and this is what we stocked up on for new baby). Yay! Thanks, Bev!
As of 8/15/08 ( days) - I still have not heard from 7th Generation. Boo! They're probably busy saving the world.
But, anyway, guess what never contains wheat? Cloth diapers! That's right, folks. As the evidence mounts, we're considering jumping back on the cloth diaper bandwagon (actually, I'm not sure that's a bandwagon on which anyone would want to travel - pee-yooo! LOL.), as soon as we can get someone to come look at our washing machine and make sure it is working well enough.
I'll update this thread if/when I hear back from some of these companies (Luvs? Luvs, where are you?)! :)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Do Disposable Diapers Contain Gluten?
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21 comments:
Does it make you wary that Huggies doesn't explicitly say "does not contain gluten" or am I overly sensitive to marketing claims?
Hm. Interesting point. My first reaction was that they were trying to be clear that while none of their products contained any other component of gluten, some do contain oats. But... who knows?
I really wish they would just list this info on their web sites.
I admire your dedication on this. And I really, really try to be "green" where I can in life. But I just can't stop cringing at the thought of cloth diapers. I wish I were more open-minded on this subject.
I too am thinking of jumping on the "cloth diaper bandwagon," of course not literally. Oh, and I'm talking about in the future. I'm not pregnant now and have no kids, but it's just something I've thought about.
If you do do cloth diapers (pun intended), let me know how it goes!
I have 4 gluten free kids and 2 in diapers and I never even thought about gluten being in diapers! My youngest is 6 weeks and he has had this funny diaper rash his whole life. I bought some gDiapers but was waiting until the baby was bigger before I started using them on him. They have an ingredient list right on the bag!They are made of sustainably farmed wood fluff pulp, sodium polyacrylate (SAP)for absorbency and cellulose rayon.Thought you might like to check them out. :) gDiapers.com
Love your blog! I will be back!! :)
I agree on gDiapers... they rock. However, they are pricey so sometimes work better as night time and away from home nappies while sticking with cloth at home.
I have NEVER thought of gluten in diapers. Makes me wonder now about my youngest always get breakouts on her keister... she has worn various night-time products.
I'm sure Huggies avoided saying "no gluten" because oats are so frequently contaminated with gluten. If there are oats, it's a CYA to just list the other grains that they are free of.
Our evil ingredient here was corn, and Pampers and Luvs contain corn. Those were the only ones I checked on (and this was several years ago), but Rory wore White Cloud and Huggies with no problem. Daisy can ONLY wear White Cloud diapers and pull ups, and her only allergies are soy and some other legumes! Elliot also reacted to Pampers though, has been fine with other brands, and so far only seems to be allergic to eggs. AFAIK, there are no diapers with egg in them, lol.
Never, ever, ever thought about gluten in diapers. WOW. Babe #1 (who is allergic, not celiac) never had a bad diaper rash, but who knows? Babe #2 hasn't shown any allergies, but I made the switch to cloth and love it. We're using BUMgenius 3.0. Pricey to first invest, but they'll grow with him and they work great.
Gluten in diapers. I would have never have thought....
Hey Tenille, sorry to be so late in my response to your question ... but I have a feeling you know what it is like to have zero free time LOL :-)
Anyway, to answer ... I really have no concrete answer. Jillian was always the kind of kid who needed very little discipline and Max ... wow ... totally different story. ;-) Right now I'm reading the LLL Adventures in Gentle Discipline and I'm learning much from that (and really like the book and the way it is formatted)
... but I have a feeling that I have much to learn on this topic and I'm always asking other mothers about it myself. It has been a learning experience for all of us at the RG household :-)
Hi tenille! I’m so sorry to intrude. I work for P&G (we make Pampers) in Consumer Relations. I happened to see your post and I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for the confusion and for our delay in response to your email. Be assured that Pampers diapers do not contain gluten. I have a cousin who is gluten intolerant, and I know what she goes through to live gluten-free! If we can be of any further assistance, give us a call at 800-pampers (726-7377). Best wishes for your dream to pay off all your debt!
ACK! We make Luvs too---again, sorry for the slow speed of response! Luvs are also gluten-free.
Thanks, Bev! I'm thrilled, because Luvs are what we use for our son!
This is great info. Thank you!
Also, your blog rocks. 50% of the family is gluten free and milk free, so all the frugal tips I can gather are great.
My GF kiddos cannot deal with cloth diapers at all. Not sure why, but the diapers end up smelling *nasty*, and then the rashes appear. I've read somewhere that GF folks are more prone to rashes and things. Also, we deal with yeast a lot more than my non-GF kiddos.
So, I just say a little prayer over the diaper and ask it to be easy on the Earth. May sound crazy, but it makes me feel a lot better. :)
Congrats on #3 - it will be a blast. =)
Kim - hee! Love the idea of giving the diaper a little blessing! I refuse to feel guilty for using disposables (we all do the best we can), but I still feel a little more pious when I use cloth. :)
Thank you so incredibly much!!! This makes me feel so much better about bringing a child into the world who might have a gluten intolerance like I do. I don't think I will ever use cloth diapers, the thought grosses me out. Props to people who can, I just don't think I will be joining them!
Thanks again!
Hi! We are a celiac family and found this thread when I was trying to figure out if disposable diapers do contain gluten . . . not that we even use them LOL. Anyway, I have a 1 y, 3 yo and 5 yo, and have only used cloth since the oldest was 3.5 months old. Have you considered exploring Elimination Communication? I was horrified at the idea of using cloth, but once we were aiming to catch pee and poo in a receptacle and not ALL in a diaper, well, then it just made sense.
See www.diaperfreebaby.org for more information about ways to explore EC for your family! BTW - we always use cloth backup in our implementation of EC.
Hi Margaret! Cloth diapers shouldn't be your problem. It's more likely that you're dealing either with yet another allergy issue (dairy commonly accompanies gluten) or maybe some gluten found its way into your diet? Hard to tell.
My kiddos just plain have sensitive skin. We had to totally eliminate dyes and perfumes in everything we use.
Hi! Seventh Gen diapers have confirmed that they are gluten free! Yay! I just got the email response after asking several times. Your blog post is the only one I've come across on the web about this so even though it's 4 years old, I still wanted to add.
I just read on Amazon that Earth's Best diapers contain wheat and corn starch so we won't be buying these.
I just checked 7th Generation's website and it lists corn and wheat derived ingredients for the diapers:
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/free-and-clear-diapers?vx24scG34=1444026&variation=stage-3-16-28-lb
Maybe they gluten is processed out somehow? Not sure I'd trust that.
I know this thread is quite old... but just in case others are still referencing it, Honest diapers also contain gluten. Best of luck!
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