If It’s Sold in Stores… Is It Actually Safe for Your Baby’s Skin? with Amrita Saigal of Kudos Diapers

Intro: Diapers and Eczema 0:00

Hey team, welcome back to the eczema kids podcast. So let me ask you something that might feel a little uncomfortable. What if the one product touching your baby's skin 24 seven, the thing that you change six to 12 times a day without thinking is actually fueling their eczema? Most parents assume diaper irritation is inevitable, and most pediatricians treat it like a minor nuisance, and most of us were never told that the soft diaper lining touching our baby skin is almost always engineered plastic on inflamed skin.

and plastic trapping heat and plastic rubbing all day long. And when you actually hear it out loud, it suddenly makes sense why the diaper area is often the very last place to heal. And that's why I wanted to bring on today's guest. I'm talking with Amrita Siegel, founder of Kudos Diapers. She's an engineer trained at MIT who worked inside the companies that make these diapers before she left to design something radically different, a disposable diaper lined with 100% breathable cotton instead of plastic.

And today she's giving us an inside look at why eco-friendly diapers are often still plastic against the skin, and what labels like TCF versus ECF really mean, and why most brands won't explain them, and how diaper materials affect the skin barrier, and the pH, and the microbiome, and inflammation, and the four hidden drivers of diaper rash, and why they hit eczema babies harder if your baby's diaper area is beet red, raw, shiny, or the spot that never fully clears. This might be the missing piece no one has ever told you.

And before we dive in, here's your healing game plan if you're already nodding your head. Change what's touching their skin. You could try Kudos diapers and wipes at mykudos.com and use code eczemakids for 15% off both diapers and wipes. They're also available at Target. And you can rebuild and protect the skin barrier. The herbal healing oil, the comfort spray, the talo cream is what I used on my own kids severe, severe eczema. on their diaper area, on their face, and it's what I recommend for stubborn diaper area inflammation.

And you all can grab it at eczemakids.com. Okay, let's get into what's really inside your baby's diaper and why changing this one everyday item could finally help the diaper area heal. Here's my conversation with Amrita. Is your child struggling with itchy nights and endless flare-ups? I'm Andra McHugh, mom of four and host of eczema kids. Here you'll find natural solutions that actually work so you can heal your child's eczema without steroids, without the overwhelm, and finally see calm, healthy skin again.

Let's get into it. Hey team, welcome back to the eczema kids. If you have a baby with eczema, you know the diaper area is often the last place to heal. It's warm and it's moist and it's under friction all day. And for most babies, it's wrapped in materials parents barely think about. And we've been conditioned to assume that the irritation there is normal, but it really isn't. And that's why when Amrita Seigel of Kudos diapers reached out to me, I couldn't wait to have her on because she's created a disposable diaper lined with 100% cotton.

Why Diaper Materials Matter 3:04

instead of plastic. She has an MIT engineering degree and a resume that includes P&G, Gillette, and Google Glass, so she knows something that the rest of the industry isn't really talking about. And because diapers are the one product that our kids wear 24-7 for years, if your child has eczema or sets of skin, which is everyone listening, comprised of matters way more than what we're led to believe and Amrita has seen how those products are made and what's in them and why the big brands are so slow to change.

So today she's here to help us understand what's actually touching our kids and why it's more important than parents realize. So Amrita, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. I'm super, super, super excited to be here and chat all things Diapers. I'm excited too. And I want to just start with the one belief almost every parent has, especially when they first have children and they're going through it. It's like, if it's on the store shelf, it has to be safe. And I was wondering from an engineer's perspective, why is that belief wrong, especially when it comes to diapers?

Such a loaded question. So diapers, every disposable diaper on the market, even the majority of the quote unquote eco-friendly natural ones, they are all pretty much comprised of all fossil fuel, plastic-based materials and everything that's touching your baby's skin. Even though it feels very, very soft, they're all engineered plastics and it's all polypropylene touching your baby's skin. So when a diaper brand says that they're eco-friendly, natural, what they generally mean is that they have no added dyes, fragrances, which is absolutely a step in the right direction because we know the issues fragrances and dyes can cause.

And it also usually means that they have sustainably harvested wood pulp in the core of the diaper, which has also kind of become table stakes and like everyone has it. But that's the challenge. So it's like, and believe it or not, I think this is probably one of the most surprising facts to people is diapers are actually the third largest consumer item in landfills, which is insane because there's a lot of products that go into landfills. But the reason is, I mean, if you think about it, every child from zero to potty train is going between 6,000 to 7,000 diapers in their lifetime.

I mean, every parent who has been through the diapering journey knows every week you take that diaper genie and carry the big bag to the trash. And it's a lot. It's a lot of waste. And so what we wanted to do was set out to figure out how How can we make a diaper that performs equally, if not better, like you cannot compromise on performance as the leading brands on the market, but how can we remove that plastic and replace it with natural materials, specifically cotton, and we can go into the benefits of cotton for diaper, to help remove the plastic as well as give, instead of having your baby sitting in plastic 24-7, having them sit in natural, breathable, hypoallergenic cotton sourced from the US.

Yeah, yeah, I really am excited to have this conversation. One of my first podcast episodes was about divers because it's like, this is such a big thing, you know, we primarily focus on on kids here. And it's just like, right, it's touching their skin 24 seven. My baby, you know, thankfully, we didn't use to use reusable diapers. And I know yours aren't, but like they, she had to like that, that, that belly ring, you know, where, where you adhere the diapers, right? It was like shiny, right? She had zero skin there.

It was like that worn away. She was allergic to everything. And I tried every single diaper on the market, the honest ones, all of them. And that makes a lot of sense when they all say like natural and hypoallergenic. That just means really no dyes. That makes a ton of sense. And if you were to rip apart the diaper in that core, there's wood pulp, but the parts that the mom's touching when they pull out the diaper, the inner lining that's touching the baby's skin, that's generally all polypropylene, which is a form of plastic.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that, I don't know, that got us down this path. It's like, oh my goodness, of course we're gonna, cotton diapers make so much sense. And actually, hers was so bad. I needed a plain cloth, a cotton diaper cloth. in between the stomach lining piece and then also another one on the private parts piece just to absorb more. I don't know. It was just a crazy time. I wish Kudos was around when you were going through this.

Cotton vs Plastic in Diapers 7:29

Me too! Because they're like $25 a piece and it's a thing, right? Then you have to start making time for washing and caring for these diapers. I knew about the like caught in reusable diapers. I think it's something like 5% of first time moms slash parents think that they are going to do cloth diapering. And then it ends up being less than 1% of people actually stick through with it. And even those that do stick through with it. What they'll do is they'll still use a disposable diaper for overnight so that they can get that full absorbency because reusable diapers just don't have the same absorbency in order to get through a whole 12-hour shift.

It's fascinating, the reusable journey. We all know in those first few months when you're sleep deprived and exhausted, the last thing you have time to do, even though we want to, is wash and dry reusable diapers. Yeah. Oh my goodness. I did not know those statistics, but yeah, now I have them. Like we're done. My youngest is three. He's fine. And so, you know, you can reset them, you can reuse them, but I have the hardest time giving them away. And that makes total sense. Everyone's like, no, thanks.

I don't want to do this. I don't want to put it in the barn. And I suppose just for everyone listening, if you're in that boat and you're considering it, I mean, this plastic or this cotton piece matters so much. And if you are considering it, you just make it into your life just like anything else. And it's totally fine. But the reason we had to do that was because plastic of any sort could not be touching her skin. And I just want to get further into that with you from a skin barrier and a microbiome perspective.

Like, why does it matter so much what material is touching our kid's skin? Parents, are you exhausted from battling your child's eczema? You've tried the prescriptions, the creams, the elimination diets, and the flares keep coming back. I'm Andrea McHugh, mama for and host of the eczema kids podcast. Two of my children suffered with severe eczema and I know the sleepless nights and the nonstop itching and the frustration of feeling like nothing works. That's why I created this podcast to share what actually does from natural solutions that calm the skin to practical everyday tips that make healing actually possible.

You'll find hope, clarity, and a path forward here. Follow eXimaKids wherever you get your podcasts and head to eXimaKids.com for free recipes and resources to start your child's healing journey today. Yeah I mean especially okay like when it comes to eczema the material touching eczema prone skin is the most important because you don't want to cause more irritation or itching and cotton is ideal here because it is soft it is cooling it has great absorption and allows the skin to breathe that's the big thing you want that breathability versus like the polypropylene plastic fibers, it's very tight.

There's no breathability. There's no air circulation. And for a lot of kids, that's fine. But for those that are eczema-prone, that is a huge issue. And the reason why with the cotton, it allows the baby's private areas, that skin to breathe, is because cotton has naturally short twisted fibers that are woven together in such a way that allows for maximum air circulation. And then furthermore, like our cotton is ecotech standard 100 certified to be free of the most harmful chemicals, many of which are allergenic chemicals that can flare up eczema.

So that is one thing. And then when we talk about like, why is plastic bad? Okay, like, I mean, we all know, I mean, everyone listening to this knows the challenges with plastic, but specifically when it comes to diapering and the diapering area, the challenge here is not just that the polypropylene is bad for the environment, but it can also contain harmful VOCs, volatile organic compounds, and phthalates that can be absorbed through the skin. And even if the child doesn't experience immediate reactions, prolonged exposure to plastic and other irritants can lead to long-term inflammatory conditions

Bamboo, TCF, and ECF Explained 11:34

and delayed contact dermatitis. I know things that are talked a lot about in the eczema community. So this is especially in the eczema world, the importance of using Plastic not using plastic is especially important and that's kind of one of the big challenges Yeah, and I can also go through some of the causes of diaper rash. We can get into that as well sure I definitely want to but yes like here you know everything that we talk about it's just a 100% cotton required zone right for everything you know like a separate I guess like those outer jackets it's just you have to allow the skin to breathe and especially with eczema right this like this heat related condition and the problem with using you know, topicals like Vaseline or other petroleum-derived, you know, chemicals is that it traps the heat, right?

It traps the heat, traps the moisture, it causes the friction. That's exactly the challenge. Yes, yes. It's so great that you're tackling this from a diaper standpoint because it's like something that's unavoidable. And I just also want, like, everyone listening to keep in mind is like, we're the lucky ones that we're dealing with this now because if your child isn't experiencing eczema, it's not like, oh, you get a pass on this stuff. Like, plastic diapers aren't good for it. anybody. And so now we're lucky is like, we're actually forced to do something about this here and now.

And so just, you know, the best time to change is just now, because you can't do anything about yesterday, but we'll avoid that prolonged exposure and the inflammation and the toxins that aggregate in the system just by avoiding these things. So it's so great. But I also wanted to ask you about bamboo because, you know, everything, you know, bamboo is natural and they say, oh, this is great. And especially, you know, they make those like eczema wet wrapping clothes out of bamboo. Like it's really marketed as like, this is the best you can do for sensitive skin and eczema prone skin.

Can you talk to us a little bit more about why that isn't really the case? Bamboo is a challenging one. The reason is, so if you think about bamboo, the raw material of bamboo, it's not like cotton where like it's naturally soft. Bamboo is like, I mean, you see those bamboo trees, like it is a very hard material. So in order to make it into something like soft and usable for apparel and diapers and all these other things, what does that require? And if you look at it, when they say it's bamboo clothing, it's not, look more carefully, it'll either say it's bamboo rayon or bamboo viscose.

And what that means is, because you need to be able to convert that hard raw bamboo form into something that's like extremely, extremely soft. And yes, the raw material is biodegradable compostable, but the challenge is in order to break it down into like a usable form, you end up having to use a lot of harsh chemicals and toxic processing. So when you end up using a lot of the chemicals, you end up using carbon disulfide and hydrogen sulfide, and that tends to leach into the waterways and the area surrounding these factories and plants.

So the environmental concern around bamboo is actually pretty significant. Yes, the end form is like very soft and usable, but I worry a lot about, okay, now you're putting all these chemicals into the waterways, you're introducing a lot of new chemicals and processing into the processing of the bamboo. So those are the challenges with bamboo from my perspective. versus cotton, once it's picked and harvested, we don't do any additional processing. It's all just mechanically clean. There's no heat.

There's no chemicals. There's no water. It's just all mechanical. So you're not introducing new substances into the cotton. Okay. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Sometimes when I get questions about bamboo, I liken it to you know, those packets of applesauce. It's like, yes, at one time, this was an apple, and that would have been great. But then they, you know, did all these things to process it, add some citric acid, and then put it in a plastic pouch, and now it's no longer, you know, a digestible, healthy food.

So, yeah. That's a great comparison. I like that. I'm going to use that. That makes a lot of sense. When we see labels like TCF or ECF on a diaper package, what does that mean? Yeah, that's like a very hot topic these days, as I'm sure a lot of the parents listening are aware of. See, it's the wood pulp in the diaper. So if you were to take apart the top and bottom layers and look at all that wood pulp in the diaper. It can either be TCF, which means totally chlorine-free, or ECF, which is elemental chlorine-free.

And what the difference is is how that is clean slash beat. So ECF, elemental chlorine-free, what they do is they do use chlorine dioxide to clean the wood pulp versus TCF, totally chlorine-free, does not have any chlorine derivatives in it. So you obviously would rather not have chlorine derivatives in your wood pulp is the difference between elemental chlorine free and total chlorine free. That being said, and the challenge here, and obviously like everyone wants the most affordable products on the market.

The challenge is getting something totally chlorine free is just so, so, so much more expensive than getting something elemental chlorine free, even from the processing and the manufacturing. It requires a lot more, which is why the cost tends to be significantly higher. You're doing everything right. You've cleaned up the diet. You've swapped out the soaps. You've put air filters in every room.

Building Kudos Diapers 16:48

Maybe you even live on an organic farm. And still your child is scratching, bleeding, awake all night. The flares won't stop and no one can tell you why. No parent should have to watch their child suffer, especially when you're already doing everything in your power to fix it. That's why I created the eczema kids podcast. I'm Andrea McHugh, mama for health coach and the founder of eczema kits. Two of my own children battled with relentless eczema and I know firsthand how heartbreaking and exhausting it is.

Here we go beyond surface level fixes. You'll learn how to uncover hidden triggers. Prepare your child's gut and calm their skin from the inside out. You'll hear the real stories of families who found freedom and insights from practitioners who are rewriting what's possible. Because eczema isn't just a skin condition, it's a message from the body. And when you listen, you can heal. So follow eczema kits wherever you get your podcasts and start your child's healing journey today. So that's why P&G and all these other big manufacturing brands, that's why they don't probably incorporate safer skin friendly materials.

Yeah, it's from a cost perspective and it's not easy to do. Like currently you can't get any TCF. fluff pulp made in the U S it all has to come from Europe, which is, and I've been talking to some of the biggest companies in the U S that do it saying, Hey, like, can we work on like adapting your processes to make it totally corn free? But it's hard. It's expensive. There's a lot of challenges changing the entire processing system and the way they're set up to make that happen. Sure. Can you talk a little bit more about kudos and your manufacturing process and why you felt moved enough to create a diaper?

Yeah, absolutely. So my background is in mechanical engineering and I started my career at Procter & Gamble. I worked as a manufacturing engineer there and it was really during my time there that I saw just how much plastic we were putting into these consumer absorbents and that's where I learned that diapers are the third largest consumer item to landfills. And so I always like to look at things and say, how is this made? Why is this made? Can we make it better? Can we do it with cleaner ingredients, but not compromising on performance?

I think that's like extremely critical and very important. And as I entered my early thies and my first wave of friends started having kids, I didn't have kids at this point in time, my friends kept saying two things. Hey, like one, like, The eco-friendly diapers on the market did not perform as well as the Pampers or Huggies. I think that's changed. There's a lot of brands. There's a handful of new brands out there. Cuda's included, and I would like to think we're leading the way on that much better performance.

And then two was just the amount of greenwashing. That when you thought a diaper set, it was like, I'm sure when you tried Honest, like you said, you probably thought, hey, there's no plastic. It's completely clean ingredients. Now go look at the website. It's still all polypropylene. It's all polyethylene. It's ECF fluff pulp. Yes, so there was just there's just a lot of greenwashing the industry and it's like how could we create a product with better materials and sparency and not compromise on the performance.

What kudos is we make disposable diapers lined with 100% cotton, especially for kids that have sensitive skin, eczema, diaper rash. It tends to really help with that and the number of Probably like one of the best parts of our day, week, month, every day is like when you see those messages coming in being like, oh my God, I tried everything. I couldn't get rid of the irritation, the redness, the diaper rash, and we switched to kudos and everything changed overnight. Like that's what we wake up and do what we do every day.

Yeah, yeah. Can you talk to us more about diaper rash? That's a thing, right? And just why that happens and why that's so difficult. Absolutely, absolutely. Diaper rash affects more than 50% of babies. At some point, there is a one in two chance your child will experience diaper rash. Diaper rash is a complex thing because from the diapering perspective there's four kind of things that cause it. The first one's friction, like what's rubbing against baby skin and having plastic rubbing up against your baby skin is obviously more likely to cause diaper rash than having cotton because cotton has naturally short twisted fibers.

that allow for maximum breathability. And it's clinically proven to be non-irritating and hypoallergenic. So friction's one category. The second one is moisture. And what the focus there is is like, how do you keep your baby as dry as possible? And companies, my kudos, like we have a really, really good acquisition distribution layer. So it's the layer that sits right underneath that cotton. And that's what we have our patent on is our double dry technology on how do we take all that urine, suck it into the diaper,

What Causes Diaper Rash 21:08

really quickly and so that you're leaving your baby's bottom as dry as possible. And then on that same moisture front, like making sure you're changing your baby's diaper frequently enough. The next thing is allergens, and common allergens are like, lotions, fragrances, chlorine, phthalates, that can contribute to rash. And then pH, I don't think this is one people probably don't think about, but as urine breaks down, it can affect the pH on the skin. And cotton, working with our double dry patent technology, traps the urine, into the core of the diaper where it is less likely to increase the pH of your baby's skin.

And then the last thing I would say when it comes to diaper rash, these are the four big culprits, but then you can still get a diaper rash. It's like, hey, did you change something in your baby's diet? There's just so many factors. factors that it's hard to pinpoint that this is the one thing that is going to be the holy grail. I mean, I think that's, as we all know with eczema, there's so much trial and error. But when it comes to diaper rash from the diapering perspective, those are kind of the four causes.

But are there other environmental causes or things that you eat or other things that could cause it? Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I know my baby's like, right, she had full blown eczema. And so just that diaper area, it was so beet red. I mean, it was red, hot red. And that was just one of the hardest areas to heal. And it wasn't just diaper rash, right? It's like, that's the eczema. But just given, yes, all of those things combined, like, can you go into a little bit more about like the materials and how they affect that skin microbiome there?

And just how that disruption then is like a bigger deal for these sensitive skin kids. because eczema-prone skin is obviously like extremely, extremely sensitive. So you want like, I mean, in the dream world, I would say like the best thing to do is not be wearing a diaper at all, right? And just be running around naked. And I'm sure I feel like a lot of pediatricians and dermatologists say like, hey, if your kid's like really having a really, really bad rash, like just try and like give them a bath, like pat it down, like put some cold water and then just let them air it out and not wear anything, right?

That's obviously like the best solution. But given that I don't think most people want to just have their kid running around with no diaper, then it's like we want to reduce that friction. We want to reduce that moisture. So like we definitely don't want that plastic, which is like heat trapping and all the friction causing and all of that up against your skin. So it's like, especially where you were saying like with your daughter's like belly area and stuff, like we need the breathability because we can't have nothing on there, but getting breathable is as good as we can get.

And you also don't want like all the other like the VOCs and stuff and phthalates like getting absorbed into the skin, especially for eczema prone skin because that can continue to irritate already irritated and sensitive skin. Yeah. Yeah. So aside from switching to cotton lime diapers, what are some other changes that parents could make in their diapering habits specifically that could just help reduce irritation? Like definitely giving them time to breathe. That's the biggest thing, right? And, like, when you use a wipe on the baby, make sure you dry them before you put the diaper on.

Like, that's actually surprisingly, like, I mean, we make wet wipes, we make 100% biodegradable compostable wet wipes. But, I mean, if you could just use, like, cotton with water and just, like, dab and clean it off, I mean, that's even better, right? In the same way I'm saying like not wearing a diaper is even better like just making sure that that bottom is Completely completely dry before you put the diaper on and then making sure you're washing that area regularly That's the other thing that like if when people have bad diaper rash, it's often recommended Hey, just run them under cold water like don't even use a wipe to wipe them, to wipe the poop off.

Just wipe, like, put them in the bathtub, put them in the sink, and then just, like, pat, dry them with the towel, and then let them sit out for five,

Skin Barrier and Microbiome 24:58

ten minutes before you put the diaper on. Those are some of the things. I mean, there's no perfect solution. It's all trial and error, but... reducing the amount of wetness on the baby is pretty critical. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like Epsom salt baths help a lot with that too. Anyone wearing a diaper should definitely be taking a bath every day and just sit in the Epsom salts. I feel like Epsom salt helps with everything in general. It really does. I feel like I'm the biggest proponent of Epsom salts.

Yeah. Another, another staple for sure here, but I'm just, I'm so impressed. You're an engineer and a total disruptor and just where do you think baby product safety and material innovation are headed in the next decade? Is there anything that gives you hope? Yeah, I mean, I think there's so many new sustainable raw materials coming out, which is really, really exciting. You're going to laugh, but I was just two weeks ago at the National Diaper Engineering Conference. It's like 500 people with PhDs in chemical engineering discussing the science of diapers, which is very, very interesting.

I think there's a few things. I think the number of new sustainable materials out, like, I mean, obviously I'm a big fan of cotton, but there's a lot of other new materials that are in the works that people are working on. And I think the thing is like, what I want to see happen and like, I mean, we also have to be like honest, right? Cost is often a challenge, right? Like, I mean, all families are feeling the pressure of rising costs and inflations, and we're all just trying to do the best we can for our children.

And so what I think is what I dream about and like the reality is it's not that these companies that are making organic natural products are just like charging a ton more the reality is like I can give this like I know these numbers right like the cost of cotton is 6x the cost of polypropylene So it's just so much more expensive. It's not like I have this crazy high margin and Pampers and Huggies have this small margin. It's not that, yes, my diaper is 20-ish percent more expensive. But what I hope we get to is the point where, and part of the challenge is that a lot of these larger companies don't use natural materials because it's so expensive, one.

And then the second thing is if Pampers, made by Procter & Gamble, wanted to put a natural material in their diaper, I think there's a few challenges. One is that their equipment is not set up to do so. Like, so their machines, and I know this from working there, like, their machines can't bond cotton and other natural materials. They can, like, bonding plastic is very different than the way natural materials bond. So they would have to spend, like, hundreds of millions of dollars to, like, change their equipment to do so.

The second thing is like, if they went to a cotton supplier tomorrow and said, hey, I want cotton or any other natural material, they would need like, I mean, I'm throwing out a random number, they would need like a billion pounds on day one versus like, I started small, right? I was like, hey, I need a thousand pounds and 2000 pounds, right? Like, and I've been growing my volume. That supply chain doesn't exist yet because there's never been the demand for it. So it's kind of like a chicken and egg problem.

And until the demand for these natural materials grows, the efficiencies in production and manufacturing can't come down. So it's like, but these large companies don't want to invest in it till the price comes down. But then these manufacturers and stuff, they're not going to improve their processes unless they have a large enough buyer. So it's like, it's really, really up to companies like Kudos and others for all of us collectively to like keep pushing the industry. And it actually works in our favor because we can build these supply chains with them.

Like, we're not asking for a billion pounds tomorrow. I mean, I wish I was, but I'm not there yet. But hopefully in a couple years, when I do need that volume, we've built this up together.

Diapering Tips for Sensitive Skin 28:38

The cost has come down. We've become more and more accessible to more and more families. And I think that's when you're going to start seeing real change. And like, I dream of a world where you get to the point where cotton's cheaper than plastic, and then it's like a no-brainer, and cost doesn't become the barrier. So I know it's a little bit of a long-winded explanation, but I dream of the world in which plastic becomes the more expensive option. Oh, me too. Really, really do. It's such a problem.

It's like you have to go through so many extra hurdles to just avoid it in your everyday life. And even when you do, it's not avoidable completely. But I did want to also ask out of curiosity, what is that your outer layer made up? Like, does that decompose much quicker than No, no. And I will be transparent that no, that we are not a plastic-free diaper. We are doing our absolute best to get as much plastic out of the diaper as possible. That is a polypropylene layer right now. We are working with a bunch of companies.

We're exploring some new sustainable options. We really focused on right now the parts of the diaper that are touching your baby's skin. And then we're slowly trying to get to all the components. Diapers have a lot of components. There's like more than 20 components. And so, yes, we are not there right now, but it's something we are working towards. Thank you. Appreciate that. What do you want the exhausted and overwhelmed parents that are listening right now to take away from this conversation?

I don't think people think enough about their diapers and the ingredients going into theirs. So if like people just come away from this conversation saying, oh my God, like I had no idea that my diapers line with plastic and I can just educate people on that. I think that's like my number one goal and like, If your diapering area is causing challenges in your child's day-to-day life, take a look at those ingredients and see, is there a better option and can that be helped? I know there's all these other areas that we're always looking at, but I think diapers often get overlooked.

And I would love for people to know that diapers are not, almost all of them are all plastic. And there's a lot to be done in the industry in order to make natural, sustainable materials touching your baby's skin. We want the cleanest, safest ingredients touching our baby's skin. And I hope everyone will help me on that journey to getting there. Amazing. Where can everyone find, learn from you, and get a hold of some Kudos diapers and wipes? I'm so glad you made- Yeah. Diapers and wipes, you can get them at MyKudos.com, M-Y-K-U-D-O-S.com, or at your local Target store.

Amazing. Thank you so much for your time today. I sincerely appreciate it and learned so much. And yeah, thank you so much.

Future of Safer Baby Products 31:08

Thank you. I'm guessing you're feeling what I felt the first time I learned all of this. How did no one tell us? How did we spend years troubleshooting food and detergent and wipes, but never question the one thing wrapping our baby skin all day and all night? And here's the truth that this episode makes impossible to ignore. The diaper area isn't problematic because your child's skin is difficult. It's problematic because we've been putting plastic on inflamed, sensitive, microbiome-dependent skin and then calling it normal.

And once you understand friction and moisture and pH and VOCs and breathability, you can't unsee it. So here's your next move. Simple, doable, and powerful. Number one is change what's touching their skin. If something is on your baby 24-7, it has to support healing, not fight it. You can try Kudos diapers and wipes at mykudos.com and use the code eczemakids for 15% off of both. And if you're a target aisle lawyer, grab them in store. And number two, you can rebuild the skin barrier so you can finally catch up.

After epsom salt baths, or air time, or any time irritation spikes, use the Skin Comfort Trio. The herbal healing oil, the comfort spray, and the talo cream I formulated for my own kids when nothing else worked. And you can get it at eczemakids.com inside the eczema shop. change the inputs, support the barrier, and then you can watch the diaper area become normal skin again and sometimes shockingly fast. And if this episode left you thinking, oh my goodness, this explains so much, then you're exactly where you need to be.

You're not overreacting. You're not imagining things. You're just finally getting the information parents should have had all along. And I'm proud of you for digging deeper, for questioning the defaults, and for being the parent who says, my child deserves better than what's convenient for the industry. And I'm in your corner always, and I'll see you in the next episode. Talk to you next week, friends. Take care. Thank you for helping with my eczema. Love you. Thank you for listening today, friend.

I know healing your child's skin isn't easy, but you're doing it one smart step at a time. If this episode gave you a little hope or a better night's sleep, leave a quick review so more exhausted parents can find eczema kids and finally rest easy too. Follow, share, and let's help more kids heal. Take care.