P&G Should Listen to Parents Upset Over Pamper Rashes

I’m going to be blunt here: Pamper’s sucks. More correctly, Procter and Gamble sucks. I say that even though my kids no longer wear diapers.

Besides the fact that we never could abide by the way that brand’s products stunk to high heaven, it would take about 12 hours of wearing Pampers before Lael’s private parts would break out into horrible, flaming rashes.

And that was BEFORE Pampers redesigned its Cruisers and Swaddlers diapers. Almost 9,000 Facebook members (as of writing this) are begging the old version of diapers be brought back because their children are breaking out in rashes that sound worse than Lael’s ever was.

Despite the groundswell, here’s what Jodi Allen, Procter & Gamble’s vice president for North America baby care, told WBNS-TV via the Columbus Dispatch:

“It’s unfortunate that the social-media environment has created this scare. I think they’re misleading parents and they’re causing undue harm, and it’s creating a scare that, honestly, I don’t think should be out there.”

The social media created this scare? Give me a break. My wife and I spent the first four years of our daughter’s life thinking her rashers were the fault of OUR genes. We figured with the millions of diaper users out there not complaining, surely it must be OUR problem.

Allen continues:

“Any parent should be worried if they thought their baby might get chemical burns; I would be horrified. (But) there’s not one single case of Pampers with Dry Max that’s been associated with chemical burn.”

Bullshit. Chemical burns is a “description” of what parents see. Allergic reactions often look like chemical burns.

I’m sure that the vast majority of children do not have an allergic reaction. But to insult thousands of parents who watch their kids’ sensitive skin turn bright red is inexcusable.

Consider some of the complaints from the Facebook page:

Tiffanie Baldwin: This explains so much! My baby has had a HORRIBLE, fiery, red diaper rash that will not resolve. I have always used Pampers, but now I might just switch. My Dr. couldn’t even figure out what was going on with my poor baby’s rash! Thanks for opening up my eyes!

Holly Hostetler: My baby got a red rash after using Pampers Baby Dry. I have never had a problem with him having a rash until I used it. How can you explain a red rash in the WHOLE diaper area, not just his bottom? As soon as we put that diaper back on, it flares up again. I am switching to Huggies.

Latasha Belin Josey: I honestly thought it was just my daughter; the rash she developed was not an ordinary diaper rash. She LITERALLY broke out in blisters and started scratching in less than 5 minutes of the Pamper being put on her skin (with no nails). I used every diaper rash cream on the market and Neosporin and nothing worked – she’d scream and try to pull it off.

So, Procter and Gamble, do you REALLY want to say these parents are just imagining this problem? Remember, you just recalled Tylenol Infants’ Drops, Children’s Tylenol Suspensions, Infants’ Motrin Drops, Children’s Zyrtec liquids in bottles and Children’s Benadryl Allergy liquids, so our trust in your brands has already been challenged.

At least the Consumer Product Safety Commission is paying attention, reports The Cincinnati Enquirer. And a Seattle law firm has already filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven plaintiffs.

But Procter and Gamble still doesn’t get it, writes the Enquirer:

Faced with a growing volume of complaints, Procter & Gamble has gotten tougher with its message. It calls the complaints “completely false rumors perpetuated by a small number of parents.” Some of the disgruntled parents are simply unhappy that P&G replaced its diapers, others support competitors and others are cloth-diaper supporters, P&G said. …

“There’s a lot of misinformation, distortions, myths and rumors that are flying around,” Pampers spokesman Bryan McCleary said. “That’s why we had to stand up and defend the integrity of the brand.”

“It’s inflammatory and borders on libelous,” he said. “This is charged rhetoric. Words matter, and the truth matters.”

Why yes Bryan, the truth does matter. And the truth is, you should take these parents seriously instead of treating them like enemies.

Remember, I saw with my own eyes what happened to my daughter, Lael. Sure, it was an earlier carnation of your product, but that’s the point: different children are allergic to different products. Some kids are allergic to Huggies. (Our child wasn’t.) Some are allergic to the generic brands. (Ours was.)

And the solution is so easy. 1. Admit that you’re wrong. 2. Offer a hypoallergenic version of your product. 3. Add a warning to your product that says some kids may be allergic to your diapers. Heck, all the brands should do that.

But to FIGHT parents is not only immoral, it’s bad business and because you are doing that, you suck.

Comments

[Grace]

My niece broke out in a red rash just this week after my sister opened a new package of new Swaddlers. My Mom then compared an old diaper she had in a bag with a new one. She found that the inner portion of the new "improved" diaper was of a much rougher texture than the old version. Needless to say, my sister is trying to locate as many packages of the old style Swaddlers as possible.

[brettdl]

You hear that P&G????

[Stephanie]

First: I love your blog. It makes my heart happy to see a Daddy blog :)
Second: I've NEVER LIKED P&G products. I've always been some what of an old soul/tree hugger. When I was in high school I did a report on animal cruelty. I picked P&G to pinpoint because they have always been under fire for testing thier products on animals. My question is, WHY do you need to test them on animals? Do you really have that many chemicals in your stuff?? Ewwww.

[brettdl]

Well, even after they test on animals, they then test on humans. Lael and I are allergic to most detergents.

[Meredith]

Wow - fascinating. My daughter has had horrible diaper rash while in papers and we switched to Luvs and have NO problems at all. The perfume in Pampers is probably enough of a chemical insult alone.

Glad to know I wasn't imagining things. She would itch and itch and itch where her diaper met her thighs and a horrible rash would develop under her diaper and cover the whole area. No diaper creme could take care of it. At one point I resorted to steroid cream. I switched her to natural diapers and it persisted a bit then to Luvs and its gone.

We should all boycott P & G anyway for reasons already cited. They are vivisectionists in the extreme and have found their way in to almost every product category out there. That can't be good for the American consumer.

[brettdl]

Thanks Meredith for sharing. One clue for us that the diaper rash was an allergic reaction: kids Benadryl (before it was recalled) would knock Lael out like a light.

[mike purtee]

our daughter xandria has had only one encounter with papmpers, she broke out. went back to using luvs. havent had a prob since. yea too bad its not the diaper huh! P&G only cares about the money and stock brokers. i do not buy P&G products anymore.

[brettdl]

Considering all the problems P&G is having with recalls, it is clear that they are having serious issues over there.