The best baby wipes you can buy

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The best baby wipes you can buy

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  • Baby wipes are essential for cleaning babies, of course, but they're also ideal for all sorts of other uses, from wiping bigger kids' hands to cleaning off tables before and after meals to attacking that spill before it sets in and stains.

  • Parasol Baby Wipes are our top pick thanks to their soft, cloth-like feel, their reliable moistness, and the ease with which they pop out of the pack.

Pop quiz: What are baby wipes for?

If you answered: "Cleaning a baby's butt," then you're not a parent. The correct answer is ... everything. Baby wipes are of course essential for infant and toddler hygiene, with the cleaning of nether regions being their primary purpose. But they are also essential for wiping hands and faces after meal times, for cleaning knees after slips and shoes after mud, for wiping down tables in restaurants before your kid eats and for cleaning up the mess made subsequently during the meal. On and on the list goes, as any parent knows well.

My wife and I keep baby wipes in both cars, every bathroom, in the kitchen, in our daughter's room, and in a bag that hangs by the door and comes everywhere we go with kids. Also, we don't just keep a ready supply of wipes, we keep a strategic supply.

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The kitchen is always stocked with rugged Seventh Generation wipes that can be used to scrub the floor just as readily as they can clean a bottom. By our daughter's changing pad, we have Parasol wipes on hand. In the go-bag, I usually stock MADE OF wipes. And in case diaper rash issues arise, we have sensitive WaterWipes at the ready.

This abundance of wipes - while likely madness to the childless out there - is a fringe benefit of parenting young kids. I'm never more than a few seconds away from a wipe that can clean spilled coffee, wipe down the countertops, or get the dust off the dashboard, to name but a few non-baby related uses for baby wipes.

And believe you me, it only takes one incident wherein you've forgotten a supply of wipes to ensure you'll never put yourself in that situation again. Being a parent means always having good baby wipes at the ready. These are five great baby wipe brands to consider as you set up your own strategic wipe supply.

Here are the best baby wipes you can buy:

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

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The best baby wipes overall

The best baby wipes overall
Why you'll love them: Parasol Baby Wipes are both soft and strong, with a cloth-like feel that both you and your child will appreciate during a diapering session.

If I had to pick one thing that most impresses me about Parasol Baby Wipes, it wouldn't technically be about the wipes themselves at all. These wipes pop out of their pack with an ease I've never encountered with any other brand.

Each time you pull on a wipe, a single one slips out with zero effort and without two or three more wipes dragging along behind it. This ease of grabbing wipes with one hand is priceless when your other hand is trying desperately to keep a biohazard contained while a baby flails and screams and generally does her best to not keep said mess contained.

Once oh so easily free of their packaging, Parasol Wipes continue to impress. They are soft and cloth-like in feel yet strong enough not to tear even during vigorous use. They are also the perfect level of moistness, always coming out of the pack damp yet never saturated enough to drip. That moisture comes care of a blend of aloe vera and cucumber, which along with oat and marshmallow extract, gives these wipes a faint but pleasant scent that lasts a little while but won't linger on a baby's skin.

And of course as you'd expect from any self-respecting baby wipe, they are free of parabens, alcohol, dyes, chlorine, and all that other bad stuff.

A writer from The Bump said Parasol wipes have a "softness [that] is comparable to a washcloth, making wiping [your] baby as painless as possible." The write up added that they are "ultra thick" and durable.

Pros: Soft and durable, pop out of pack with ease, excellent moistness

Cons: Rather expensive

Buy 9 packs of Parasol Baby Wipes on Amazon for $57.73 — prices vary by count

The best multipurpose baby wipes

The best multipurpose baby wipes
Why you'll love them: Seventh Generation Free and Clear Baby Wipes are so versatile they should hardly be called baby wipes at all, except that they are quite good for wiping babies.

I use Seventh Generation wipes multiple times a day, though rarely do I use them on my infant daughter's bottom. Rather I use them for cleaning off the table after dinner, for wiping my five-year-old son's hands when a sink and soap aren't handy, for cleaning spots on the floor of known and unknown origin, and for all sorts of other wipe down purposes.

These are about the most rugged baby wipes I've ever used, easily standing up to scrubbing and multiple passes over tile, wood, and other surfaces.

And of course, they work well as baby wipes, too. The thickness of Seventh Generation Free and Clear Baby Wipes makes them less than ideal for use with little newborn babies, but for cleaning kids in their toddler years, they're a great choice, easily handling the ever larger volumes of leavings kids produce as they age.

As the wipes are hypoallergenic and dermatologist tested for use even on sensitive skin, they're also perfect for wiping traces of dinner off your kid's face.

With more than 2,300 reviews posted at the time of this writing, Seventh Generation Free and Clear baby wipes have a four-star overall rating. A mom named Heather called them her "favorite go-to wipe," relaying how she uses them for diapering purposes as well as for "cleaning hands, face," and so forth.

A number of people did have a criticism that I can corroborate: The packaging often has issues staying reliably closed, which can lead to the wipes drying out. Just be careful as you initially open each pack and you should be OK, and also consider placing an open pack of wipes upside down when not in use so its own weight will keep it's flap closed.

Pros: Thick and rugged construction, non-scented, hypoallergenic

Cons: Packaging issues can lead to dried out wipes

Buy 6 packs of Seventh Generation Wipes on Amazon for $14.99 — prices vary by count
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The best low-cost baby wipes

The best low-cost baby wipes
Why you'll love them: Amazon Elements Unscented Baby Wipes cost less than half as much as many of the other wipes n our guide, but they're hardly half the quality.

There are a lot of good things to be said about Amazon Elements Unscented Baby Wipes. Like the fact that they are moistened with pharmaceutical-grade purified water and feature soothing aloe and vitamin E extracts. Or the fact that they're fragrance-free and made without dyes or alcohols. Or the fact that the diapers are made with a 100% transparent supply chain, so you can tell where each and every material used in their manufacture was sourced and where the product was assembled (Most components come from the US, by the way, and they are made in Illinois).

But hey, let's stop beating around the bush, shall we? You buy Amazon Elements Unscented Baby Wipes because they are crazy cheap. As in half the price of most other wipes. As in a quarter of the price of some of the wipes on our list, even. As in two cents per wipe, to cut to the chase.

Only Amazon could make offer a product for less than half of what it's worth. At least lots of families out there will benefit from their status as the leading industrial juggernaut.

With more than 14,500 reviews placed at present, Amazon Elements wipes have a shining 4.5-star overall rating. One buyer speaks for many when she says they are a "great price and good quality," noting that: "they have no scent" and reporting no "issues using them on sensitive bottoms."

Pros: Amazing price, transparent production process, no scent

Cons: Thinner than other wipes

Buy 480 Amazon Elements Unscented Baby Wipes on Amazon for $11.99

The best organic baby wipes

The best organic baby wipes
Why you'll love them: With MADE OF Soothing Organic Baby Wipes, you don't have to wonder what chemicals you might be about to wipe across your little baby's skin.

All of the products offered by the company MADE OF are at least 70% organic (except for their diapers, actually), making the brand a great choice for those who insist on safe, natural materials for their little ones. Better yet, rather than simply calling themselves an organic baby brand, MADE OF makes it easy to learn more about each and every component used in making its products.

Take MADE OF Soothing Organic Baby Wipes: Among their ingredients you'll find caprlhydroxamic acid and olus oil. Sounds kind of scary, eh? Well thanks to my reading through their site, I can tell you that the former is an amino acid derived from raw virgin coconut oil, while the latter is essentially cold pressed vegetable oil. So ... not scary, actually.

For all those organic and natural ingredients, you will pay a premium price. MADE OF wipes cost almost four times the price of Amazon Essentials, for example. But for many parents, the price is worth it for knowing you have a safe, natural product touching a baby's skin multiple times a day.

MADE OF wipes received the Environmental Working Group's EWG Verified seal of approval thanks to their "good manufacturing practices" and for avoiding "EWG's ingredients of concern."

Pros: Organic ingredients, transparent manufacturing, informative website

Cons: Quite pricey

Buy an 80-Pack of MADE OF Soothing Organic Baby Wipes on Made Of's site for $8
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The best baby wipes for sensitive skin

The best baby wipes for sensitive skin
Why you'll love them: WaterWipes Sensitive Baby Wipes are moistened with 99.9% purified water and one little dash of natural fruit extract.

When our daughter developed a diaper rash so severe she had sores on her skin, my wife and I stopped at nothing to help her get better. We switched diaper brands, applied healing creams and soothing balms, and we sought out the very best baby wipes for sensitive skin. The brand we settled on was WaterWipes.

The Sensitive Baby Wipes are moistened almost entirely with water, with 0.1% of the fluid used being a natural fruit extract. In case you were wondering, it's a grapefruit seed extract that serves as a natural skin conditioner.

While these wipes can't cure diaper rash, they are the best way to ensure wiping does not exacerbate the condition. And being made from a blend of 20% viscose and 80% polyester, they are soft enough for use on the smallest of babies or for kids with highly sensitive skin. They were even awarded the National Eczema Association of America's Seal of Acceptance.

With the purity of these wipes comes extra cost, of course, and while great for cleaning baby bottoms, they're not as versatile as other wipes. I wouldn't use one to clean off a kitchen counter, for example, as they're more delicate than other wipes I trust for that. But as wipes suitable for sensitive skin, they're winners.

With more than 4,200 reviews posted on Amazon currently, WaterWipes have a solid 4.2-star rating. One mom called them "great wipes" that she used for a daughter who has "extremely delicate skin" and used to get "rash after rash." Though she and many others did note that they're "on the pricey side."

Pros: Safe for sensitive skin, chemical free, soft and delicate feel

Cons: Pricey, not durable

Buy 9 packs of WaterWipes Sensitive Baby Wipes on Amazon for $32.94 — prices vary by count

Check out our other baby gear guides

Check out our other baby gear guides
The best baby bottles you can buy

A baby's bottle delivers the nutrition a child needs to thrive while offering the caregiver a chance to connect with the infant. But not all babies will like all bottles, so get ready to shop around, caregivers.

Try one bottle for a few feedings and, if the baby is rejecting it, try another. Then another. It might take some time and some money, but you will eventually find one the kid will accept. And quite likely, it will be one of the excellent baby bottles on this list.

Here are the best baby bottles you can buy:

The best baby carriers you can buy

A baby carrier lets you and your little one explore the world together. You'll be glad to have your hands free and your child nestled close, while babies love feeling warm and secure.

Here are our top picks for the best baby carriers:

The best strollers you can buy

With the right stroller, you and your young one are ready for anything, from a quick trip to the stores to a week-long overseas vacation.

Here are our top picks for the best stroller you can buy:

The best breast pumps you can buy

If you're a nursing mom who plans to spend more than a couple hours away from your baby, pumping is a necessary evil: It keeps your milk supply up and ensures your kiddo has enough to eat. The Medela Pump In Style Advanced is a great option for moms who want to get their pumping done quickly and easily.

You should also consider the Spectra Baby USA S1, the Freemie Freedom, the Medela Swing, and the Philips Avent Manual Comfort Breast Pump.

The best cribs and cradles

A good crib or cradle can buy you some much needed time to yourself while your baby takes a nap or snoozes the night away. Of all the cribs and cradles we've researched, the DaVinci Kalani is our top pick. This crib is attractive, sturdy, versatile, and inexpensive enough to free up your budget for other baby essentials.

You should also consider the Babyletto Hudson, the Stokke Sleepi, the BabyBjorn Cradle, and the Guava Family Lotus Travel Crib.

The best diaper bags

It's no secret that babies require a lot of stuff for a successful outing, so a good diaper bag is one of the most important purchases a parent-to-be can make. Based on personal testing and research, the Skip Hop Duo Signature is the best diaper bag for most parents, with a reasonable price tag, loads of pockets, several stylish patterns, and easy-to-wipe fabric that can take a beating.

You should also consider the Ju-Ju-Be B.F.F. Backpack, the Storksak Elizabeth Leather Bag, the Skip Hop Grand Central Bag, and the Diaper Dude Messenger Bag.

The best nursing pillows

Breastfeeding is natural and amazing for your baby, but that doesn't mean it always comes easy. We've tested and researched many nursing pillows, and the My Brest Friend is the best one for keeping your baby in the right spot during feeding, and it gives you great back and arm support.

You should also consider the Dr. Brown's Gia Nursing Pillow, the Boppy Nursing Pillow, the Blessed Nest Nesting Pillow, and the Twin Z Pillow.

The best baby bouncers

You may have a baby now, but you still need a little time to yourself. A baby bouncer can be a real lifesaver when you need a break. In our experience, the Fisher-Price My Little Snugabunny Deluxe Bounceris the best bouncer for providing a safe, comfy, reasonably priced place for your baby to stay contained, entertained, and — if you're lucky — drift off to dreamland.

You should also consider the BabyBjorn Bouncer Balance Soft, the 4moms mamaRoo Baby Bouncer, the Fisher-Price Infant to Toddler Rocker, and the Ingenuity ConvertMe Swing-2-Seat.

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