May 6, 2010
In the last six weeks, parents around the world who use Procter & Gamble's Pampers diapers have reported strange rashes on their children's skin. Many of the parents are convinced the diaper is causing the rash. Most of the complaints are aimed at new "Dry Max" Swaddlers and Cruisers, introduced in March.
"After purchasing Pampers Cruisers Size 4 diapers with Dry Max, my daughter Isabel began to get a very severe diaper rash with open sores and burns," Kathryn, of Woodbury, Minn., told ConsumerAffairs.com. "It caused so much discomfort that she screamed at changing time and began to hold her urine and bowel movements."
In the course of a month Kathryn said she took her child to Urgent Care twice and to her pediatrician. She said a prescription for dystatin didn't work and neither did a prescription strength burn cream.
"We also had x-rays done because we began to think she was having severe stomach issues," Kathryn said. "Diet changes and allergy testing were not helping and the rash continued."
Changing diapers helped
After a friend told her about similar complaints about Pampers on the Web, Kathryn tried a different brand of diaper.
"After 48 hours of changing the brand of diapers, our daughter's rash is 75 to 80 percent better and is now comfortable again."
Company denies it
Procter & Gamble denies there's a problem and says it monitored 300,000 diaper changes over six years to be sure the new diapers are safe, according to a recent Minneapolis Star Tribune article. ConsumerAffairs.com's call to a P&G spokesman for comment was not returned by deadline.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) told the Star Tribune it was investigating more than a dozen complaints about Dry Max. Health Canada is also investigating parental gripes, the agency said.
The company says the new diapers are twice as absorbent and lighter than earlier versions. But the rash of complaints prompted Ad Age magazine to call the new diaper roll-out a marketing blunder akin to New Coke.
Facebook protest
When one parent launched a page on Facebook protesting the new product, more than 3,000 other parents signed on as friends.
It's not just parents in the U.S. who are complaining. Rebecca, of Rochdale, in the UK, has a similar story.
"I have used Pampers nappies for five years on all my boys and never had a problem before, but recently they have been constantly leaking and gel crystals are going everywhere," she told ConsumerAffairs.com. I am using Pampers baby dry and they're splitting and my son had a handful of crystals."
