Soap free?

[Oztok5]

My first little one is due at the end of April, and I have a question for you lovely mamas.


I am fairly soap free except for a reasonable amount of hand washing. I haven't used any sort of body soap in the shower for pretty much as long as I can remember. I will use a mild, natural shampoo on my hair every few weeks. I sometimes use honey to wash my face.

Honestly, it didn't cross my mind to use soap on our baby.

My MIL thinks I'm asking for a stinky baby and an endless stream of diaper rashes. Maybe I'm completely naive, which is very possible since I haven't done this before, but I can't imagine a baby getting so dirty that he won't get clean after sitting in a warm bath and being wiped down with a wash cloth. I obviously don't intend to allow my baby to be filthy, so if I need to use some sort of soap, I will, but I guess I just wasn't planning on it.

So, what say ye? Is anyone here successfully soap free with their little one?

Thanks for your help!

[starling&diesel]

My little girl has just turned a year old and has never had a lick of soap, or shampoo, or lotion of ANY kind on her body, including her cute little butt. Not ever, not even once, not even by accident. She smells awesome, has gorgeous silky hair, and loves having her bath every night in just plain water, nice and HOT. I'm not at all fanatical about it, but it's just something that wasn't ever necessary. I'm pretty confident that not using lotions has helped keep any diaper rash at bay. She's never had a diaper rash of any kind, which I think is pretty cool.

ETA: and she has beautiful skin, too!

[Pepper44]

We hardly used any soap on our DD as a baby. She didn't have any rash issues!

Babies do get stinky though, especially if they have fat rolls. Their chins start to smell like old milk or baby cheese or something. If DD was especially cheesy then we used the lavender honey soap we get from the farmer's market, but I think we probably used soap like once every few weeks or less.

[itsajenism]

Like you, I don't use soap either and never thought twice about my children being the same.

DS1 has been soap free his entire life (he's 5) except hand washing. We never had issues with diaper rash or with him being stinky. FWIW, he did bathe twice a week (about) in infancy and once a day after he reached about 9 months old as part of his night time routine, but with water only.

DS2 has yet to even have a bath (he's 4 days old) and no one who has held him knows or can tell.

[lifeguard]

Ds is 15 months & I've used soap a small handful of times. Not at all stinky.

[Oztok5]

Thank you for taking the time to reply! Your posts make me feel warm and fuzzy, lol. I'm feeling better about following my instincts on this one.

[elmh23]

It's fairly easy to remain soap free until the child finds markers. At least that's what happened with us For us that happened at about 16 months for my oldest and like 8 months for my youngest. Using soap really was the only way to get the marker off them effectively.

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by Pepper44

We hardly used any soap on our DD as a baby. She didn't have any rash issues!

Babies do get stinky though, especially if they have fat rolls. Their chins start to smell like old milk or baby cheese or something. If DD was especially cheesy then we used the lavender honey soap we get from the farmer's market, but I think we probably used soap like once every few weeks or less.

I hardly make my 6yo use soap either. He'll often go 3-4 months before he uses shampoo to wash his hair. He's perfectly clean and doesn't have any issues. I've also gotten comments from other family members that he needs to bath more or he'll get a rash.. A 6yo? Anyway, just do what feels right to you, you'll know if your baby is clean.

[Ruthie's momma]

DD is 2.5 yo and has been a mostly soap-free LO her whole life. I can't even remember the last time I used anything other than water to cleanse her skin and hair. She gets thoroughly rinsed almost every day and is super sweet smelling!