petroleum jelly (or un-petroleum)

[bluebirdiemama]

I've heard so many people say that it is a necessity but I've never used it. Besides using for taking a temp the... least preferred way, what do you use it for??

[texaspeach]

I think many people use it as a barrier to prevent diaper rash when using disposable diapers

[CalaRei]

It also gets used for protecting circ'd boys until that heals.

In desperation, I've used it on eczema on my son's head. It didn't help. *shrugs*

[Jaesun's Dad]

We used it when we were new-new-newbie parents for diaper rash but now we use Desitin or that eco-hippie stuff they sell at Whole Foods I forget the name of. Whole Foods by the way doesn't sell petroleum anything so all you can get there is un-petroleum. When he was shedding his skin the first two weeks it worked great as an exfoliate. I don't think we've used the stuff since he was three weeks old for anything though (he's now 10, almost 11 weeks).

[cristeen]

I don't have any in the house, and haven't used any in my life. My guy's 6 mos old and I haven't needed it yet.

[Peachthief]

When I was a kid we had a *huge* jar of Vaseline in the bathroom cupboard that we would use for chapped lips and whatnot. Since we didn't use it very quickly, I asked my mom why we had such a huge jar in the first place.

She said "oh, it was on the list of things to have for a baby when you were born. We never did figure out what we were supposed to be using it for!"

I swear, it was still there when I was a teenager!

[Llyra]

I put it on my upper lip when I have a runny nose, to keep my nose from getting chafed from too much blowing and wiping. That's just about all it gets used for around here.

[MsVyky]

I've never used it on the baby. We use beeswax-based diaper ointment for rashes (safe for cloth), and Lansinoh for any other skin irritations, since I have the tube that never ends.

I've never had to take her temperature, but I'd probably use a water-based lube for that

[Jane]

It's good for protecting your hairline when you home-dye your hair.
It is good for catching fleas on baby kittens - you can dab the flea with PJ on a q-tip and they are easier to catch.
Other than that? Not sure.

[Juvysen]

I've not used it for anything - although I do use baby vicks which has petroleum jelly as a base, but i don't really even use that anymore - I started using coconut oil mixed with various EOs instead.

My oldest is 4...

[hildare]

we bought a tiny jar of it the other day (against my will).

the use? to lubricate an o ring for the washing machine filter.

(it needed to not be water soluble- i use olive oil for everything- and i mean everything that needs moisture otherwise)

[Comtessa]

We use Aquaphor for really bad diaper rash - I think that's a petroleum jelly, isn't it? It was the only diaper rash cream we could find that would help after the rash got to a certain point.

[belltree]

We don't have any at home and don't use it. We use calendula ointment for rashes and almond oil for dry skin, no soap or shampoo either.

[elmh23]

Man, I love petroleum jelly! My kids get eczema and it's wonderful at helping the dry spots get moisture. I also use it on my lips when they are really chapped.

I've never used it on a baby though.

[sunnygir1]

I won't touch the stuff...it's made from PETROLEUM.

I use other products for all of the things pps mentioned.

[Jaesun's Dad]

Originally Posted by sunnygir1

I won't touch the stuff...it's made from PETROLEUM.

To be fair the thread title does mention a plant based petroleum-free alternative :-)

[CanBoo]

Not using it much either...

I used to use it on my chapped lips. But now I just use Lansinoh for that.

I know it is common to use as a diaper barrier cream. It grossed me out so much to see the nurses change dd2's diapers in NICU. They covered her bum with loads of it, and gave me cr**p for not putting it on .

Did use a couple tubes when poor dd1 got a bad burn this winter. It kept the bandages from sticking.

That's about it.

[greenbeanmama]

...so, my parents-in-law use it as....*ahem* lubrication. My husband mentioned that whenever he had chapped lips as a kid, he always had to go into his parents' room to find the petroleum jelly, and he never could figure it out because neither one of them ever got chapped lips. He told me this as he was borrowing some from his mom's nightstand during a visit one time. I couldn't help but burst out laughing (but didn't tell him why until he was finished moisturing his lips!)

[redpajama]

I've never used it, in 5 years and 3 kids, and I guess I didn't realize it *was* considered a "have on hand for a new baby" kind of thing; I've never heard that. My mom definitely had vaseline in the bathroom closet while I was growing up, but I don't recall its use.

[sunnygir1]

Originally Posted by Jaesun's Dad

To be fair the thread title does mention a plant based petroleum-free alternative :-)

Okay, so I used unpetroleum jelly once to rub around my face and neck before I colored my hair with henna so that I wouldn't get the dye all over my skin.