Alternatives to baby soap?

[luckiest]

I came across a thread in my DDC talking about which baby soaps they planned on using, and I had to wonder whether there isn't some kind of alternative for "cleaning" baby that avoids products altogether.

I don't use shampoo, conditioner, face wash, or body lotion (I use baking soda and apple cider vinegar on my hair, castor oil and olive oil on my face, and coconut oil on my skin). I use Dr Bronners castille soap for my body, which I really just use in the spots that sweat.

Is there anything similar, like something our great-grandmothers would have used, that would work for babe? It's as much a cost issue as anything else - baking soda and the like would be MUCH cheaper than Weleda or EMAB products.

[Friday13th]

Dr. Bronner's makes a baby-mild, so does Dr. Woods as well as a Castile/shea butter blend which is what we use. Really you only need a little for sweaty hair, stinky neck and bum and that's about it.

[mbhf]

I don't use soap on my baby at all. Actually he just had his first bath ever (he's 3 weeks old) and probably won't have one again for a while. Of course I wipe his bum when I change him and I wipe his head down if he's sweaty and his neck if it needs it but just with a wet (with water) washcloth. I also rub him down with coconut oil every once in a while.

[kathteach]

You can make your own soap cheaply. I just made a batch with olive oil, coconut oil, lye, and water.

[lifeguard]

I never used soap on ds. Just water.

[HappyMonkey]

Never soap for our baby either. And she's just turned 9 months old. There's just no need. No wipes either. I just rinse her well after she goes to the bathroom with running water from the sink, and we giver her a fun bath every few days. Maybe when she's running and sweating it might change, but I don't think so. She has perfect beautiful skin too.

[Knitting Mama]

Just water here, too. No soap or shampoo for me either, and my husband uses a sulfate free, soap free shampoo.

[P.J.]

We don't use soap very often, and it's not even necessary. When we do use it, we use a BDIH certified neutral "free" soap (no perfume, dye, tenside, etc...) in bar form. The bar is way cheaper than the liquid (around $4), and lasts for many months. Ours is Logona brand but I'm not sure if they sell that in the States, although there's got to be something similar.

[beebalmmama]

We use the mild uscented Dr Bronners, you only need a couple of drops to do the trick. Otherwise we just use water, especially when they're so little. These days more soap is necessary to get ds's meals out of his hair.

[luv-my-boys]

I usually only would do a water bath as most my kids had very very sensitive skin. For occassional use (like massive poopy blowouts) whole foods 365 line has a no fragrance/no dye glycerin soap. its AWESOME and I would recommend it for anyone with skin issues plus its only like under 2 a bar and lasts because you dont need a lot. Its the only soap we use now becasue it can be used by everyone in the house and really with a house full of sweaty boys they need a little soap action

[sparklefairy]

A bar of soap was a great place to store diaper pins :-) but in the dry climate here I didn't use soap on babies.

[cristeen]

At a year, im just starting to think about soap for his dirty knees. Up to now its been water only.

[sunnygir1]

Just water, maybe a little scrub with a washcloth on the grimey parts.

I wash his hands with soap, just hand made local soap with no weird ingredients.

[Peony]

I don't use soap on babies. Once they start getting lots of hair then I start washing it with something every 1-2 weeks other then it is just rinsed with water. They have always been over 1 when that was started.