I need baby toiletries help!

[KABB]

What are you all doing for your baby's bath and body products?

 

My babies had very sensitive skin. In addition to that, knowing what I know now I'd like to go with a cruelty free company which tend to be natural/organic products.

 

Most recently we've been using Burt's Bees and Boudreaux's baby products but we also have used, and like, California Baby products. I'm sure there are more product lines out there and was wondering what everyone's favorites are. Oh, just remembered Desert Essence came out with some sort of baby products, anyone try those? I don't even know how they compare in price to CB. I'll have to look.

 

Ideally I'd like to buy in bulk since we could use them on our three youngest could use the same things. However, I realize that's not always possible so bulk isn't completely necessary. I also don't want to break the bank. Shampoo/body wash and lotion are what I'm most interested in.

 

Any insight or recommendations for product lines or sites with good deals or discount codes available would be greatly appreciated.  I need something I can view/buy online. Going to a health food store is almost impossible for me right now.

[corrabelle]

Honestly, until my babies are at least 6 months old (and start getting things like "food" in their hair) i don't use baby soap/shampoo. There really isn't a need for it. Babies have oils in their skin and hair that naturally smell amazing, and their hair doesn't really get "greasy" like an adults.

That being said...there are recipes to make your own shampoo and lotions. I've made quite a few for myself that have turned out really well.

One of my favorite "shampoos" for a child though is a bit of baking soda mixed with a few drops of essential oil, and then diluted in water. It has enough grit to rub out any thing like cradle cap (or food!) but is so gentle on their skin.

For lotions I make a whipped sort of balm, beeswax, cocoa butter, almond oil and essential oils. (lavender or bergamot smells really nice on a baby!)

It costs peanuts compared to buying anything like it, and you know exactly what you're putting on your baby's skin!

[lifeguard]

I'm with corrabelle - we're very minimalistic when it comes to body care products for ourselves even. We were lucky that ds didn't really get diaper rash often or severely so I just used the samples I was given with my diaper covers (little mini pots from a local company). I did use a very little bit of skin lotion but it was just a store brand that was all-natural (being in Canada the brand is probably irrelevant for you).

I did use what seemed like a large amount of lanolin for my nipples but even that only amounted to one tube.

[emmaegbert]

Another minimalist here.

I just washed my babies in plain water (and not that frequently either) unless they seemed really dirty (and our whole family just uses the kiss-my-face olive oil soap which I think is very mild and wouldn't mind using on a baby). For oil I got some plain almond oil, when that ran out I also used coconut oil (which we use for cooking as well). I did use oil as a coating for the butt to keep meconium from sticking. Neither of my kids had diaper rashes so we never really used anything at all on diaper area once meconium was done. I started EC with my second at a little before 3m, and she did the vast majority of her poos in the potty (though lots of pee in her diapers) which I think kept her from getting the rash in the first place. I generally just wipe their butts with plain water on a cloth wipe if they need the cleaning, or even do a quick sink bath if it seems warranted (when they are still very small).

My kids now (2 and 6) probably use shampoo once a week tops? I have some unscented kind that I got from vitacost when I was doing a vitamin order (rainbow kids maybe?). It was cheap. It seems to work well and is very plain. In winter we do a rub on their skin with coconut oil a couple of times a week. Summer I don't do anything for their skin. I only use soap on them if they seem to be very dirty and scrubbing a bit with a wet cloth doesn't clean it.

I guess I am also not a big bather of the kids... 1-2 times a week (sometimes more for 2yo DD b/c she likes the bath, plus can start getting a little ripe so I just let her play in a plain water tepid bath).

FWIW I use very minimal products on myself as well, my skin reacts to a lot of smells, dyes, etc. Mostly I wash my face with plain water, my hair a couple of times a week with unscented shampoo (no conditioner) and use either alba botanicals or a plain oil for my skin.

[nicolian]

California Baby here. :)

[KABB]

Washing once a week is not my thing. I don't like it when babies get all crusty and smelly, it's just gross to me. 

As far as essential oils go, I'm not comfortable making anything with them myself at home because when I did was an issue for my youngest. Plus I don't want something that will grow bacteria or mold in it. 

[AlexisT]

I found that i had to wash DD daily, with some kind of cleanser, because she was bottle fed and she dribbled. Formula in neck folds is gross. I could've just top-and-tailed, but it wasn't much more work to do a full bath. Also, after the first few weeks, she loved her little bath. It made for a nice relaxing pre-bed routine.

I can't remember what we used though. I bought what they had in Boots. She never had sensitive skin so we didn't have to play around too much. I do remember going to find the Burts Bees diaper cream, because it was listed as cloth safe and I really liked it in general. But if I had to go out of my way to get it, I'm pretty sure I didn't use their bath products.

[Katico]

Yeah, I'm not in the "rarely bathed" camp, either.  I am a fan of daily baths, even when they're tiny.   I have a pretty high standard for little people cleanliness, crusty faces and dirty feet aren't my thing and nothing but a good soak in the tub really gets it all .  It's always been a nice part of bedtime and gives us something to do if we're out of ideas on a rainy day ;)  I also found that if DD didn't have a good bath at least every other day, she would get diaper rash, no matter how well I cleaned her bum with a wet washcloth.   

But, that said, I hate picking up someone's baby and having them smell overwhelmingly of some awful bubble bath....I want to smell that sweet baby, not something from a bottle!

I always went as natural as possible - I use a bar soap from a local company, unscented.  i find a bar of the good stuff lasts ages.  When she got big enough to wash herself, I started rubbing the soap on a washcloth or puff, makes lots of bubbles but she doesn't waste the bar.  I sometimes have used california baby.  I liked sweet almond oil for massage and moisturizing - I never bothered adding any essential oils, but you could easily and it would keep just fine.  

When she was a newborn, I kept a day's worth of washcloths in an empty wipes container with a bit of water, small amount of natural soap, almond oil and a drop or two of essential oil.  I used this for wipes, washing her face and neck, etc.  Any that didn't get used just went into the wash when I made the next batch, so no worries of mold etc

hmm, otherwise...I use standard diaper creams whenever she has a rash, which is rarely.  

[corrabelle]

It's pretty easy to keep a baby clean without soap;) If that's your thing though, that's fine! I'm sure there are a lot of natural based products out there (like california baby and burt's bees.)

I bathed mine daily, but skipped the soaps. And just because people don't always give their babies a full bath every day it doesn't mean that they let their babies get "crusty" or "smelly" either.

A lot of people just wipe them down with a wet cloth (same with that ultra thin baby hair!). Of course those neck rolls need cleaned out-please don't think that the mamas who are minimalists with "traditional" baths just walk around with stinky children.

[tank]

Have any of you used the method brand of baby products?  I really like their stuff and was thinking of trying it out.

[Jane]

I'm just planning to use as little soap as possible because lots of people in my family have sensitive skin. I use St. Ive's phtalate free soap or Dr. Bronner's baby soap (ie, no fragrance) for myself. I think I'll just plan to use that for the baby. I can't stand most essential oil smells, so all the lavender stuff just turns me off. I do like the honey smells, so perhaps Burt's Bees as a solution if there is something I need. I've always just dumped a cup of baking soda in the bathwater for babies, and they come out clean, and it seems to take the red out of irritated areas.

I think that your baby should smell the way you want your baby to smell. If you like baby powder, find a safe powdery thing. If you like foofy florals, same thing. If you like no scent, go with that. I don't think there's a wrong way to do it.

Additional question? Is tear free that big a deal? My friend says it is, but I've never bathed babies with tear free stuff, and I've bathed a bunch of kids.

[penguintattoo]

We use Burts Bees or Aveeno, I prefer Burts Bees but my daughters skin prefered the Aveeno lotion. We will probably just see what this baby's skin is like before buying too much. We don't use a whole bunch at a time, I think we used just over a bottle in her first year, I just like to use enough that they icky spit up smell goes away! I'm pretty sure Burts Bees is a subscribe and save option on Amazon as well.

[akayerich]

I like California Baby shampoo/body wash and also their diaper cream, but really only used both sparingly.  Otherwise, I really couldn't afford to use it.  I think I went through like 1.5 bottles of the diaper cream, and we're just now finishing up our 3rd bottle of the shampoo. I actually still use the shampoo for my 2.5 year old's hair since it's "no tears" and we still haven't mastered the art of washing hair without getting soap and water in our eyes.  For his body now, I just use a natural mild soap (sorry, I don't know the brand) when he needs it.  

I never had much need for moisturizer, but whenever I did, I'd use lanolin (like for the time he had wind chapped cheeks) or just coconut oil. 

I liked Kissaluv's diaper potion solution for making cloth wipes.  I always liked to make a bunch at a time, and found that if I used plain water, they'd start to smell musty too quickly.

[blueRhino]

Additional question? Is tear free that big a deal? My friend says it is, but I've never bathed babies with tear free stuff, and I've bathed a bunch of kids.

Unless you are a master as getting babies and small children to lean their head back as to not get any soap in their eyes when you rinse their, I think it, at least for hair. I think this is a bigger deal when they start sitting up in the tub. Soap in your eyes hurts! And it only takes a couple times to create bad associations with bath time. But we sometimes use regular soap for the rest of the bath. 

[saoirse2007]

we def use tear free....burts bees

I have bronners baby but it is def not tear free.....

I have a 4 year old, an almost 2 year old and tear free is  a must for me...once you get soap in their eyes it is huge drama getting them to wash their hair again

for a newborn we did not use alot of soop...i used olive oil on the cradle cap and washed that with a bit of soap

[emmaegbert]

Jane, for washing hair, tear free is really helpful b/c its darn hard not to get it in their faces when you are rinsing. But as you are doubtless aware given your line of work, some babies don't have much hair the first year (or longer), which is how mine were. So I didn't bother with shampoo until around when I started having to comb their hair. I love the smell of the california babies wash and its very concentrated, so it lasts a long while. its still very pricey, and we are really required to live frugally right now since I don't work for $$, so I probably will forgo it. if I have a baby with a full head of hair this time, I might spring for it.

And, IME washing with plain water cleaned the babies just fine. So does spot cleaning (lol) with a wet cloth. Maybe I projected too blase of an attitude there- my kids are not crusty or stinky. I was living in southern california until about 11 months ago, and I think its just not the norm in water-scarce places to have tons of baths. Then we were in the northeast for a very cold winter, and they were bundled and not getting their bodies that dirty, plus it was cold in our apartment a lot of the time. So I found this winter I didn't do daily baths either. This summer we are swimming daily in a very clean lake, so again, baths don't seem necessary all the time. My parents think this is kind of gross, but then they do admit the kids are clean. Funny, they think its wasteful of me to wash our clothes daily (for the most part) which to me really need it. Go figure. People are sensitive to different things I guess.

I can't stand the smell of most disposable diapers. Makes babies smell... weird... But I think I am pretty sensitive to smells in general, which may be why I prefer the plain water, unscented soaps as needed, plain oils regimen.

[AlexisT]

Mine was funny--she was born with hair, but it barely grew till she was nearly a year old. So I just needed a tiny dab of shampoo. She also had cradle cap for ages and I used oil to loosen the scales, so I needed to wash it off (I like olive oil, but it is a bit greasy and I don't like babies to smell like salad!)

[not_telling]

We also were pretty much just water/one bath a week in the beginning...and then we started using California Baby Shampoo/Body Wash in very small amounts.  We used their Calendula First Aid cream for lingering dry spots on DS's body.  And we used Weleda Calendula baby oil for cradle cap and sometimes for dry spots, too.

[theboysmama]

i have very sinsitive skin and so do my kiddos. we use Jasons for kids only shampoo. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=&rlz=1I7ADRA_en&q=jason+kids+only+shampoo&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6686676301420043866&sa=X&ei=TAc-TreBC43TiAKBuJXYDA&ved=0CHgQ8gIwAg# I use it for myself and for all of my kiddos. I find this one doesn't give me yeast (lots of soaps and shampoos do). I take lots of baths so I put the baby in with me if they seem to need it or happen to want to nurse or need attention while I am bathing. It is good bonding time and relaxing for us both. I use the shampoo for our hair (duh) but also as a body wash. We don't use any other soaps for bathing. If they have dry skin then I use olive oil. Seems to work well.

[starling&diesel]

I'll chime in with the minimalists.  DD was born with a full head of hair has never had her hair washed, and she's 2.5 yrs old and now has the most gloriously shiny, thick long blonde hair.  She's also never had any kind of cream or lotion on her (butt included), and never has had diaper rash.  No soaps either.  I think many products, no matter how natural they are, suppress the body's ability to take care of most of the issues baby's skin might have.  Heck, we didn't even let them bathe her in the hospital when we wound up there unexpectedly at her birth.  She smells great too, and always has.  She does have a bath every night and loves to hang out in there for as long as she can get away with, usually with me in there too, stealing precious time to read while she plays.  When she was an infant, we had baths together too ... I second that it's a great way to bond and nurse!