Can someone recommend a good, natural, tear-free baby shampoo?

[ksmeadowlark]

I originally used Aveeno which worked fine and was tear-free. But I wanted something more natural so I tried Healthy TImes Pansy shampoo. It smelled good, but it makes DS scream bc it hurts his eyes, and he has now associated that with getting his hair washed, which is awful. He used to let me do it without too much trouble.

I checked at our local mercantile and they carry a number of "natural" brands, but only a few say they are tear-free. The clerk was telling me that the shampoos that are tear-free sometimes actually have a chemical in them that just masks the burning sensation, which I am not sure about, but it doesn't sound good.

Any suggestions?
thanks!

[lilyka]

I like burts bees. It comes in a bar so you only get a very little bit at a time. I am not sure if it tear free but I don't go to great efforts to keep it out of thier eyes and she has never complained. You might want to try that.

[Quirky]

California Baby! Try the Super Sensitive , it's extremely mild. We use it as both shampoo and body wash.

[natmother]

You should take a look at california baby http://www.californiababy.com.

The baby wash is very tear free and very natural and non toxic. Their products are also wonderful for sensitive skin and excema.

[tessamami]

Another vote for

California Baby.

I have at times used Dr. Bronner's, too. Can't attest to the tear-free aspect, though.

[HeatherSanders]

I don't look for 'no tears' varieties, because the only reason that it actually IS no tears is because it contains an eye-numbing agent. That makes me uncomfortable.

We use Dr. Bronner's baby mild on Kenny (with a touch of Lavender Essential Oil in the mix) and the Peppermint in the a.m. on the girls when they can't quite get moving!

[ali1331]

I've heard great things about California Baby. I want to add that many tear free shampoos have lots of ingredients that are far from natural. However, Tami of Tami's soaps has stated (as well as others) that tear free shampoos do not contain numbing agents. She is a soap maker that I respect but obviously everyone can do her/his own research.

[HeatherSanders]

Thanks for that Ali. The lady who clued me in to this was Kristin Bell of Aromaleigh . . . so, I'm going to ask her exactly 'WHAT' they were and see if we can't get to the 'bottom' of this!

INFORMATION HIGHWAY . . . HERE I COME!

[ksmeadowlark]

Oh, yeah! I am glad you are interested in researching this, Heather, bc I don't have time right now! ! We are about to move into our first home and I am applying for jobs for the fall, it is crazy around here!

[HeatherSanders]

I never have time, but things like this grate on my nerves when I feel like I have false information, y'know. I'll get back with y'all on it.

[ali1331]

Thanks for doing research. I had tried the other day without much luck. There are LOTS of places that claim that tear-free shampoo contains numbing agents but none actually say what they are. Today I found that some say that tear-free impedes the eyes ability to form tears. Possible. Johnson&Johnson on their website say that such information is false. There is nothing I can find on Snopes so I am just as caught up in the tangle as the rest of you. I suppose if I really had the time I could google all the ingredients on my Aveeno shampoo bottle. I will say that in Tami's post on AW (it was a long time ago and a lot of messages has sinced been purged from the Amity board) she actually went through identifying each of the ingredients on a tear-free shampoo and did not find any numbing agents. Like I said I respect Tami and hope I am not doing her a disservice by quoting an old post that no longer exists. Obviously shampoos may have been changed. Don't you just wish sometimes that things were a bit more simple? Anyway I suppose an easy way to avoid this problem is to buy a product where you actually understand what the ingredients are. Sorry for rambling.

[Deirdre]

I have used California Baby since dd was an infant and we've never had a tear problem!

I do use the Burt's Bees Shampoo Bar when we travel. I don't think it is tear-free if it gets directly rubbed into eye by a 2 year old who loves to play with soap!!!! (can you tell this happened to us? )

~Deirdre

[grumo]

yet another vote for California Baby. It is expensive so we dilute it quite a bit.

Initially, we used Dr Brommer's baby soap, and then one day I washed my face with it and left it on my face for several seconds (imagine that, a mother getting intterupted in the middle of washing her face!), and it began to sting my face! I haven't used dr brommer's on her body since. We still use the peppermint for hand soap.

[laura163]

I really like the Arbonne hair and body wash. It rinses very well and has a very light scent. They also sell a baby lotion that doesn't cause Jack to get a rash.

They make an herbal diaper rash cream that is expensive but really good.

Laura

[natmother]

I use the BB shampoo bar but it did irritate my daughters eyes once so I only use it carefully.

[bellamama]

I also like california baby shampoo but LOVE tom's of maine Honeysuckle baby shampoo. It is the sweetest smell ever. It rinses out pretty easily also.

[natmother]

oh yah I like that toms of maine honeysuckle shampoo too. It leaves my dd's hair real soft. That has irritated her eyes before though.

[ksmeadowlark]

Ouch, the California Baby shampoo costs an arm and a leg. One thing I noticed when perusing the "natural" shampoos is that some of them said that they were pH balanced so as not to cause eye irritation. I thought that that might be a clue in figuring out this tear-free shampoo ingredient...

[SerenityScott]

A hairdresser from my MOPS groups told me that it is a novacaine derivative that makes most shampoos tear-free. She said she did a paper on it in cosmatology school. Perhaps a clue for your search? Happy hunting.

[Quirky]

with the cb, it isn't cheap, but a little goes a long way - we're only on our second bottle in 8 months.