No-tear baby shampoo?

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Hi there. Forgive me if there is a thread on this already; I did a search and couldn't find anything.

I've been on a hunt for alternative no-tear baby shampoos to try and avoid SLS etc. Today I came across one that said that it's NOT no-tear because it doesn't have any anesthetizing ingredients.

Is THAT what's in J&J and other baby shampoos that makes them no-tear? If so, are all no-tear formulas similar? Anyone know what ingredients I should be looking out for? I'm not freaking out about this, but I am curious, and I certainly don't want to be using shampoo like that.

And if it's true that it's anesthetizing ingredients, and if all no-tear formulations have these, then how the heck do I wash a toddler's long hair without getting it in her eyes? She's not a fan as it is....

Thank you for any information you can give me!

[Kimmiepie]

Hmmm I use Jason's shampoo on my kids. It's free of the parabens etc, sls etc. It says it's tear free, but now I'm wondering why.

This is what the website says about it.

Kids Only™ Extra Gentle Shampoo

No Lauryl/Laureth Sulfates
Enriched with Chamomile, Marigold and Whole Wheat Proteins. Minimizes Tangling to Ease Wet and Dry Combing

Kids Only!™ Extra Gentle Shampoo for children of all ages. Today's polluted environment and water can be harsh on young children's hair and skin. JASON Kids Only!™ Extra Gentle Shampoo is specifically formulated with extra-mild botanical surfactants to cleanse gently, thoroughly and in total comfort. Certified organic extracts of Chamomile and Marigold help calm and soothe. Mild enough for daily use. This shampoo has the same pH as the tears from your eyes, so there'll be no tears if shampoo gets into your little one's eyes.

www.jason-natural.com

[Momsteader]

I'm not sure about natural formulations, but the 'no tear' part is anethesizing agents as far as I know. YEP. I didn't know it until my second kiddo either! The reason it's 'no tear' is because it kills the tear sensation. It's still 'hurting' but you're just not noticing.

Here is some info I found *Quaternium-15 (makes it tear-free) so if you see that is what does it

And from Arbonne:

Sooooo I guess the natural stuff just uses less 'strong' stuff. http://www.arbonneuniversity.com/scr.../baby_care.php From most of the way down:

"The ABC Hair and Body Wash is tear-free and is a claim that you are able to put on a product after it has been tested in a laboratory. It cannot irritate the eye of a person when they use it. We do not add any ingredients that make it tear-free, instead, we don’t use the ingredients that are know to irritate the eye. In comparison to those products in the marketplace that other companies will put light anesthetic-type ingredients into their products to almost numb the eye, so you won’t feel the side effects of irritating ingredients. We, instead, take a more healthful approach, and don’t use any irritating ingredients at all. We have the safety studies to support the tear-free claim. "

[luluhoney]

no tear doesn't necessarily mean anesthetizing

I can't speak with any knowledge about Jason's, but Johnson and Johnson's Baby Shampoo doesnt' contain any anesthetizing agents.

To be no-tear, baby shampoos can be more diluted than regular shampoos, and have a higher ph to be non irritating.

this is a good answer post about johnson and johnson. it's very in-depth and it describes what each ingredient does, as well as where they got their info from so you can research other brands if you wanted:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=442292

but unfortunately I don't know about other brands! good luck.

:

[delphiniumpansy]

I searched the environmental working group's skindeep website and found some options. But, they did not work all that well. My dd has sensitive skin. Plus, she is really picky. So we are using huggies right now. It is blue and smells great and she will let us wash her hair, which is a bonus. When she is older and less picky (She is 4 now) and more reasonable, we will switch back to something more natural. It is no tears and works great at getting her hair clean. It smells like melons. I am sure it is full of unhealthy stuff but she was getting dermatitis from not washing her hair so we had to do something.

[mommycat2008]

I have been using Burt's Bees Baby Bee products on my little one. She's not quite three months old and there have been no issues, as yet. The shampoo & wash claim to be tear free and their products are over 97 percent natural. This particular product contains no sodium laurel/laureth sulfate, paraben, or phthalate...and it's ph balanced. Her hair shines and her skins has a pretty glow, too!

[jenerationx]

We use Burt's Bees, too.

[pampered_mom]

From what I understand of the whole "tear free" thing is not that there is any anesthetic involved, but rather that companies use ethoxylation to do it. It then leaves 1,4-dioxane residues in the product and 1,4-dioxane is considered a carcinogen. Devra Davis talks about this in her book "The Secret History of the War on Cancer".

The so called "natural" products out there aren't really any different (see OCA's recent press release) and you can pretty much assume that anything out there made by the more mainstream companies (P&G, J&J, etc) use it.

ETA: Here's a press release that talks about some of the mainstream products and levels that were found there. This site references some "FDA maximum" limit, but from my understanding the FDA hasn't set any levels at all (safe or not).

FWIW I'm more concerned about 1,4-dioxane in my children's personal care products than I am since they are more likely to be exposed to them for greater periods of time than I or my husband (in the bath water while they are sitting in it to play, etc)