Baby soaps, shampoo etc.

**bubbasweet** · 16-04-2012, 06:28pm

Are these necessary? I was somewhat baffled looking at a display of baby toiletries in Tescos yesterday and came to the conclusion that with the exception of no-more-tears shampoo, which I remember from my childhood and seems to be a genius invention, they were all designed to appeal to ME rather than being a necessity IYWSIM.

Can I just use ordinary soap? ie. Dove, Imperial Leather, Pears etc. I presume young babies don't actually get properly dirty (poo incidents aside) so won't need proper washing as often as older children or adults do.

**Damsella** · 16-04-2012, 06:30pm

Err, well they get a fair amount of milk and vomit on themselves as well

I recommend the Earth Friendly range. I don't recommend normal soap, it can be very harsh.

Plain water is good as well. We found a top and tail bowl very useful, along with cotton wool.

**bubbasweet** · 16-04-2012, 06:31pm

See I have quite a lot to learn

It hadn't even occured to me about vomit

**Damsella** · 16-04-2012, 06:34pm

They get milk all down their neck as well, in my experience!

**Mrs B** · 16-04-2012, 06:37pm

I never used anything apart from baby shampoo and some aqueous cream for cleaning/moisturising at the same time.

**Sam** · 16-04-2012, 06:37pm

You might be washing baby a couple of times a day after feeds/nappy changes, I'd definitely go with something gentle and sls-free. Johnsons etc was way to harsh on all 3 of mine

**Peony** · 16-04-2012, 06:38pm

Plain water is fine and does the job. That's all we were encouraged to use in the hospital and we just stuck with that for months. Smooth on some olive oil if they're looking a bit dry. I used wipes when out and about but plain water and reusable wipes at home.

**Faith** · 16-04-2012, 06:40pm

The thing with Dove etc is they have loads of stuff added, which can irritate a baby's skin. So the general rule is to stick to something as basic as possible- baby products are usually designed to contain as little as possible in the way of additives, so I'd definitely stick to the baby aisle.

Separate shampoo/soap/wash and whatnot is unnecessary, one product is enough. I found either Burts Bees or Neals Yard are far superior, although more expensive. Both my DD's were sensitive to petroleum products though (which is in pretty much everything from soap to sudocrem) so those two are beeswax and olive based respectively. Neals yard do a fab bath oil and baby wash, I used it a lot myself it's so good

I bathed them every night, more for a bedtime routine than a cleanliness thing. Bath signalled the start of wind down time, and right from the very beginning a bath would calm them when nothing else worked. So I used very little in the way of product, just plain water mostly.

**bubbasweet** · 16-04-2012, 06:47pm

I defo won't be using Johnson's as their pink lotion makes my skin sting

**Elvisola** · 16-04-2012, 06:48pm

My friend bought me the Weleda baby baths, creams etc and I really liked them. They get good reviews in the baby mags as well iirc.

In the very early days I just used plain water and olive oil to soothe the flakiness.

**Zia** · 16-04-2012, 06:53pm

I read an interesting book many years back, 'Cosmetics Unmasked' I think it's called. If I remember correctly it said that baby products have to have higher levels of preservatives etc so they're safer for babies. So while some adults use baby products on their skin thinking that they'll be more gentle (e.g. celebrities saying they use baby wipes on their face), they actually contain more of the irritating ingredients in them than products for adults do.

**Damsella** · 16-04-2012, 06:54pm

Originally Posted by Zia

I read an interesting book many years back, 'Cosmetics Unmasked' I think it's called. If I remember correctly it said that baby products have to have higher levels of preservatives etc so they're safer for babies. So while some adults use baby products on their skin thinking that they'll be more gentle (e.g. celebrities saying they use baby wipes on their face), they actually contain more of the irritating ingredients in them than products for adults do.

I think things have moved on a lot since then. For instance, now all ingredients are listed and everybody is far more aware of things like SLS.

**littlerose12345** · 16-04-2012, 06:53pm

Originally Posted by Damsella

Err, well they get a fair amount of milk and vomit on themselves as well

I recommend the Earth Friendly range. I don't recommend normal soap, it can be very harsh.

Plain water is good as well. We found a top and tail bowl very useful, along with cotton wool.

My sister uses this for hers and raves about it!

**claireh** · 16-04-2012, 06:54pm

In the early weeks I used water only. I then used infacare which I use for hair and body washing.

It does not irritate my lo's skin and I also love how it smells.

**Chickpea** · 16-04-2012, 07:03pm

Originally Posted by Peony

Plain water is fine and does the job. That's all we were encouraged to use in the hospital and we just stuck with that for months. Smooth on some olive oil if they're looking a bit dry. I used wipes when out and about but plain water and reusable wipes at home.

Totally this, and I had a right puker, but water was just fine, no need for anything else.

**cheeky_biscuit** · 16-04-2012, 07:06pm

I think less is best with little ones. We used baby ranges of body-wash/bubble bath. Olive oil on dry skin.
SLS - personally I have no concerns using it but I know of people who are sensitive to it.

**lisnic** · 16-04-2012, 07:20pm

I use these products and have always with ds and will do with dd too link to one of them,I have bath stuff head to toe wash and shampoo-often on 3 for 2 also.we all have sensitive skin it appears and ds hasn't had any issues and dd has had bath stuff only so far no shampoo but is also ok.i have used on occasion too if my skin been playing up

http://m.boots.com/mt/www.boots.com/...400ml_1108700/

I use little me organics (also get in boots) body cream it's in a round flattish tub on ds too again no problems and smells amazing! They dont have it on boots site but this is it

http://www.keepmeinspired.co.uk/shhh...ead-body-cream

**lazymummy** · 16-04-2012, 07:23pm

I 2nd the Boots stuff lisnic has linked to, it's really good

**Clementine** · 16-04-2012, 07:35pm

Just water and cotton wool here - for the first 6 weeks or so.

Then we progressed to Burts Bees stuff for bath and head it's really nice stuff and she doesn't get that dirty so only use sparingly. We use wipes when we're out and about for ease.

Originally Posted by Damsella

They get milk all down their neck as well, in my experience!

Yes - I discovered milk in neck folds a few weeks ago. I was cuddling DD and wondered what the stale, sweet gone off smell was. I thought it was ear wax at first. Turns out it was milk. UGH.

**Dr Spouse** · 16-04-2012, 08:02pm

We use the baby bath stuff that is good for hair and skin and doesn't need rinsing, which is what the hospital suggested. We just use Boots/Sainsbury's own brand though we started with J&J.

I noticed that at least Baby S has far fewer toiletries bottles than we do, so is easier to pack for a trip for than us in that respect!