What is common sense for baby skin? We will clarify that here. Newborns have much thinner and more sensitive skin than older children and adults. Their immune system is still developing, so they require extra care.
In theory, you want to protect them from everything harmful in our environment, but in practice, it’s not that easy. Here are some points that are relatively simple to implement or at least worth considering.
Choose fragrance-free
Fragrances can cause allergies and may also contribute to the development of eczema. If you as a parent are allergic or have sensitive skin, you should be extra careful.
- Switch to fragrance-free detergent. Babies probably smell nice enough anyway. Skip fabric softener completely.
- If you want to use ready-made wet wipes (instead of water + oil on a washcloth), it’s good to choose an organic variety without unnecessary additives like fragrances. Natracare has good organic wet wipes enriched with organic oils from apricot, linden, and chamomile. These are especially useful when traveling or where clean water is not available.
- Choose fragrance-free diapers.
- Choose unscented skincare products without synthetic fragrance.
Hygiene & Skincare Products
- Babies and small children don’t need to bathe every day. They don’t sweat much and don’t get very dirty either. Of course, you should take care of intimate hygiene daily and rinse off any spit-up, but making daily baths a habit washes away natural skin oils and dries out the skin.
- Do not routinely use shampoo or shower gel. Oil and water work very well for a long time on little ones.
- Bubble baths or foam baths are quite unnecessary for babies. Only older children benefit from foam baths. Keep in mind that anything that foams a lot can dry out the skin. Water + oil is the ultimate for newborns.
- Mild skin irritations or light eczema can often be treated by persistently applying creams or oils. If you have a well-functioning oil, you can mix it with a baby lotion or cream for extra moisture.
Feel free to try our "7 natural tips that soothe eczema on baby & child skin" before considering hydrocortisone, which can thin the skin. 5. A little tip against itching is potato starch. It may sound a bit strange, but it’s super effective. It keeps the skin dry and the best part is that potato starch immediately soothes itching, especially in the diaper area. Replace talcum powder and dare to try potato starch! It’s completely natural, inexpensive, and good. 6. The best oils we can recommend for baby skin are jojoba oil, almond oil, and sesame oil. Very few people react to these oils. Use them to moisturize the skin as well as for washing and bathing. Remember that the skin should be slightly damp when you apply the oil.
Children’s Clothing
It’s easy to believe that clothes for babies and children are always free from toxins. But that’s not the case. They can contain residues of pesticides used on cotton plantations and are dyed with dyes/bleaches and have added chemicals to fix the color.
Some clothes are also “preserved” to keep pests away during storage and transport. A better alternative to conventional children’s clothes without organic certification is to buy secondhand or organic clothes (GOTS).
If you are going to buy new (non-organic) clothes, keep this in mind:
- Avoid black clothes entirely for babies and children. Black dyes are especially allergenic and toxic.
- Choose solid-colored and naturally colored garments as much as possible, especially those that will be close to the skin.
- Wash clothes at least twice before use. Use a fragrance-free and natural detergent. Skip fabric softener.
- Avoid plastic-like fabrics that feel sticky. They may be made of PVC, which contains vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, and phthalates that can harm the child’s reproductive ability.
- Buy outerwear with PFAS-free membranes and impregnation.
