Keeping a baby clean without using chemicals...

[MildWest]

Expecting first baby in November, and currently trying to stock up on stuff we might need but want to avoid using chemicals/perfumed products as much as possible. As ever, finding the advise a bit conflicting so looking for some 'real life' recommendations...

Bathing - reckoning on just using water for first 6 weeks, then switching to a gentle green product without SLS/parabens. Any recommendations of something not-too-expensive?

Massaging - read somewhere you can just use olive oil after the bath - natural and cheap, assuming it doesn't leave the baby smelling a bit odd?!

Nappy changing - not really experianced in just how bad the nappy aftermath can be! So, thinking about using cotton wool and water at home (or perhaps washable wipes) with a pack of eco wipes for out and about. Good idea or bad?!

Nappy cream - sudocream seems to have lots of petro-chemical ingrediants in it. Anyone got recommendations for a more natural alternative, perfereably a cheap-ish one?

Anything else that people use?

I only started putting things in the bath when they were about 2 1/2, before then it was just plain water. I've always used water and cotton wool when doing nappy changes at home and only used wipes when out. Also gave them massages using Olive Oil.

Grapeseed oil is much nicer than olive oil for baby massage. Much lighter. Can buy it in Sainsburys. Cheaper too!

I third halos and horns - there's a baby bath and then more interesting smells in other washes, plus a shampoo too. Really cheap in tesco, and you get loads in a tube. I use it for washable wipe solution - if you are committed to not using nasty chemicals on your baby you'll definitely be interested in using reusable wipes rather than baby wipes - this will save you serious money over the first few years of your baby's life - in addition to the money saved by cloth nappies.

Waitrose baby bottom butter is brill too - mumsnetters made the news by putting this on their faces too! I think waitrose has upped production and is finally able to stock the shelves enough.

Only water here!!!
we only used olive oil once and it exacerbated eczema horrendously, but we did use virgin which is stronger apparantly.

Dss still only bathed in water - 2.7 and 14 months.
Massage - yup olive oil or sweet almond oil
Cotton wool and water works just as well out. Get a mini spray bottle from boots or superdrug for water
Waitrose do a lovely bottom butter.

Oooo! I have a 4mo and thanks for tesco facecloths - I HATE using wipes

I wouldn't worry about putting stuff in the bath, babies don't get dirty so they just need water IME.

I use olive oil and my baby smells fine - i tend to use it only once a week though as i only wash him once a week (on advice from MW before you go thinking I'm slovenly!)

we use terry nappies and use biodegradable, flushable liners and biodegradable nappy soak from perfectly happy people.

Red head thats a good point. Small babies don't need washing often. I still only bath my boys twice a week - unless really filthy - because I'm worried about dry skin. If I bth/shower more than every other day I get exzema and dry skin, just think what it would do to a poor little bubba's delicate covering!

My DS is now 9mo and has never been washed in anything other than water. Rather than fanny about with cotton wool balls etc., I have a plastic tub on his change unit, into which he gets dunked. (started with an icecream tub, then up to a large tupperware lunch box, now on a square washing up bowl). The advantage to this is there is no risk of him slipping out of your hands as the tub is too small.

I found cotton wool to be a real PITA (no pun intended) on the sticky poo as it tends to shred and get stuck in interesting places so only used it for the first 3 days (with the extreme tarry stuff) and after that it was just dunking in the plastic bowl and washing him with my hand or a baby flannel.

For nappy cream etc. I use Nelson's calendula cream when required (only when he's a bit red) - not the most organic probably but pretty good generally. For the worse rashes, I used my nipple balm that was made up for me by a herbalist - beeswax, calendula and chamomile and I would mix it with a couple of drops of lavender essential oil. If you are interested in the beeswax nipple balm, go to this site - it is excellent stuff! And very pure.

If you want to massage your baby, you can use olive oil but it is a little on the heavy side. I use massage-grade grapeseed oil, which is much lighter - you could use that instead.

Bathing is about once a week, in a baby bath with bath salts to soften the water and a couple of drops of lavender oil.

He has never had his hair washed in any kind of product and tbh it doesn't need it.

I do now use wipes, Nature Babycare ones, but only when out, not in the home - as DS is in cloth nappies, they are necessary when changing him outside the home cos I can't always get his bum in water!

HTH, good luck
Good luck!

Agree, they don't really need baths either. I mean, not very often. They don't sweat, do they, very young babies. That is why they can overheat etc. So no need for much more than a top and tail. And doing that only requires a bit of water, right ?

oblomov, my DS sweated hugely from birth, nearly all through his head, although his feet got quite clammy sometimes too. But it doesn't smell like it does on adults and just water still did the job.

oh sorry thumbwitch. Maybe I got my facts wrong then.

no worries; not really "wrong" - it is a very common misconception that occurs even throughout baby books; it's only when you get one that sweats and panic because they're "not supposed to" that you find out it's not that unusual, actually .

DS2 doesn't sweat as we know it, but his palms and soles of his feet are always soaking! but he doesn't sweat elsewhere! Still he doesn't smell and just water does the trick!

Children's sweat doesn't (usually) smell til they reach puberty, but yes, they do sweat.

weleda baby stuff is fine, for example using the oil in a bath.

cotton wool and water for nappies, use wipes for when we're out.

Also don't forget nappies, they have loads of grim deodorisers etc, I try to use eco nappies in the daytime, though do use huggies at night.

Bear in mind other stuff too like household cleaning products, paint, garden pesticides, that can be really harmful, as well as bisphenol bottles etc..

It sometimes seems a bit overwhelming but I think it's worth it to protect our kids from all this stuff!

sorry, can I just add, cotton wool has to be those biscuit sized discs you use for taking make up off. they do the job much more efficiently than wads or balls of cotton wool that just go everywhere.

I have a 2-year-old and a 4-month-old and haven't bought a packet of wipes for about 18 months. I'm not an eco-martyr, I just find it the easiest way to clean bums both at home and out and about.

I buy pleats of cotton wool (cheaper than balls and discs) and spend a few seconds every couple of days tearing them into usable sized bits. Some big for pootastrophes some small for dribbles.

At home I have a bowl of water standing by the changing mat (often use warm water if it's cold).

Out and about I either have some dry cotton wool and a bottle of water in my changing bag, or more usually I have a v small tupperware box and pop some pre-torn cotton wool and dampen it down; voila, ready damped cotton wool, every bit as convenient as wipes but cheaper and better at cleaning imo.

BTW Ikea do 10 flannels for £1 and I make each one into 4 wipes...very cheap reuseable wipes! Yet another bottom butter fan here, too. Bepanthen is much better than sudocrem IMO, but I have only had to use nappy creme once. My DS has such lovely skin, wish I could get the same results from water! Have to say, though, that we do shampoo his hair once in a while with weleda baby shampoo because it just smells divine!