Baby lotion

[Smellybears]

Evening all!
I have bottles and bottles of baby lotion, bought as presents when baby born. I’m just wondering is it an essential item that I should be using?! I never lotion my baby up, he gets a bedtime massage with Johnson’s bedtime cream but that’s it. Am I supposed to be applying body lotion?
Thanks all and apologies for sounding stupid!

No it's all bollocks. I had masses too and they don't need it!!!!

Thank god for that! 😂 seriously I have loads and not sure what to do with it! Asda have a food bank trolley which I was considering putting it all in but then thought it’s not food so will just be thrown in the bin.

I am in exactly the same boat, we have loads of it and although i love the smell, it's not great for DS so we don't use it. I was going to see if our local sure centre could use it, other than that, it's in the bin but it seems such a waste.

I genuinely don’t know why they make it. I don’t know any mums who cover their gorgeous smelling babies in baby lotion, they’d smell all wrong! My DS is 20mo and I wouldn’t dream of it, I’ve got a small tub of Aveeno that serves any dry skin needs far better than baby lotion would (soya anything, cold air and being too hot make his cheeks scaly)

I don’t get it! Mind you I do. Just one more example of very large companies playing on their “trusted brand” status to sell you shit you don’t need. I went to a gorgeous baby massage class when DS was small for 6 months and all we ever used was organic coconut or grapeseed oil. The lady who ran the class said it was lovely and kind to their skin without making them smell different, she said you need your baby to smell absolutely divine to you to help the bond. That’s why it’s so upsetting when you pass a newborn to Auntie Doreen and they come back stinking of perfume.

Babies don’t need anything really. Just water when they’re tiny and a really small amount of something kind to their skin to wash their hair when they’re 3 months plus. When they’re DS’s age at 20mo I’m going to say that they’re usually so covered in sticky, dribble, snot, food, and whatever else they’ve found interesting, you probably need a power washer by then you’re probably a bit less PFB and happy to use the absolutely acceptable 80p supermarket own brand wash

I use baby lotion to clean hob and sink (stainless steel) - brings them up a treat

Oh hang on, I'm reading lotion as oil, I may have this wrong!

I volunteer at Foodbank and we always need baby toiletries so please do pass it on

Nightmanager I make a really conscious effort to include mum and baby toiletries in my food bank box (breast pads, mat pads, sanpro, nappies, wipes, food and formula) but I just cannot see any need for baby lotion, I don’t know any mum who uses it! Perhaps it might be repurposed as body lotion but I do think it’s horrible that big companies prey on that mum guilt to sell unnecessary stuff. Babies smell great. They need a bath twice a week in tepid water if that, nothing else.

@badgerthebodger we get asked for it a lot by mums with African heritage - they tell me their babies/toddlers have dry skin. I wouldn’t have considered it an essential either but it’s requested fairly regularly.

A beautician friend suggested I used my unused (on baby!) bottles as a cream cleanser - it works excellently! Otherwise I’m sure you can donate it to your local food bank or women’s refuge.

I have always used baby lotion as a cleanser. You wipe the poo off and the immovable bits get covered with lotion, wipe off instantly like magic. Its good stuff. Equally good for make up cleansing.

I’ll contact the food bank and ask if they will accept it! Glad I’m not the only one that doesn’t see the point in it!

Nightmanager ah fair enough

We were given loads of lotions and baby bath products as gifts, so far DD hates the bath and screams the whole time.

I've never used it on my baby. He's now 19m and I still only use shampoo/body wash about twice a week unless he's lost a fight with food I'm just finishing up a second bottle of Child's Farm in a year and a half. And a tiny amount of Oilatum for dry skin when it oçcurs. Totally unnecessary.

Could you donate it to a charity shop? Not sure if they accept toiletries. If not, you local Woman's refuge?

Dual heritage baby here and we have to use it fairly often to avoid dry skin.

When my daughter was a baby I used organic almond oil on her skin, now I use a lotion after the bath every night, child's farm or similar. It's just part of her bedtime routine and her skin is lovely! She's nearly 4