The safest approach to infant personal care is to use only 100% natural, organic and edible products.  

Why edible?  

Because skin is permeable and absorbs whatever we put onto it - right into our bloodstream.  So if a product is safe to eat, it's safe to use topically.  

The skin of babies is even more delicate than adult's skin - much thinner and much less resilient, more absorbent and highly susceptible to irritants. We wouldn't let them drink or touch poison, so why apply poisons to their skin?   

Dr Erica Elliott, in her wisdom, gives a simple piece of advice: "If you can't eat it, don't put it on your body".   

(image source)

Chemicals in commercial baby-care products are unsafe (no matter what it says on the bottle about 'gentle' and 'skin-kind') and can result in serious adverse reactions - both external and internal, and often horrible and irreversible.

Most of us have experienced rashes, itchiness, burning, clogged pores etc from commercial products (mostly during our teenage years, right?!) but that's not the worst of it.  Not only do they affect the surface of our skin, but can also affect our hormones, immune systems, nervous systems, reproductive systems, liver, brain, heart... everything!!!    

But where can one buy all these 'natural, organic and edible' skin-care baby products, you ask?

The answer - most supermarkets, or natural/wholefoods stores.  Because for the first few years (at least) of a child's life, you can manage perfectly nicely with these two products: coconut oil and vinegar.

You absolutely SHOULD NOT apply shampoos, conditioners, bubble baths, lotions, gels, creams, powders (especially any containing talc), sprays, or any other chemical concoctions.  For one thing it's unnecessary.  For another thing every chemical is a risk to health, and why take risks when we don't need to? 

This "Natural Mama's" Advice for Infant Personal Care (personally tried, tested and vehemently recommended):

1.  Bathe once or twice a week, not every day.

Bathing too frequently damages the microbial balance by removing the beneficial bacteria on our skin, which we need for producing our own antibiotics.  It also removes the natural oils, leading to dryness and unpleasant skin conditions.  Babies and infants don't need much washing - each night I give my son a quick wash with a flannel of his face, hands and groin area, and then usually on a weekend and/or mid-week he enjoys a nice long bath.

If your water supply contains chlorine, I also recommend using vitamin C, in the form of ascorbic acid, to dechlorinate bath water.  I add 1 teaspoon of ascorbic acid (I buy online here) to the bath water, which neutralises chlorine and chloramine. There are also other ways to reduce chemicals in bath water, which you can read about in a great article here. 

2.  Vinegar or homemade herbal hair rinse, not baby shampoo.

Most of the time I use vinegar to wash my son's hair.  Fill a spray bottle 1/3 of vinegar, and top up with water.  I spray it on, give a good scrub to his scalp with my fingertips, leave on a few minutes before rinsing.  Soft, shiny, healthy hair, healthy scalp.  Alternatively you can make a simple herbal rinse, which smells lovely.  The ingredients I specifically chose for their effectiveness in reducing cradle cap, common with babies:    

Ingredients:

1 tblsp dried chamomile flowers 

1 tblsp dried calendula petals 

1 tblsp dried rosemary 

1 tblsp dried sage

Method:

Put all the ingredients into a jar and cover with boiling water.  Leave to brew for at least 30 minutes.  Strain and pour into a spray bottle. 

3.  Coconut oil to prevent and treat nappy rash (and any area of dryness or scratches).

Coconut oil is all that's need for any dryness on baby's skin.  I've tried a few other oils, such as almond oil and vitamin E oil, but I find coconut is the best.  Apply each night to help keep skin moisturised, or apply generously at every nappy change baby has nappy rash, and you'll find their skin heals very nicely.  Even sore and bleeding skin can heal overnight, it's really that good!  (Perhaps it's due to my no-chemical approach, but my son rarely gets nappy rash, and when he does it usually coincides with teething, as the two often happen together).

If you're a user of cloth nappies, I recommend Disana organic raw silk liners to treat nappy rash, which have an anti-inflammatory effect.  You can use coconut oil when using cloth nappies, as it's void of fish oil unlike many commercial oils than leave the nappies stinking no matter how often you wash them!  Yuk! 

4.  Banana toothbrush

Although children don't really need to start brushing their teeth until they're around 2 (when teeth are touching and therefore food can get trapped), it's not a bad idea to get them used to taking care of their oral hygiene.  I love this banana toothbrush, you may have seen or even have one - made from food-grade silicone, toxin-free - for teething infants.  It's great for them to chew on, which is it's main function, but the massaging bristles also gives them a sense of what it'll be like to brush their teeth later on. When the time comes for my boy to brush his teeth properly, he won't be using a fluoridated toothpaste, that's for sure. 

5.   A good diet - aids cell repair; keeps skin & body healthy.

I can't stress enough the importance of diet for holistic health, though my beloved Steemit pals definitely know by now how enthusiastic I am about natural approaches to everything!  Simply put: if we eat crap, we'll look and feel like crap, and the same goes for our children. If they eat well, and by that I mean fresh nourishing wholefoods, plenty of vegetables and fruit, good fats, no processed rubbish, no sugar... then their skin will be clear and glowing, their hair thick and shiny, their teeth cavity free, their eyes bright, their bodies strong inside and out.    

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