My daughter Olivia was born with very sensitive skin and has been prone to eczema flares since she was 2 weeks old. It’s been a lot of trial and error during this year trying to find a suitable product for her skin. I guess it’s a blessing in disguise that her skin will not tolerate most products. Maybe we’ve managed to avoid some of the toxins found in so many baby skin care products.
Needless to say, I have looked at a lot of labels over the year! I am shocked that products made for babies delicate skin and immature immune systems are made with so many proven irritants.
Many parents put faith in the companies behind conventional baby products because it never enters their minds that products made specifically for babies could be harmful. Unfortunately, there are many baby products available today that have questionable ingredients. Most commonly, these are found in conventional products, however in my search for all natural baby care products, I even found some “natural” brands that use questionable ingredients as well.
Let’s break down just a few of the many nasty ingredients:
Parabens are preservatives that have estrogenic qualities. They are the leading cause of dermatitis. They have produced abnormal hormonal effects following application on laboratory rodents, particularly male, resulting in decreased testosterone levels and other abnormalities. They have also been found to accumulate in the breast tissue of women with breast cancer.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or SLS for short is an ingredient that gives a product like a shampoo or liquid soap its foaming ability. It is a known skin irritant and in fact when testing new a healing ointment or crème, SLS is the irritant they first rub on the skin to test the healing properties of their new product.
SLS can penetrate and be retained in the eyes, brain, heart, and liver with potentially harmful effects according to the journal of the American College of Toxicology. In a baby product, SLS might cause rashes, eczema or other skin irritations. To add further insult, products containing SLS are sometimes labeled as “natural” or organic because SLS is a detergent derived from coconut oil.
Synthetic perfumes or fragrances can contain hundreds of chemicals. Some, such as methylene chloride are carcinogenic and others might cause headaches, dizziness, coughing, vomiting and skin irritation.
Talc is white-gray mineral powder used as a baby powder. Moms might use it to keep their baby’s skin smooth and dry but is often contaminated with asbestos which makes it carcinogenic when inhaled.
Those ingredients hardly sound appropriate for tender baby skin. So what can you do to avoid these dangerous baby products?
- Read the ingredients. Many times I Google the ingredient. Yay internet! Find out what they are and what they do. Soon you’ll be a wiz at knowing what to avoid!
- Find reputable companies that offer organic and 100% all natural baby products. Since there is no regulation for skin care products you might need to do some research to find the legitimately natural companies.
- Try making some of your own baby products. If you make your own, you’ll know exactly what is in them. This is my next step if I cannot find a safe & effective product to treat Olivia’s eczema.
If you’re as concerned as I am about limiting the amount of toxics in your home and on your skin – you’ll find that some of the so called “natural” companies found in your natural food store also contain unacceptable ingredients.
Check your products against this recent report from the Organic Consumers Association.
I have also used EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database to investigate products. EWG rates products on a scale of 0-10. Zero being the safest. In some cases you need to make an educated guess because there is not enough data to give a proper score. For example, the lack of testing on olive oil or that FDA approves petroleum jelly??!
Nearly all the conventional brands have lousy “red zone” ratings. It’s a disgrace really. I hope that with our knowledge comes the power to influence these companies to do a little better.
Finding safe products for the family is not always easy, especially if your little ones have extra sensitive skin like Olivia does. I am anxiously waiting for the arrival of another product to sample. I will be providing a list of my favorite all natural baby skin care products in the weeks to come.
These are my thoughts on living a healthy and simple life. I'm a modern mom with some traditional ideas. At home, I try to clear the confusion from all the conflicting health and parenting advice with some common sense and a natural philosophy. This is the sanest way I know how to navigate the 21 century.
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