The Scent of a Baby...

I admit I love the smell of baby. Okay, it's not the smell of the actual baby, but the lotions and washes I grew up smelling on my much younger brother and sister. There are few things I miss since I got rid of all of our chemicals, and my children smelling like Johnson & Johnson is one of them.

However, once I did some research on what made the soap and lotion smell as lovely as it does I couldn't use it on my kiddos with a clear conscience. As I attempted to gather some sources for my blog I stumbled upon a well written and sourced article and decided to post a link.

The Daily Green: Safe Alternatives to Baby Lotions and Wipes:

"There’s a whole baby beauty care industry devoted to fragrant
and adorably packaged lotions, powders and ointments, but the reality is that
not only are they mostly unnecessary, they can be toxic too. In fact, the more
they smell the less natural they probably are. We’ve been trained to think that
lotions are soothing, that baby powder relieves wetness, but lotions really
aren’t necessary on an infant’s thin skin, and powder can actually increase
dampness, bacterial growth and rashes. Baby powders often contain talc too,
which is a carcinogen, and can irritate airways when inhaled.

I wash all of my kids with Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild that I have in a foaming hand pump. It's very easy and the kids love washing themselves with the foam. It's not "tear-free" (another post at another time), but it's easy to put a dry washcloth over their eyes and tip their heads back to rinse. If you find that the Baby Mild is too drying you can add a few drops of jojoba oil to the foaming pump. The 32 oz bottle of Dr. Bronner's will last a year washing all 3 children - you need VERY little because it is a concentrate.

Other Great Non-Toxic Alternatives:

Cheeky Maiden Kid Critters (stay-at-home-mom)

Seaside Naturals (GREAT products!)