Chemical Free Skincare Products For Infants and Small Children-What you need to know

A Mom Asked:

Please, tell me the name of baby soap and cream that will suit my baby!

There are many brands of baby skin care products to choose from: Aquaphor Baby, Angel Baby, Ava Anderson Baby, Aveeno Baby, Babyganics, Baja Baby, Burt Bees, California Baby, Cetaphil Baby, Eucerin Baby, Farm2girl, Johnson Baby, Mustela Baby, Shea Moisture Baby, to name a few.

When choosing skin care products for your newborn, it is recommended to go for fragrance-free, paraben-free, phthalates-free and dye-free products, if it is within your reach and means, for the following reasons:

• Fragrances are used to conceal chemicals tied to allergies, hormone disruption, and neurotoxicity.
• Phthalates and parabens contain specific chemicals that have been linked to health concerns like cancer and developmental problems.
• Synthetic or artificial dyes are derived from loads of synthetic chemicals that contain toxins that, when absorbed by the skin or mouth, cause great damage. For example, dyes are in almost everything, from lotions, to toothpaste, soaps, bath gels, shampoos, cleansers, toners, moisturizers, shave creams and even food, but many of the dyes used for these everyday essential products are derived from coal-tar and may contain harmful heavy metal salts such as arsenic and lead. The dyes may also be contaminated with other potentially harmful chemicals that are linked to cancer, as a result of the by-products of the manufacturing processes involved in making them. Popular dyes such as Blue 1, Blue 2, Citrus Red, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have been linked to allergy-like hypersensitivity, attention deficit disorder (ADD or ADHD), inhibition of cell respiration, allergic reactions, asthma, neurotoxicity, adrenal gland and kidney tumors, thyroid tumors, bladder tumors, testes tumors, immune system tumors, and cancer.
• Babies and children are particularly susceptible to the harmful effects of these toxins, even when their exposure is very small.

Many organic baby skin care products fall within the fragrance-free, paraben-free, phthalates free or dye-free category, but you may still find out that your baby reacts to a particular brand adversely. This may be because that organic baby skin care product contains one or more other synthetic ingredients or because your child is allergic to one or more of the plants, herbs or other natural ingredients in that particular organic product….remember every child is different, what worked for one child may not necessarily work for yours. For this reason, we may not be able to recommend any specific product. You may need to try one of the product brands that fall within this “safer” product category to know which products work best for your baby. But remember, when making a choice even within the “safer” product category, make sure to choose products that contain more ingredients that you can pronounce, or products colored with plant or herb-based dyes.

It is not true that products labeled “Hypoallergenic” or “Dermatologist Tested” are safer and less likely to cause allergic reactions. These popular product labels are mere marketing words that any manufacturing company may choose to put on a product, without having to submit substantiation of their claims to any regulatory organization such as the US FDA. This is because there are no regulatory requirements anywhere in the world for putting such labels on products.

Most products within the organic, fragrance-free, paraben-free, phthalates free or dye-free category are pricier than regular baby products. If your goal is to limit your child’s exposure to harmful toxins in products but for budgetary reasons you cannot afford any of the products in the “safer” product category, then make sure to always read product labels and avoid products with artificial colors or dyes such as the types mentioned above, and try as much as possible to opt for products that have more ingredients that you can easily pronounce. But as soon as it is fiscally possible, switch to the products that fall within the categories discussed above.

We sell most of the skin care products listed above, along with other baby and maternity products, in our online store. Please follow this URL for a direct link to where the products are listed on our website: https://theshopville.com/product-category/baby-bath-skincare/skin-care/

(Sources: www.fda.gov; www.prevention.com; www.scientificamerica.com).

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