Organics for Children – Baby Skin Care

Baby skin is so delicate and sensitive, try to avoid using strong soaps and shampoos made for adults on your baby. Additives such as artificial colors, fragrances, and preservatives can cause irritation and allergic reactions.

It is always good to choose natural, organic oils and creams for your baby. These products are not tested on animals, are biodegradable, and can be guaranteed to be free of synthetics and petrochemicals.

• The skin of a baby's face is more sensitive than elsewhere, never use soap products on his/her face.
• Use lotions, oils and powders that come from natural and organic sources, examples, almond oil and cocoa butter.
• Dry your baby with a soft cotton towel. Avoid using talcum powder that has found to be linked to serious illness if inhale it accidentally.

Another thing that most of new parents may not often think about is laundry. New baby will generate massive amounts of laundry, and therefore, it is important that laundry has to be done correctly, so that baby’s delicate skin is not irritated.

• Make certain that all new clothes that come into contact with your baby are laundered before use.
  
• Should not wash your baby’s clothes with your own clothes, or in the same detergent that you use. Most infants have very sensitive skin, and your perfume, your bleach, your softener, could very well cause irritation.
  
• It is always good to do baby’s laundry separately for at least the first year, and maybe even longer if baby has unusually sensitive skin.
  
• When shopping for laundry detergent, you will need to purchase either a special baby detergent with no added dyes or perfumes that could be harsh to baby’s skin.
  

Cleaning Cloth Nappies
Rinse wet nappies and dispose of solid matter down the toilet. Place the nappies in a bucket with a borax or baking soda solution, and leave to soak for 6-8 hours or overnight. Drain the soaking solution down the toilet. Machine wash the nappies on a hot cycle at 21deg-C (70deg-F) with a double rinse. Dry outside if possible, sunshine is a natural bleach and disinfectant. If you have to tumble-dry, it will help to sterilize the nappies.

Treating Rashes
When you change your baby, make sure that you keep an eye on baby’s skin, so that if there are any signs of a rash or allergic reaction, you can take prompt action. An uncomfortable baby is no fun for anyone, so if you catch these things early enough, you can take care of them before they escalate.

• Use shampoo containing chamomile oil which is gentle for baby hair
• Treat skin rashes with calendula cream.
• For nappy rash, mix 3 drops of German chamomile oil with 30ml (6 teaspoons) of almond oil and rub on the affected area.
  
• Buy nappies cream containing ingredients such as red clover, a natural anti-inflammatory.

Try not to change detergents often, otherwise, if your baby has shown sign of allergies, you will have hard time to pinpoint the cause. So, if you find one detergent that is suitable for baby, then stick with it.

If you have questions, or suspect an allergic reaction, you should seek the advice of your pediatrician, just to be certain!

Let's Learn & Experience Organics for Better Personal Health & Our Planet Wellness

Organic for Children - Baby Organic Cotton Diapers

Concerns of commercial disposable diapers
The advantages of using disposable diapers are convenient, no need to wash, and may even be cheaper than re-usable cotton diapers. However, most people may not know that the nasty chemicals used in the manufacture of disposable diapers can leach into your baby's skin, causing skin rashes or even infection. The heat in disposable diapers can raise the temperature around the genital area to an ideal level suitable for a breeding ground for infection.

Disposal diapers unfriendly to environments
It is estimated that each year, the U.S. consumes about 40 billion of disposable diapers which resulted in hundreds of tonnes of rubbish, over 90% of them end up in a landfill. Tens of millions of dollars are spent on collection and disposal of the rubbish a year.

Several millions of trees are cut down to just to make diapers each year. Up to 20 trees and about 420 gallons of petroleum are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby each year.

Disposable diapers are estimated to take hundreds of years to decompose, so it will likely cause problem to our next generations.
Recycling disposable diapers has been found to be economically not viable.

Organic disposable diapers?
When I tried to look for information on organic disposable diapers, I could not find any, not at least on the internet. I guess that they are not widely available or well supported by the organic community. I am not surprised because even though organic disposable diapers have the same benefits as other organic products and they are biodegradable, they will still result in tonnes of rubbish since they are made for single use. And of course, the second reason is probably the higher price due to the cost of organic raw materials.

Benefits of cotton diapers

Therefore the best alternative is to use reusable unbleached organic cotton or cotton-and-wool diapers. There are many benefits:

• Organic baby diapers made from organic cotton are the most absorbent diapers because the dense loops create more surface area for contact and absorbing moisture.


• The conventional cultivation of fibres, including cotton consumes huge numbers of agro-chemicals. On the other hand, the raw materials of organic cotton clothing are grown without harmful pesticides or insecticides, and the diaper clothes are not chemically treated and do not receive chemical textile finishes.


• Using organic cotton diapers ensures that you are protecting your baby from chlorine bleach, glues, plastics, formaldehyde, dyes, artificial perfumes, chemical lotions, and other toxins that are widely found in both plastic and paper disposable diapers.


• Cotton diapers are expected to last between 50 to 200 times of usage before being turned into rags.


• Organic cotton cloth diapers will definitely helps to relieve pressure on our fast disappearing forests and our planet's fossil fuel limited supply.

Using re-usable unbleached pure cotton or cotton-and wool organic diapers may be expensive in terms of outlay, but knowing that it helps to reduce the considerable risks both to your baby and to the environment, is worth the extra price difference.

Before I stop here today, would like to share with you some interesting tips on baby diapers:

• Some babies have diaper rash, it could be because their skins come in contact with chemically treated fiber or plastic disposal diapers. It will be good to give organic diaper a try to see whether the condition improves.


• Avoid using petroleum-based cleaners (for example silicon-based softeners) helps to prevent waxy build-up that can prevent your baby clothes or diapers from absorbing moisture as much as they use to be.


• To keep your cloth diapers soft without adding chemical softeners, you can place in your dryer a gym sock tucked with a hockey puck or rubber ring. It "stirs" the diapers around as they dry as to prevent them from becoming stiff. When you remove diapers from the dryer, shake them to loosen and soften the fibers. This will fluff up the diapers and make them more absorbent.

Let's Learn & Experience Organic for Better Personal Health & Our Planet Wellness