Baby Bath Product Which One Is The Best
- Thread starter alam
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funnychamp
Registered User
Yes, I also think that Johnson and Johnson products are the best.
marketers like to promote fear & doubt in parents
How long ago was it? Was it a re-call of a bad batch or something long standing?
I really think a lot of soap & cosmetics manufacturers try to really scare people (especially new parents) so that they think that reasonably priced easily accessible mass products are somehow not good or safe enough for their kids. Instead, they need to buy special rare & trendy organic/hypoallergenic/made-with-rare-essential-this-or-that at HK$ 250 a small bottle.
I am not saying that *some* babies who have skin conditions do not benefit from some special products, but I think that a regular baby soap that you can find in at a common shop that you squeeze a few drops of into the baby bathwater is safe and acceptable for most babies.
YMMV
How long ago was it? Was it a re-call of a bad batch or something long standing?
I really think a lot of soap & cosmetics manufacturers try to really scare people (especially new parents) so that they think that reasonably priced easily accessible mass products are somehow not good or safe enough for their kids. Instead, they need to buy special rare & trendy organic/hypoallergenic/made-with-rare-essential-this-or-that at HK$ 250 a small bottle.
I am not saying that *some* babies who have skin conditions do not benefit from some special products, but I think that a regular baby soap that you can find in at a common shop that you squeeze a few drops of into the baby bathwater is safe and acceptable for most babies.
YMMV
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Excepts:
How Toxic Are Your Bathroom
Be warned: your daily beauty regime could be taking years off your life. Pat Thomas reports on the chemical timebomb in your cosmetics cabinet
Published: 24 October 2005
Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did something amazing. It issued an unprecedented warning to the cosmetics industry that it was time to inform consumers that most personal care products have not been safety tested.
Where the US goes, the UK inevitably follows.
If the FDA starts the ball rolling by flexing its muscles, it is possible that in the not too distant future 99 per cent of personal care products could be required to carry a caution on the label: "Warning: The safety of this product has not been determined."
What concerns scientists at the FDA and at environmental health organisations throughout the world is the "cocktail effect" - the daily mixing of many different types of toxins in and on the body - and how this might damage health over the longer term.
On average, we each use nine personal care products a day containing 126 different ingredients.
Such "safety" testing as exists looks for reactions, such as skin redness, rashes or stinging, but does not investigate potential long-term problems for either humans or the environment.
Yet the chemicals that go into products such as shampoos and hand creams are not trace contaminants. They are the basic ingredients. Absorbed into the body, they can be stored in fatty tissue or organs such as the liver, kidney, reproductive organs and brain.
Cosmetics companies complain of unfounded hysteria, but scientists are finding industrial plasticisers such as phthalates in urine, preservatives known as parabens in breast-tumour tissue, and antibacterials such as Triclosan and fragrance chemicals like the hormone-disrupting musk xylene in human breast milk.
Medical research is proving that fragrances can trigger asthma; that the detergents in shampoos can damage eye tissue; and that hair-dye chemicals can cause bladder cancer and lymphoma.
An even greater number of substances in personal care products are suspected to present potential risks to human health from this known effect on animals. If these problems had been linked to pharmaceutical drugs, the products would have been taken off the market. At the very least, money would have been spent on safety studies. But because the cosmetics industry is largely self-governing, and because we all want to believe in the often hollow promises of better skin and whiter teeth, products containing potentially harmful substances remain in use and on sale.
Think it can't be that bad? Consider what goes into some of the UK's most popular toiletries.
JOHNSON'S BABY SOFTWASH
What they claim: Best for baby, best for you. But watch out: Children's skin is thinner and more absorbent than adults', so is a less effective barrier to chemical toxins. The rates of eczema and allergies among children are on the rise and the early introduction of toiletries on to sensitive skin may be a factor. When soap does the job, why expose your child to skin and eye irritants such as sorbitan laurate, cocamidopropyl betaine and acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, or PEG-150 distearate, PEG-80, PEG-14M and sodium laureth sulphate that can be contaminated with the carcinogens 1,4 dioxane and ethylene oxide, or hormone disrupters such as parabens? In addition, there's nothing here that naturally moisturises the skin - only synthetic polymers (plastic-like substances) like polyquaternium-7 and polypropylene terephthalate that coat it, merely giving the impression of smoothness.
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Yes, yes, yes. And there is also terrible stuff in the air; in the water we drink in and bathe in; and in the food we eat. The most effective way to deal with all these issues is via legislation and the political process.
But, in terms of personal life, if your kid doesn't suffer from excema or allergies - why get bent out of shape about it?
I am not saying that these mass market products are perfectly safe. Nothing is perfectly safe. Plus, anything can be made to sound dangerous with chemical names. Remember the dangers of Dihydrogen monoxide (http://www.dhmo.org/)!
I just think that there is definitely a marketing niche for upscale nervous parents which is being exploited and that inexpensive mass market alternatives are often quite acceptable. Fear sells newspapers and other media and the advertising in them.
I'm not telling anyone "you shouldn't buy expensive organic XYZ for your kid". Go ahead, enjoy. I'm just offering my experience of a mother who used Johnson's soap, non-organic baby food, and other less than perfect alternatives and has two healthy, strong, and happy primary-school kids.
But, in terms of personal life, if your kid doesn't suffer from excema or allergies - why get bent out of shape about it?
I am not saying that these mass market products are perfectly safe. Nothing is perfectly safe. Plus, anything can be made to sound dangerous with chemical names. Remember the dangers of Dihydrogen monoxide (http://www.dhmo.org/)!
I just think that there is definitely a marketing niche for upscale nervous parents which is being exploited and that inexpensive mass market alternatives are often quite acceptable. Fear sells newspapers and other media and the advertising in them.
I'm not telling anyone "you shouldn't buy expensive organic XYZ for your kid". Go ahead, enjoy. I'm just offering my experience of a mother who used Johnson's soap, non-organic baby food, and other less than perfect alternatives and has two healthy, strong, and happy primary-school kids.
Conventional vs. Organic Skin Care
The best for your child is to use either just plain water or natural/organic products.
Therefore you have to read the ingredient list of your product carefully because not every natural and organic product is natural and organic.
There are certifications lissued by control bodies like BDIH, Ecocontrol and Soil Association that help consumers in the cosmetic jungle.
Conventional manufacturers use mineral oil as moisturizer instead of vegetable oils.
The products also contain perfumes, colorants and synthetic preservatives such as parabenes (cancer-causing).
Children sun blockers with chemical/synthetical sunfilters have an influence on the hormon system of every human (and are cancer-causing).
Yes, organic products are more expensive and everybody has to find out for her- or himself if it's worth it. How much difference does it make on the monthly spendings and is it important for the personal well-being? Same as with organic food.
The best for your child is to use either just plain water or natural/organic products.
Therefore you have to read the ingredient list of your product carefully because not every natural and organic product is natural and organic.
There are certifications lissued by control bodies like BDIH, Ecocontrol and Soil Association that help consumers in the cosmetic jungle.
Conventional manufacturers use mineral oil as moisturizer instead of vegetable oils.
The products also contain perfumes, colorants and synthetic preservatives such as parabenes (cancer-causing).
Children sun blockers with chemical/synthetical sunfilters have an influence on the hormon system of every human (and are cancer-causing).
Yes, organic products are more expensive and everybody has to find out for her- or himself if it's worth it. How much difference does it make on the monthly spendings and is it important for the personal well-being? Same as with organic food.
You don't have to spend a fortune to find something that is gentle and non toxic for your baby.
A giant tub of emulsifying ointment from the pharmacy or some sorbolene cream will only cost about $50, double as both cleanser and moisturiser (dissolve a little in the bath water ), they won't irritate sensitive skin, will help control excema and don't have unnecessary ingredients that can lead to allergies.
A giant tub of emulsifying ointment from the pharmacy or some sorbolene cream will only cost about $50, double as both cleanser and moisturiser (dissolve a little in the bath water ), they won't irritate sensitive skin, will help control excema and don't have unnecessary ingredients that can lead to allergies.
But, even sorbolene is not necessarily safe !
'Sorbolenes may appear to be great value-for-money, at only $3.95 for 100g, however many consumers do not realise the majority of sorbolenes are made from petrochemical by-products, such as mineral oils and paraffin, and are designed to act as barrier creams."
http://www.vegesorb.com.au/sorbolene.html
and this:
"Additive ingredients to avoid in sorbolene so that it is failsafe are: Menthol/menthyl, aloe vera, green tea or herbal extract such as eucalyptus oil, camphor, oil of wintergreen or peppermint oil all of which may contain salicylates and cause a skin reaction"
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Facteczema.htm
"
So, what's my point?
There is no one "best" solution to find products that are good for your kids and yourself. Saying "natural = good" and "human-made = bad" is too simple. On the "factexczema" site, one of the posters said that the best cream for her child was one that was developed by the Royal Children's Hospital that was a 50-50 mix of different types of parrafin. Other people might find it wouldn't work.
So, IMHO, better to try standard products that are not very expensive and see how your child reacts to them. If there is an adverse reaction, try something else.
I guess if one is really afraid of any sort of additives or so forth, using a few drops of olive oil in the bath and then some to moisturize the little one is also an inexpensive and relatively safe way to go. The ancient Greeks and Romans used olive oil instead of soap.
"Additive ingredients to avoid in sorbolene so that it is failsafe are: Menthol/menthyl, aloe vera, green tea or herbal extract such as eucalyptus oil, camphor, oil of wintergreen or peppermint oil all of which may contain salicylates and cause a skin reaction"
I guess thats why you should take 10 secs to turns the container over and read the ingredients before you buy it.
I guess thats why you should take 10 secs to turns the container over and read the ingredients before you buy it.
Absolutely! And if you object to petroleum based products, avoid most of the plain stuff too.
But then again, it's likely only to be an issue for people w/ problem skin conditions.
My kids (when babies) loved me rubbing them w/ a moisturizer that had a bit a lavender oil. When they got to be pre-schoolers, to get them to be more willing to take a bath, I would let them shake a couple of drops of lavender oil into their tub for the "nice smell". If they had had skin problems, I might not have done it.
Same thing w/ putting mentholatum on their little chests when they had colds as pre-schoolers. If they had had a tendency to skin sensitivities, I would not have tried it.