Advice on baby toiletries

RainbowPepper

Just wondering if anyone has any recommendations on what products to use or avoid for a newborn on up? I want to get stocked up but I'm not sure what to buy for changing, baths etc. I asked in my local chemist but to be honest I felt like the lady I dealt with was trying to push a sale of anything instead of answering my questions so I left with nothing. I saw that Johnsons have a newborn range but is it better to use as little as possible on newborn skin? Really appreciate any tips anyone may have!

Moonbeam

We found Johnsons products too harsh.
I love Burts Bees and Boots own brand products.
We only used a tiny bit of bubble bath when they were little and a tiny bit of wash if needed.

Lady is a tramp

Most people would say to avoid Johnsons anyways. We were advised to use only water for the first several weeks, and not to bathe them more than once or twice a week. Moogoo has a great range, it's pricey but you use so little of it.

If you're planning on using baby wipes, Simple and Aldi (Mamia) are the ones I found by far the best. Simple are definitely suitable from birth, not sure about Mamia.

No need to stock up on nappy creams etc ... some babies don't need them at all.

Penny Dreadful

I used water wipes for cleaning her bottom when changing her nappy and Caldascene powder or Sudocrem if needed.
For her bath I put a little Oilatum into the water if her skin was a little dry.
That was it. We were lucky though that she had no skin irritations or problems at all.

javagal

My dsughter, now 3 had sever eczema from 6 weeks on. We find we can use any simple on her. Johnson's can't even be in the house, same with all my nieces and nephews !
The simple wipes are the best by far , they usually have them in deals

lazygal

You don't need anything really. We used cloth wipes, just rinse through with water before use. Only water in the bath and a tiny bit of olive oil for dry skin or cradle cap. I used Moogoo on my older child as her skin could flare up occasionally. Used breastmilk on nappy rash the rare times they got it.

Neyite

The hospital used Infacare for the first bath, and they used to look daggers at anyone using baby wipes for changing instead of cotton wool and water so I assume they found it mild enough. We continued on using Infacare when we got home, but only very sparingly and mostly just topped & tailed with warm water daily and a bath once a week or when poonamis happened.

Blingy

We used water and cotton wool for nappy changing In the first few weeks. Then moved onto water wipes.
Used silcocks base to wash after the first few weeks. Just slather it on before the bath and wash it off once in the bath. Used it afterwards too then as a moisturiser as he had dry skin on legs. Still use this for the bath at 9 months.
Moogoo products are meant to be v nice. They have one for cradle cap too.
Waleda do a great cream for nappy rash too.

There are so many products and you might not need half of them so best to buy the basics before hand and then see what u need.

sambucus nigra

Just reusable cloth wipes here with warm water to clean, coconut oil as barrier at every change. We haven't had any nappy rash so far touch wood, a bit of redness occasionally after using disposable wipes (haven't managed to get childminder on board with reusable ones yet) that clears up with a calendula ointment.

MistyCheese

I think Simple products are pretty good, not so many harsh chemicals. But I would avoid using anything on a newborn, I'd wait at least the two weeks.

I used to use Cussons baby bath and shampoo. I loved the smell of it off her hair. Couldn’t find it to replace when it ran out though :-(

I've always avoided Johnson's - long before the recent news. We got given a few Johnson's products from people when our daughter was born but I didn't want to use them on her skin so I decanted some baby wash into the soap dispenser in the bathroom. My husband's hands were in bits after about a week, skin was peeling off! So we threw out the Johnson's and his skin cleared up.

Neyite

MistyCheese wrote: »

I think Simple products are pretty good, not so many harsh chemicals. But I would avoid using anything on a newborn, I'd wait at least the two weeks.

I used to use Cussons baby bath and shampoo. I loved the smell of it off her hair. Couldn’t find it to replace when it ran out though :-(

I've always avoided Johnson's - long before the recent news. We got given a few Johnson's products from people when our daughter was born but I didn't want to use them on her skin so I decanted some baby wash into the soap dispenser in the bathroom. My husband's hands were in bits after about a week, skin was peeling off! So we threw out the Johnson's and his skin cleared up.

I used to use J&J baby lotion as a facial dead-skin remover. It really worked too! That's why I avoided it for the newborn days.

LegacyUser

Cotton wool and water for the first while (though I admit, this time round I've stocked up on Water wipes). Not a fan of Johnson's wipes, they caused rashes in this house. We've also used the Simple ones lately and they're quite good.

Have something for nappy rash - sudocreme/vaseline/bepanthen/caldesene. They're all fairly equal in my opinion, just depends on the baby what works best. We had bepanthen because I felt it was being pushed on us a bit but after a week or 2 I went back to vaseline and sudocreme when needed and ditched the Bepanthen. You might get lucky anyway, and not need them for a while.

We did use Elave baby bath, Infacare and Johnson's baby Head to toe wash products at various stages. We still use the Johnson's , but definitely Elave or Infacare to start with I think.

We stocked up on size 1 and 2 nappies, and a couple of boxes of nappy bags - useful for many things!

Otherwise just have some small soft sponges or facecloths, a few towels and some toy ducks

moving_home

No need to stock up. At 14 months we are still using the same bottle of baby aqueous cream for bathing since birth. Mostly just use water. I used moogoo when she had a rash but didn't buy in advance. I found water wipes to be the best wipes. Nothing in them except water. I buy when they are on sale for €2. Don't stock up on nappies as you don't know what brand will suit your baby or how quickly you will go through the sizes.

Leogirl

We used water wipes+ vasoline for the first few weeks then moved over to Tesco sensitive wipes. She's never even had a red bum. We bought olive oil+silcox base for dry feet+ hands. Only needed a couple of times. I wouldn't stock up on too much. You might find one brand isn't suitable for your baby.

Big fan of aldi nappies here- I stocked up on size ones, ended up giving 4 packs away! Now we just buy everything as needed.

RainbowPepper

Thanks for all the advice and tips guys, much appreciated!

LegacyUser

My only caveat to the comments on not stocking up - I was in hospital for 5 days after the birth and then back in the following week for another 5 days after a bleed.The first fortnight was a complete write-off for us. I was truly thankful we had stocked up on nappies ( a couple of size 1 and mainly size 2 Pampers) and cotton wool and wipes (and by that I mean 4/5 packets of each, not boxes and boxes of them) because I wasn't fit to think of anything to be honest.

Most of our baby "toiletries" came as present in hampers. We had a shocking amount of baby powder, Johnson's baby bath and Johnson's wipes for months, til I pawned them off on people.... I didn't even know such "Hampers" existed before I had a baby!

irishgirl19

I used water wipes for the first while with sudocream.
Midwife in the Coombe told me waterwipes were perfectly fine, although a healthcare assistant tried to scold me for not using cotton wool. She wasn't impressed with my reply.
I didn't use anything in the bath for a while

Into The Blue

javagal wrote: »

My dsughter, now 3 had sever eczema from 6 weeks on. We find we can use any simple on her. Johnson's can't even be in the house, same with all my nieces and nephews !
The simple wipes are the best by far , they usually have them in deals

MooGoo is class for clearing up eczema. Its not widely available, so silcocks base would be next

ChewChew

I agree with swooshty!! I was readmitted 7 days after having the baby so definitely was glad of the stock we'd built up. We're actually still using some of our stock and our baby is 9 months old.

I'd go for moogoo, silcocks base and caldescene as essential and huggies pure wipes are brilliant. Mamia wipes too!!!

Lucuma

ChewChew wrote: »

I'd go for moogoo, silcocks base and caldescene as essential

Do you mind me asking what exactly you use each of those for?
Am thinking of changing the toiletry regime for no.2 as I just used the famous brands like J&J or whatever I got as presents on no.1 and she has very dry skin.
I'm also cutting out talc this time around and if I get any as a present it's going in the bin. Apparently it can contribute to lung diseases in later life, and these run in my family as it is!

Neyite

Lucuma, I used silcocks base in the bath, and caldasene cream or spray on nappy rash.

ChewChew

Same as Neyite. Silcocks base in the bath instead of any 'bubble bath' products. Moogoo to moisturise and caldescene powder is brilliant for the bum. We've only had two nappy rashes here thankfully!

Lucuma

ChewChew wrote: »

Same as Neyite. Silcocks base in the bath instead of any 'bubble bath' products. Moogoo to moisturise and caldescene powder is brilliant for the bum. We've only had two nappy rashes here thankfully!

Bit sad at the idea of no bubbles in the bath
But I suppose it's for the best?

cant26

Lucuma wrote: »

Bit sad at the idea of no bubbles in the bath
But I suppose it's for the best?

Moogoo baby bath gives lovely bubbles. I just stick to water though until bout 6 months. Coconut oil in the bath is great for dry skin. It's pretty slippy so maybe not a good idea for a tiny baby. They are slippy enough as it is!

Lucuma

Hmmm ok have a question about this putting oil (or similar) in the bath thing. I tried it last night with my 18 month old. We still bathe her in a baby bath on a stand (works well as we can stand up while doing it) We wash her hair by using a plastic jug so we use the water she's bathing in for washing her hair (take a jugful and pour it over her head)
Today I noticed her hair is kind of greasy, which makes no sense. Then I was thinking maybe it's from washing her hair with water that has oil in it?

Neyite

I'd say so. If there is oil in the bathwater, and you were pouring it over her head, that's probably why her hair is greasier today.

cant26

Lucuma wrote: »

Hmmm ok have a question about this putting oil (or similar) in the bath thing. I tried it last night with my 18 month old. We still bathe her in a baby bath on a stand (works well as we can stand up while doing it) We wash her hair by using a plastic jug so we use the water she's bathing in for washing her hair (take a jugful and pour it over her head)
Today I noticed her hair is kind of greasy, which makes no sense. Then I was thinking maybe it's from washing her hair with water that has oil in it?

Ya using the bath water will defo make it greasy looking. I use a jug and fill from the sink beside the bath.

Lucuma

cant26 wrote: »

Ya using the bath water will defo make it greasy looking. I use a jug and fill from the sink beside the bath.

This could be a problem in the baby bath. If I add extra water to it, it will slosh over the sides. I suppose I could remove a jugful of oily water, then add a jugful of non-oily water over her head. And repeat etc....

I just didn't think of the consequences yesterday!

cant26

Lucuma wrote: »

This could be a problem in the baby bath. If I add extra water to it, it will slosh over the sides. I suppose I could remove a jugful of oily water, then add a jugful of non-oily water over her head. And repeat etc....

I just didn't think of the consequences yesterday!

It took me ages to cop why my sons hair looked limp and greasy straight after a bath! It's a bit of a pain and I found I had to make sure no oily water was in the jug or it'd still leave the hair without shine!

Also if you use toys in the bath give them a good rinse with hot water or else an oily residue will be left on them. It is great though for dry skin.

Lucuma

cant26 wrote: »

It took me ages to cop why my sons hair looked limp and greasy straight after a bath! It's a bit of a pain and I found I had to make sure no oily water was in the jug or it'd still leave the hair without shine!

Also if you use toys in the bath give them a good rinse with hot water or else an oily residue will be left on them. It is great though for dry skin.

Hmm...I might rethink this whole thing and go back to my J&J bubbles

olaola

I swapped between J&J or Boots own brand for the suitable from birth stuff. No problems. Just bought whatever was on sale. I think at the start I just used Silcock's base dissolved in the water for a few weeks? Only really washed the wee fella if he had a poop explosion, you know the ones... up to his oxters & down to his knees! :eek: