What lotions, potions and 'medical stuff'?

[MantaRay]

I used Gaia too. You can use the Gaia skin lotion as a nappy cream also, but you might need something extra for very bad nappy rash. We also used baby panadol.

I never used talc and I don't recommend it.

[Curly]

Just wanted to post that I have bizarre children who get skin irritations and eczema from natural products (Gaia, Miessence and Moogoo are prime candidates here) and nappy rash from zinc creams.

I know, I don't get it either. Miessence and Moogoo work fabulously on my own skin.

So I use Cetaphil and Aveeno bodywash and moisturiser (from the chemist) and J&J shampoo . I searched high and low for a no-tears shampoo that wasn't J&J that would stop DS scratching like a dog with fleas. No luck, spent a fortune.

But for bottoms the only thing that reliably worked was Aromababy Barrier Balm. Gorgeous stuff and satisfies my eco sensibilities somewhat!

[alioops]

- If you are going to use disposable nappies, I recommend going for a chlorine & bleach-free brand such as Nature Babycare, Cushie Tushies, Moltex Eco etc. These chemicals (amoung many others used in conventional commercialised brands), can irritate babies skin, not to mention are just plain toxic to us & the environment!

Just quickly, CT's are cloth hun. I suspect you were meaning Nature Babycare ETA: or Baby Love Ecobots? :end ETA:

FG, I use the eco store stuff on the older 2 but for our NB I will be just using warm water until she is crawling and actually getting dirty enough to warrant using a body wash

You should always have some baby paracetamol on hand from 1 month, and baby ibuprofen from 3 months (they can be used together, and the baby ibuprofens dont stain cloth nappies like baby paracetamol). Some wind drops may be useful, but I often found that cycling my babies legs got rid of any wind in no time. Baby gymnastics is great for gas.

If you can find a chemist that does lignocaine gel for teething (over the counter) that is the stuff the dentists use. The dentist warned me against bonjella and a few other similar ones.

I use the aromababy on Em's nappy area after she has recently finished a reaction nappy rash (she reacts to lactose, and only responds with hydrocortizone) but I have some moogoo full cream for the other 2 when needed.

Flannels and water are the best for wipes, but if you prefer to throw them away, nature babycare do some good ones.

That's all I can think of for now, and we are on a low budget so that stuff is in the lower price range, or is used very sparingly, otherwise I would be using the miessence.

[Bathsheba]

This thread has lots of excellent advice! I also only used the bare minimum on my children... by the time my third child came along I was so over all the gimmicky stuff and basically just stuck to:

Ego and MooGoo products... the occasionaly cornflour talc... a drop of lavender essential oil (make sure it's the real thing, not a synthetic "fragrant oil".

I totally agree with avoiding nasty Johnson & Johnson products... ugh!!!! even the so-called "natural/organic range of J&J" it's just the same old stuff with a token amount of essential oil

MiEssence have a new range of baby products which i haven't tried but I trust MiEssence as a brand.

[MummyNaomi]

Lucas Paw Paw ointment - avail from Target for $4.99 (or chemists) has fixed Baileys dry skin, he had a really dry forehead for the first few weeks

[NaeNae]

Wow awesome thread , lots of useful info especially for first timers.

Just wondering how do you ask for people to NOT buy you J&J stuff and convert to a different product like Gaia for example? do you create a wish list of sorts with a small request at the bottom?

Nae x

[Jahzara]

I have just quickly skimmed through what the others ladies have said - great suggestions of course !

Just wanted to add incase it hasnt been mentioned
Baby Panadol/Paracetemol - can only be used from 4 weeks of age ( just incase you werent aware )
Also i am not sure if you know what sex you are having but my neice had a little girl a few months ago and the hospital told her not to use powder - they dont recommend it for little girls because it has been linked back to cervical cancer. So it may be best to avoid that just incase.

I have always loved lotions and potions but DS#1 and DS#2 had ezcema so they had basically Sorbolene and QV products from the chemist used on them. For some reason DS#3 hasnt had any skin issues - yet !

Good luck with it all -

xxoo

[NaeNae]

Just bumping this up