BATHING - What to wash a newborn in...

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering what you washed your bub in when they were newborn? DH and I have sensitive skin so I am thinking our baby will too.

Everyone I speak with says with new babies you just need to wash them in sorbolene cream and water. I was never going to buy soap stuff like J&J but after hearing alot of bad stuff about petrochemicals I am now hesitant to use sorbolene cream in the baby's bath.

Any ideas for something else that I could use when I want to put something other than plain water in the bath?

I have heard olive oil, is this the best? Or should I sporatically use something like the Gaia baby wash?

Not sure if I am just being paranoid and should just go with whatever they do at the hosp?

Thanks for reading.

I use sorbolene & water. I have sensitive skin and this combo doesn't cause DD any irritation. I also use sorbolene and cloth wipes to keep her bum clean and I love it.

Good luck with bubs, you'll work out what works for you guys even if you try a few different things first.

I've never used baby washes for any of my bubs. I currently use QV bath oil in DD's bath, just to ward off dry skin. You can also use bicarb soda in the bath, this is cheap and works the same way. There is no need to use anything else if you don't want to :)

Plain water is fine, it does not interfere with the oil balance of the skin. I didn't start using any product in my son's bath until he was (I think) about six months old, maybe a little older. It was around when he started crawling and getting really mucky.

we used sorbolene & water and now with his VERY sensitive skin he cant share bath with anyone so we use huggies stuff and another brand.

plain water hun :)

newborns truly don't need anything else

Personally I have used plain water, almond oil or olive oil. I wouldn't use sorbolene myself....

Annabelle, Lucy and myself have a bath together and I use Gaia products:) Organic. Or as everybody else has said plain water ;) Plus if they have a little dry skin I have heard olive oil ;)

It is now recommended that you use plain water only for the first 6 weeks, and after that a mild cleanser if you wish. Anecdotally I can tell you that the two babies I have who were exposed to soap in the first 6 weeks both have eczema, and the other 2 do not. It's only a really short time and your babe will smell gorgeous as a baby should with no perfumes, plus the benefit of possibly helping their skin for a long time.

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It is now recommended that you use plain water only for the first 6 weeks, and after that a mild cleanser if you wish. Anecdotally I can tell you that the two babies I have who were exposed to soap in the first 6 weeks both have eczema, and the other 2 do not. It's only a really short time and your babe will smell gorgeous as a baby should with no perfumes, plus the benefit of possibly helping their skin for a long time.

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Mmmmmmmmm.....that newborn smell! Sweetest thing there is!

i used just plain water for the first couple of months too. sometimes i added a little olive oil with
DS1 as he had really dry skin but babies dont need anything else!!!

maybe you could use plain water in the bath, and then if bub needs something for dry skin, use the cream or oil afterwards and use it as a sort of massage thing so you guys can have an even longer bonding time =)

do what ever you feel comfortable with, bubs dont NEED anything fancy, its not like they are getting dirty...for the first few months the bath is more a bonding, relaxation thing than a cleaning thing.

We didn't use anything in the bath until DS was around 4 months and then we started using a tiny bit of gaia baby wash. The recommendation I was given was definitely water only until 6 weeks, but to hold off on anything else until 4 months ideally.

Thanks everyone for your great advice.

I think I will buy nothing except for a nice massage oil to use sporatically (or even just use olive oil), I don't want to get the baby's skin 'used' to expecting products so your advice has been really helpful.

Thanks again :)

what i was told when i had DD2 was purely plain water until 6 weeks as other ladies have mentioned and not even to add olive oil to the actual bath water (my daughter had very dry skin when born) but to once patted down dry to gently massage the oil into the dry/effected areas

DD had extremely dry skin from day dot, and still does at 19mths along with eczema, we used to use a J&J dissolvable bath oil, as not like other oils that sit on the water it actually dissolved (i dont think they make it anymore :( the last place I got it was Sams Warehouse) and Aqueous Cream to bath and moisturise her when she actually started getting dirty, its great for skin conditions and I have used it for years with mine.

If you want to add oil to a bath (for an older child or adult, not recommended for a newborn as babies are slippy enough already and oil will just make you more likely to drop them) then take whatever oil you like and add it to milk, which breaks it down. Add it to your bath in this form and it will disperse through the water. Plus the milk will leave your skin silky smooth.

Cleopatra used to bathe in milk so they say!

If you plan to use oil, olive oil is the best for newborns. Sweet almond oil can also be used but is not recommended if there is a history of nut allergy in the family.

If using it to moisturise bub's skin it's better to use it (this goes for any moisturiser actually) on slightly damp skin rather than dry skin as it is absorbed better so less is needed.

We used plain water for the first few months (till switching to Gaia) and rubbed in some olive oil and sweet almond oil as he had dry, peeling skin.

If you're concerned about chemicals on the skin, have you considered how you are going to clean baby for nappy changes? We used cloth wipes with water for the first few months till we started using a foamy wipes wash on the cloth wipes.