Best baby products - what to buy?

What are the best baby "toiletries" to buy? Can anyone recommend any? By this I mean things like baby oil, baby bath stuff, lotions, wipes etc. What brands did you find best? We are going to start stocking up on some and I would like to hear what everyone thinks.

And please let me know if this has been discussed elsewhere on the forum.

TIA!

Hi Tia

My baby isn't here yet, but like you I wanted to be well and truly ready. The advice I got was from a couple of books, my Mum (who still looks after foster-babies) and some friends.

To start with, they recommended washing babies clothes in Lux flakes (hand or top-loader machine) for the first few months. I've also washed all of her other stuff like bedding in that as well.

Instead of using wipes when bubs is new and more sensitive they recommended a washer and water and maybe some sorbolene/glycerin cream (or vaseline for that first poo). Sorbolene cream can also be used to clean them in a bath (but is very slippery!).

No soap for the first little while.

Cold pressed almond oil for baby massage (you can buy it from health food shops).

I have various nappy rash cream recommendations, but when I worked in a pharmacy they swore by paw-paw ointment, which is in a red tub/tube and you can also buy from the supermarket. I have a few others given to me or samples that come in the hospital goodie bag that I'll try. Sudocream has also been recommended to me.

If anyone has any comments on these, I'd love to read them!

Have fun shopping for your baby!!

Unless bubby gets nappy rash alot, the sample tubs you get in your 'goodie' bags are more than enough. I still have some left from having Paige! The ones I got were a tub of Sudocream (not bad this one) and a tube of Bepanthen. This was good because it was only a small tube and I could put it in the nappy bag.

I swear by Huggies brand wipes and use the unscented ones. They are nice and thick too and I use them for everything.

Good old Pears soap is good in the bath too. I just put the bar in the bath and splash the water around the make it soapy.

Most of the stuff you buy these days is really good and it just depends on whether you want a more natural organic approach (which can be dearer) or just good old Johnson & Johnson stuff from the supermarket.

Most babies wont need much 'cleaning' anyway and you can get by with just a bit of moisturiser on them or baby powder. Luckily my babies never had sensitive skin so I didn't have to worry about that.

These days we really are spolt for choice and it can be a bit bewildering to first time mums. My SIL is due in 4wks and she had no idea what to get, so i just put together a basket of stuff and gave it to her.

Bubby had bad nappy rash from using Baby Love nappies and I found the best combination of treatment for Maddy was swapping nappies, using Sudocrem (LOVE this stuff) and the Huggies unscented wipes.

In the bath we use J&J no tears shampoo or some of this all natural baby wash that has no chemicals etc.

I'm with Sherie - the goodies bags will supply you with plenty of samples that keep you going for a while and allow you to try different types without spending a lot of money trying to find something that works for your bubs. Some companies will send you some samples if you want to ask.

I didn't and still don't use anything in bubs bath cause I have sensitive skin and can't use soap products myself.

The sudocream and bepanthem (ointment not the cream) both worked well on DS and Curash worked as a preventative when trying to get rid of the last bit of rash. I did have a French range of samples I got somewhere (can't remember the brand) that I loved the smell of and didn't react with his skin but the price put me off.

Can't use J&J (except the baby shampoo) myself but lots of people love them.

But personally I wouldn't be spending too much money until you have the opportunity to trial some stuff especially if you have sensitive skin yourself - the other way is to ask people for gift baskets with toiletries as another method of getting different brands of stuff.

I guess I always just lean towards Johnson & Johnson baby stuff. It's the stuff everyone knows!

I have a sample of Sudocrem in a goodie bag. So I will try that. This is a bag my OB gave me. Do you get other goodie bags at any stage? Does the hospital provide any of this?

I got two when I was in hospital, one was more a pg one (probably the same one your got from your Doc) and the other was the baby one. Both have great free samples in them - too many to mention. The baby one has a pack of 18 huggies newborn nappies which was great. Some chemists also give them out. We got one from an Amcal chemist when we got Paige weighed once. They are great - I just love sample bags! I still refer to the babycare book in the baby bag. If i didn't have that, I'd never have know right away what croup was when Linsday got it for the first time.

Fee - Ypu`ll get 3 bags all up, obviously you`ve got your first already, then you`;ll get either a pink or blue bag when bubs is born and inside that you`ll find a coupon to take to Target to get your 3rd baby bag.

I have to be careful what I use on Matthew, for the next bub he/she will be bathed in plain water to be on the safe side as it took months for my baby boy to have baby looking skin because of the irriantants in the products I was using on him.

I`ve only used nappy rash cream about 3 times on Matthew so you don`t have to stock up on that.

Hi - I've lost the coupon for the third bag, bummer, and the hospital or target don't know about getting another one. Is that the one with all the pixi photo vouchers ?

I love samples too ! and used the sudocream with Cait (now 4) and bought some curash powder for Alex's bottom.

I don't think they recommend baby talcs now for their skin, apart from being drying, I'm not sure why.

I also joined the coles baby club when Cait was born and they had a box of goodies as well. And a magazine every few months. No box for a second child though.

I like the J&J wipes - in the pinky packet, they're a bit softer and stretchy than others. And now use freezer bags to dispose of used nappies rather than the little pink smelly bags. I stocked up on nappies more than anything else. I ended up taking two boxes of huggies back to swap for the next size up.

Barb.

Great question Fee! I'm enjoying these answers :)

I know for myself I am going to have to use something out of the normal, not for bubs but for me as I get allergies on my hands. I am guessing johnson and johnson will not be great for me?? Any suggestions on stuff for sensitive skin?

Barb - Coles stopped giving out the boxes :cry: I didn`t get one with Matthew when I signed up which was early last year.

Kylie - If you have allergies, it`s a high possibility that bubs will have allergies as well, I think it`s as high as 80% of bubs will have allergies if they come from a famly background of it hence why my Matthew has ezcema which I was expecting, personally I`d stay away from J & J, I found Aromababy not too bad (you can get free samples) and also Beauty and The Bee products are great just do a google on them and they`ll come up. I`ve had a rough time of getting Matthew`s ezcema under control I was so upset about it I couldn`t sleep with worry, he had it everywhere except for his back and it looked like he was burnt, poor boy would scratch madly and when I put
QV in his bath he screamed the place down, he`s highly allergic to something in it. I`d recommend you to be very careful with what you put on bubs as I said earlier I`ve learnt the hard way and bubs #2 will be bathed in water, I`m even thinking of not putting cream of any sorts on him/her.

I've heard that Johnson and Johnson are the best products to use. I also bought my sister some Nutrimetic products for her last baby and she thought they were really good...

I personally wouldn't use J&J especially if you have allergies that run in your family. They caused the worst problems for us with Paris' eczema. Having said that I did use the wipes LOL! And they were fine, but thats it. I will more than likely be using aromababy with Seth, unless he gets a reaction to which then I'll use something like QV etc.

Also I'm going to try using the new Amolin baby wash for Seth's clothes and [-o< he doesn't get a reaction. We used lux flakes like Jen with Paris but it gets bloody annoying after a while LOL! Coz we had to mix it with hot water first to get it to melt as it doesn't work very well if you put it straight into the machine :rolleyes: And when you have a refluxy baby and need to do lots of washing you get over it VERY quickly LOL!

I think it just depends on your child, if you are lucky enough to have a baby that doesn't have sensitive skin then you'll probably go for stuff that you like or smells good etc. But for us we don't have that luxury unfortunately...

*mwa*
Cailin

So basically for a newborn you don't really need much at all? They should just be bathed in water only?

Maybe there is no need to stock up on things now then?

For bathtime I don't think newborns need anything other than water except maybe a bit of sorbelene around thier nappy area to make sure everything is cleaned away properly. Its not like they're getting very dirty.
For massage we just used light olive oil. It doesn't smell as nice as the almond oil but then again its less likely to cause rashes if your baby is sensitive to nuts.
For washing his clothes we just used the omo sensitive - I can't believe that I used to wash all his clothes seperatley #-o what a waste of my time. This time around they're all just going in together.
During the day we used curash powder in his nappy and at night we used bepanthen, sudocrem or curash cream (whatever was on special).

I use lux flakes for my babies in the first few months.
I love curash powder, it is the best, sudacream is very good for nappyrash although my girls never really got nappy rash as such from time to time they did have teething rash, poor little buggers.

I love the blue bottle J&J baby bath, I just love the smell.

I use huggies nappies on my young babies but when they get older I'll use baby love and sometimes VIP which are huggies anyway.

I have discovered the ALDI shopping centre which has some fab deals but I buy their Mamia nappies and pull ups very cheap and very good also the Mamia wipes are excellent. These products are up there with huggies and at a 2/3 of the price

I also like the wooly's brand little wished wipes, I buy a box of six packs of 80 wipes for between $18-19. excellent value and the wipes are thick smell pleasant are not oily or full of alcohol, they're great.

And oh course who can go past J&J's baby powder.

I'd absolutley go with the bepanthan! That stuff is a godsend, great on nipples (I even start to use it on my nipples in the last few weeks of pregnancy as a tip from MIL), great on bottoms, great on scratches and works great on cradle cap too!

Fee I wouldn't worry too much about what you put in bathwater when they are little like the others said. Just grab some sorbelene!

*hugs*
Cailin

Bepanthan is absolutely a must for newly inked tattoos too! I have had a tube in my medicine cabinet for years now.....