I love Weleda nappy cream.  Plain water or water with a dash of olive oil and cotton or muslin squares.  You can put them in a small food container for going out and about.

I think I got this idea from a nappy forum, but we used terry or fleece wipes (from a WAHM store) soaked in cooled chamomile tea for nappy change times.  I used to brew some up every morning for use throughout the day and he rarely ever had a sore bum.  If it was a little bit sore I dabbed it with a bit extra and it always cleared up without having to use creams.  I didn’t use it from birth, so might be worth checking that it would be ok for a tiny one.

I learnt the hard way that babies don’t really need any products after DS came out in awful eczema at around 8wks old!  Don’t really know what set it off, but I had been seduced by adverts of johnsons babies and had used baby bath and shampoo from the start.  Would never do this again.  We did have to use a prescription emollient cream for quite a while, but otherwise were told just to use water on him and even now we only use a bit of liquid castille soap.

Wipes soaked in cool chamomile tea just sounds so cool and refreshing and lovely! I will definitely give that one a go, thank you

I know what you mean about eczema, my eldest had it as a baby too and at one point her poor bottom was so red raw with a mixture of that and nappy rash, it was horrible…I kept on with the products I was advised by my HV to use (including wet wipes) but looking back they must have made it worse! I was only young though and just did what I was told…not this time lol!!

Hi there, have you got your lists sorted yet? Just writing mine at the mo’ but only a two year gap so I haven’t got much to buy

We use chamomile tea and a drop of olive oil in a spray bottle - spray on the bum and then wipe with cotton flannels.
I make my own bottom salve, herbs soaked in olive oil/sunflower oil for a couple of weeks in the sunshine and then mixed with beeswax - lovely and healing, we use it as a healing balm for cuts, grazes, etc.  So it’s kept inthe nappy bag and first aid box

Hope that helps, happy rest of your pregnancy
sarie

Hi Sarie

Yep list is all done, its really surprising actually when you sort into essential/useful/luxury….and then get even more ruthless with what counts as essential (do I really need that plastic baby bath when there is a sink in the nursery?)....that really, the list of essential items is very small! Its been quite a worthwhile activity for us

I love the idea of making my own bottom salve, i’m going to give that a go too

Warm water and washable wipes every time. The best cure for sore bottoms I’ve found is the sap of an aloe plant! I use it in the kitchen for burns as well - it’s amazing! I keep a plant in the kitchen, and if I burn fingers , arms on the iron (that’s my favorite!) I just snap off the end of a leaf and smear the sap on the uirn. It stops it stinging almost immediately. Smeared on nappy rash it works a treat, as long as the skin isn’t broken - haven’t ever tried on broken skin though.

As regards 100% eco-friendly disposables, there is no such thing! They all go to landfill, and nothing will biodegrade once air and light are not available, and they will be buried in landfill pretty quickly. They also use as much water in the manufacture, as you would use to wash washable nappies for the life of one baby! And lots of other resources as well, so even if you use ones which contain no chemicals, they aren’t eco-friendly! Just some are more eco-friendly than others IYSWIM!

HI JaxV
Better leave the baby cream out for now – some babies never get nappy rash nor any skin irritation, so finger crossed you may no need to buy it at all.

If and when you find you need a nappy rash cream, you could try this one by The Herbjar – no preservatives, no dubious ingredients, just plant extracts and zinc oxide.  You can find it online at http://www.theherbjar.co.uk in the Baby section

All the best
x

I used plain water until Tansy was about two months old, then we used, and still do, Weleda’s calendula baby cream for her body and face where the eczema dries it out and the same range bath goop, it smells lovely and doesn’t irritate her skin. I only use a pinhead amount though, even though it’s hypoallergenic etc. For bum wipes, I used cotton wool adn water but it gets expensive as cotton wool’s ridiculously priced, especially the organic stuff. We now have fleecey bum wipes and put them in a tub with water and a teeny bit of the calendula baby wash all squeezed out, so they’re like commercial wipes, just re-usable! She’s luckily never had bad nappy rash, once she had a tiny bit but I just kept her well aired and it thankfully went over night. She does have the odd bout of eczema, as I mentioned. For this, I have tried a multitude of remedies but found this balm: http://www.naturesgiftuk.co.uk/#/marigold-ointment/4518684619 the best thing for it. I also use Neal’s Yard marigold oil too for her body and it works well for cradle cap. I think that Lansinoh boob emolient is ace for lots of things, too, I use it on myself for lips, hands, eczema, boobs, barrier for my cheeks out in the wind etc. I guess it’d be good for a bum barrier if it was ever necessary. It sounds like I load lots of stuff on, I really don’t, honest! It’s all used very sparingly and not all at the same time but being a mixed race baby, her skin’s prone to being slightly drier than most northern European complexions. My skin is quite dry and poor little thingy has followed suit! I’d say, above all, though, do what works for your child the best, do as little as possible and just see what works for him/her.