Question on Soap Recipes and Babies

[Barloki]

I was not sure where to put this question. So here goes... This sounds silly to me as I am typing it.

I have several friends that announced they are pregnant. When making soap for babies is there any oils or ingredients that you typically stay away from; i.e coconut, palm, lard, crisco?
I know that there are liquid baby soaps out there, and I have not seen of a bar soap for babies (I haven't really looked either ).

I was not successful in completing a search for this. Any help would be appreciated. I have been playing with the soap calculator and below is what I came up with. and making it with Aloe Juice....

10% Coconut
10% Crisco
15% Palm Kernel
20% Palm
45% Olive Pomace

Thanks!!

 

[earthsessencellc]

Generally for babies, I would only suggest pure castile soap! No fragrance, especially for newborns...... Leave all other ingredients out of the mix, just pure olive oil.

Babies skin is very sensitive, and they are highly susceptible to essential oils, so essential oils are a big 'NO NO' until baby is a little older, even then you should really watch the use of essential oils on small children. essential oils contain amounts of plant based estrogen's in them and should be avoided in children until they are over the age of 12-13 especially boys, until they hit puberty.

As far as fragrance oils, you can start to add very very small amounts of them to babies soap a little at a time, start very small, and work your way up, as they get older.

Remember babies skin is very delicate and you don't want to be responsible for harming their fragile skin, nor do you want an angry new mom, lol.

For basic soap, make castile (a.k.a. PURE OLIVE OIL) no other oils.

 

[cambree]

Do avoid any fragrances and essential oils too.

There are enough toxic substances in the world that babies have to deal with already.

It's best to give them a nice pure soap. I did notice that soapmakers like to make baby soaps with oils infused with or contain calendula petals. And some use goat's milk.

I also need to make baby soap batches too. Good idea for holiday gift giving. I might try pure olive oil infused with calendula petals.


Here is a pretty bar of handmade baby soap from etsy shop. Fragrance free.

 

[beachgurl]

For my kids (they have super sensitive skin and we fight with excema) I use a about 90% Olive and 10% Coconut for their bars. No colorants, no fragrance. Sometimes I put some powdered calendula/chamomile/lavender in there or infuse the oils like suggested above. You must be careful with either calendula/chamomile (I can't remember which off the top of my head ... I'll pull out my herbal pharmacy book after I'm done with my homework) because one of them isn't good for kids with pollen allergies; however, both of mine have seasonal allergies and I've not had a problem.

 

[Tabitha]

It's a good idea to also point out mom should use unscented soaps as well, esp if she is breast feeding. You don't want baby getting trace amounts in their mouth or breathing it off of mom's skin.

 

[cdwinsby]

Aloe vera can be sensitizing on delicate skin too.

 

[Barloki]

Thanks everyone for the info.... I think I may need to play with this idea a bit more before I go forward with it.

 

[MikeInPdx]

I'm not a daddy, but if I were going to make a soap for a baby, I too would make 100% olive oil....no scent, no color, no additives. It's probably the mildest soap around.

 

[Black soap n candle lady]

If I had a pretty little baby I would make a yogurt soap with 100% olive. That would be mild, creamy and cleansing. No fragrance. Happy soaping!

 

[digit]

Here is a nifty article about baby skin skin care: http://skincare.dermis.net/content/e03g ... x_eng.html

Digit

 

[mandolyn]

I'm not a daddy, but if I were going to make a soap for a baby, I too would make 100% olive oil....no scent, no color, no additives. It's probably the mildest soap around.

Same here.

 

[jenmarie82]

So would it be safe to use a soap with mild fragrance on babies around 4 months and up? At what age would it be safe to use a soap with fragrance? I make my own melt and pour and usually put a little fragrance in it and have used it on my daughter (she's 7 months).

 

[Martin]

I agree with MikeInPdx and Mandolyn. I'm a grandma 2x over and that is what I make for them. But I don't think I would make soap to sell for babies. If I did it would be the 100% castile.

Sonja

 

[Healinya]

http://www.makeyourowncosmetics.com/rec ... ?cat=mommy

They have a few nice recipes for baby and mommy to be.

 

[Annmarie0407]

This is some great info. What about coconut oil for babies/toddler?

 

[soap_lady]

I guess I'm the odd one out, because I wouldn't think twice about using any of my handmade soaps on a child of mine. (newborn or otherwise)

My kids are now school aged now, and I wasn't making soap when they were newborns, but the hospital where my youngest was born used dove in the nursery. And I think what I make is a lot better than that.

I guess I didn't freak out about what I put on their skin, and to be honest with several other kids at home it was a whole lot easier for my husband to hand me the baby when I was bathing.... then i would wash her with the soap I used (at that time it was caress) and then hand her back when I was done washing her than to drag the baby tub out, and put it away again.

Plus I think about the thousands upon thousands of children that grew up using and still use those baby soaps and washes and lotions and they are made with a fragrance oil as well. (the commercial ones)

I don't think to add fragrance or not should be the question. In my opinion, it's a personal opinion. Some people freak out at every news article that comes out without finding out how true it is. (my mother is like that) For me it's not an issue, but some are anal about it.

I think the question should be more the fact how gentle the soap is. I wouldn't use a highly cleansing bar of a small child. But I certainly wouldn't use castile either because I personally don't like the slimy lather from it. So I make my baby soaps to be very low on the cleansing scale, (14 or less on soapcalc). Both unscented and scented and let the buyer decide what is right for them.

Looking at your recipe, it would be a little to cleansing for my taste....
I would try something like this instead,
coconut 20%
soybean oil (liquid) 25%
palm oil 35%
olive pomace 20%

Hardness 40
cleansing 14
conditioning 57
bubbly 14
creamy 27

but then that just my personal opinion. Personally I love scented added to baby products........... And I know I'm not the only one who does.


edited to add the fact that I do not use the same concentration of scent to my baby products that I do my adult products. Just enough for a hint of fragrance......

 

[roseangel]

Me, personally, I wouldn't use any perfumed soap on a baby.
But, primarily, this is because I am sensitive to chemicals in soap, when I was a baby, my parents used baby soap and a I broke out in a red, pealing, bleeding rash from head to toe, so I was bathed in vinegar water.
So I am not inclined to take risks with my own kids.

 

[jenmarie82]

I personally like scented baby soap too and use it on my own daughter and she's never had a problem with it but i know some babies can't tolerate it. I also like to let the consumer choose if they want scented or not. That being said, there's been a lot of hype about lawsuits due to rash or whatnot. If we offer both scented and unscented and clearly let the consumer know that some types of soaps may not be suitable for young children, could they legally come back on you?