Soap for babies?

[Meowmeow2d]

Are most soaps gentle enough for babies? Should it be mostly olive oil? Any ingredient I should avoid?

Does anyone have a good recipe for baby soap?

 

[Ellacho]

A lot of people like to use a Castile soap for baby.

 

[Relle]

Discussed before -
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=39666
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=29736
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=7624

 

[hmlove1218]

Here's a recipe I like. Don't remember where I found it or if I combined recipes though..

Olive Oil 81%
Coconut Oil 7%
Cocoa Butter 7%
Castro Oil 5%

Superfatted 10%
Use buttermilk instead of water

I steeped chamomile tea bags in my melting oils and left it to "brew" until I was about to mix my oils and lye mixture.

I don't use colorants or fragrances in my baby soap. The chamomile seems to leave a light fragrance that develops as it cures.

 

[EvilTOJ]

Babies are WAY too young to be making soap!

 

[Jeanea]

Can this be hp. I have friend birthing soon and dont have six months to wait for curing. Im trying to put a b&b basket together for her.

 

[Susie]

You can HP most any bar soaps, but you still need a minimum 4 week cure time. And it is WAY better to give it 6 weeks or more. Soaps high in olive oil require much more cure. I would think strongly about making liquid soap if I needed it sooner.

 

[grayceworks]

Can this be hp. I have friend birthing soon and dont have six months to wait for curing. Im trying to put a b&b basket together for her.

Newborns shouldn't really have soap on their skin anyhow, as their skin is very delicate. Plain water is usually enough for the first few months. When they get to be 4-6months, then a very gentle cleanser or soap is usually ok.

Also, while HP will completely saponify the soap right away, and cook a lot of the water out, it still should have a few weeks of drying and curing at minimum, as it will dry further, and as it dries, it becomes even milder. The longer you can cure it, the milder it will become.

 

[jules92207]

My kids are all over 1 year so they can handle a bit more than a newborn but honestly every soap recipe I have made has shown to be much better than anything I have found over the counter. You can't really go wrong with homemade soap - just stick with high olive oil for gentleness.

I would recommend Soap Queen's Bastille Buttermilk, you could use goats milk instead of buttermilk too if you want. I made that for my kids using breastmilk actually with 90% olive oil, 5% coconut and 5% cocoa butter. It is very gentle.

 

[Ruthie]

Just understand that it will not be "tears free." That is done with a chemical (which, BTW, numbs the eyes.)

 

[new12soap]

Agreed, you should not use ANY soap or cleanser or baby wash on a newborn, I would wait until they are at least 3-4 months, 6 is better.

And yes, HP speeds up the process by a couple of days at most and still needs a good cure.

I would say make a castille, or a buttermilk bastille (olive oil, castor oil, and buttermilk or goatmilk for the liquid), it will be perfect by the time the new baby needs it!

 

[Susie]

I am a nurse, I have worked newborn nursery, and I have kids. And I can tell you that unless your pediatrician has specifically told you otherwise, it is OK to use mild soaps on babies. (Now, I did not say it is OK to use adult products on a baby. Nor did I say it is OK despite what your pediatrician says.) But, for babies without conditions that prohibit the use of soap, it is OK to use a mild soap to bathe no more than 3 times a week.

Having said that, I would go further to say that almost any home made bar soap with 5% SF or greater should be fine to wash below the eyes and down. Use just plain water to wash the forehead and eyes to keep soap out of the eyes. Home made soap will be much more moisturizing and gentle than anything store bought. I would not use any fragrance oils, and would truly think twice before even adding any EO's. I would also not add anything that could be exfoliating(orange peel, coffee, poppy seeds, etc.)

Do babies "need" to be bathed with soap before solid food and crawling? Probably not. But once one or the other begins, then bathing messy parts with soap is going to be more of a good idea. Especially those hands and that face.

 

[LanaBanana]

Something sweet to do would be to make some castille soap on the day the baby is born and give it to them on his or her first birthday.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[winusuren]

Here's a recipe I like. Don't remember where I found it or if I combined recipes though..

Olive Oil 81%
Coconut Oil 7%
Cocoa Butter 7%
Castro Oil 5%

Superfatted 10%
Use buttermilk instead of water

I steeped chamomile tea bags in my melting oils and left it to "brew" until I was about to mix my oils and lye mixture.

I don't use colorants or fragrances in my baby soap. The chamomile seems to leave a light fragrance that develops as it cures.

Thank you so much for the recipe. Can I use buffalo milk instead of buttermilk??

 

[AliOop]

Thank you so much for the recipe. Can I use buffalo milk instead of buttermilk??

Hi @winusuren - this is a really old thread from 2014; many of those folks aren't around anymore. So I'll chime in to say that yes, you can use any animal milk instead of cow milk, which is where we traditionally get buttermilk in the US.

If you want to make your buffalo milk more like buttermilk, you can add 1 tsp vinegar per cup of milk, and let it sit at room temperature for an hour or so to slightly curdle. If you want to know more about using milk for making soap, you might want to read some of the threads about goat milk soap. It's important to keep it cool while adding the lye, so it doesn't scorch and smell bad.