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Before becoming a mom, I never really paid attention to the quality of the products that I was buying. That entirely changed after the birth of my first full-term daughter in 2018. When you become a mom, you become 100% invested in ensuring the health and safety of your child. For me, this pursuit to protect my daughter included protecting her from harsh and toxic chemicals that are found in MANY well-known brands of essential baby products.
Bleach, sulfates, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, BPA, parabens, oxybenzone, and even formaldehyde are all potentially harmful chemicals that are commonly used in baby products. To a mom, that is overwhelming and scary! So over the last six and a half years, I have researched the safest, cleanest baby products that I know I can feel confident about using on my children.
If you are like me and are concerned about the safety of the products you use on your child, I am so happy to share what I’ve found to be the best, safest, and cleanest products.
Baby shampoo
My favorite clean baby shampoo is Babo Botanicals Sensitive Baby Fragrance Free Shampoo & Wash. It is EWG-Verified, meaning that it meets EWG’s strictest standards for health and safety. It does not contain any of the ingredients on EWG’s “Unacceptable List” and is fully transparent about all of its ingredients. This is the only baby shampoo and wash that I use on my babies! It foams up nicely, is nice and gentle, and truly is fragrance free. I would highly recommend it to any mama searching for a clean, safe baby shampoo and wash.
Diaper cream
Finding clean diaper cream that actually WORKS has been a tough one. I’ve tried out at least couple that contained all clean ingredients, but did next to nothing to prevent or heal my baby’s diaper rashes. For this reason, my favorite diaper rash cream may surprise you since it’s such a well-known product.
On a day-to-day basis for diaper rash prevention and soothing, my favorite thing to use is Aquaphor 3 in 1 Baby Diaper Rash Healing Cream. It has an EWG rating of 1 with a fair amount of data availability. Whenever I start to notice redness on my baby’s bottom, I make sure to keep this slathered on and it does a great job of preventing redness from progressing to a full-on rash. It’s nothing fancy, but it definitely does the job and I love that I can feel confident using it knowing that it has one of the best ratings possible on EWG.
Sunscreen
I have spent an embarrassing amount of time researching the best clean sunscreen. What freaks me out about sunscreen is that you have to rub it in literally ALL OVER THEIR BODIES, so I have always wanted to be extra cautious in ensuring that the ingredients are safe. Who wants to be applying toxic chemicals onto every inch of their child’s exposed skin?? Definitely not me.
The bad chemical you want to watch out for in sunscreens (even sunscreens that are organic or that are specifically made for babies or kids) is oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is known to cause allergic skin reactions, has been found to be an endocrine disruptor in multiple studies, is readily absorbed into the skin, and has greater potential for harm when used on children. The best way to avoid this ingredient in sunscreen is to look for mineral based sunscreens that use zinc oxide as the main active ingredient.
I have two favorite clean sunscreens that I have used on my babies and children, and that I also actually use especially when I am pregnant or breastfeeding.
Two Peas Organics Mineral Sunscreen is 20% zinc oxide and has an EWG rating of 1.
ThinkBaby Clear Zinc Sunscreen SPF 30 is also 20% zinc oxide and also has an EWG rating of 1.
I have used both of these products on my babies, kids, and on myself! Both are completely free from toxic chemicals, are reef-safe, and mineral based. The only down-side to clean mineral-based sunscreens like these is that they definitely leave more so of a white tinge to the skin than non-mineral-based sunscreens, but I actually don’t mind it much especially when it comes to using it on my children because I like being able to SEE that I’ve applied the sunscreen everywhere where it needs to be on their exposed skin. It does absorb a bit better after having it on for a bit too. I haven’t had any issues with sunburns or anything either as I’ve used these products. Just make sure to apply it liberally and reapply when needed.
Baby lotion
Okay here’s a confession… I have rarely used commercial lotions on my babies. Not because there aren’t great clean lotions out there that can be used on your baby’s dry skin, but rather because I most often use a moisturizing substance that has been readily available for my baby’s first year of life and is FREE: breast milk! Breast milk is hands down just amazing. It has natural moisturizing properties and can be used to help heal many of your baby’s skin issues.
If you don’t breastfeed or would rather have a formal lotion on hand to use, I found SO many EWG-verified baby lotions, meaning that they contain NO unacceptable ingredients and are completely transparent about the ingredients they use. Here are a few EWG-verified lotions you may want to check out.
Finally Pure Daily Moisturizing Baby Lotion
Babo Botanicals Sensitive Baby Fragrance-Free Daily Hydrating Lotion
And there are tons more you can find on EWG’s website.
So there you have it! These are by far my favorite safe and clean baby products to use. I hope they become some of your favorites too! And be sure to comment below with any of your favorites 🙂
