Thoughts on Baby Products
In my continued effort to share with the world my opinion on all things baby, and after several conversations with friends who are soon to be first time moms, I thought I'd write a post on products. Not gear (I've already written those posts - click on "gear" to your right), but every day products.
Like diaper cream. Butt paste, with it's funny sounding name and trendy appeal, is effective yet overpriced. It's great when someone else buys it for you. But once you run out (which you will), I've found that regular old A&D Ointment works just fine at literally a third of the price.
And lotion. Poor Graham was afflicted with some eczema for most of his first year. Once he stopped breastfeeding and started drinking milk, it got much worse. Lo and behold when I switched from whole cow milk to soymilk, the eczema (and terrible diaper rash) disappeared. I suspect that the whole time the eczema was due to the dairy I was eating. However, I figured it was a topical irritant, so I treated with a variety of lotions and found that the Aveeno Eczema Therapy did make it better. Regular Aveeno baby lotion and Eucerin Calming Cream were better than nothing, but not as good as the former. And none were as good as addressing the actual issue: milk allergy.
And soap. I've tried Johnson and Johnson, Burt's Bees, and Aveeno. They all do the trick - remove crusted milk and poop from baby. All are tear free (though babies still get annoyed when you get water and/or soap in their eyes, but not annoyed enough that they're willing to cooperate by leaning their heads backwards and not forwards when pouring over the water). But I prefer the smell of Aveeno the best. In fact, I didn't care for the Johnson and Johnson scent to the point where even though I have like 2/3 of a bottle left, I bought more Aveeno and have the J&J as back-up.
And detergent. I've used Arm & Hammer for years. Why? Because it's cheaper than Tide, but not bargain basement detergent. And baking soda cleans all things, so Arm & Hammer seemed like a pretty trustworthy product. Now they have Arm & Hammer plus OxiClean that is also Fragrance and Dye Free. Everyone is happy - stains come out and no one's skin is irritated. The Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin works well, too. Oh yeah, while we're at stain removal, buy some stain removal spray. Not a stick, not a gel you have to rub in (because that just spreads the poop around - yes it's as gross as it sounds), but a spray that doesn't have to touch anything gross. Like OxiClean spray.
And diapers. Have I written about these? I think so, but here's the recap: try a bunch of different brands and then buy generic if those work just as well. In our case, G has a wide butt and both Target and Meijer brand diapers are on the wide side, and so they fit him well. If your baby starts leaking on a consistent basis, the diaper is too small. Try a new brand or get the next size up (even if your baby isn't quite in the recommended weight range for that size diaper).
And wipes. Again - buy generic. If you live in Michigan and shop at Meijer, the Fragrance/Dye Free are sturdier wipes than the Sensitive.
And first aid stuff. Again, buy generic. One thing I wasn't expecting is that even Infant Acetaminophen and Infant Ibuprofen are not dosed for Infants. You will have to call your doctor to see what dose you can give them, which is inconvenient when your baby is sick. Get yourself some hydro-cortisone cream, petroleum jelly, neosporin/anti-bacterial cream, and bandaids. If you find yourself with a colicky baby, get some Colic Calm (it's not a miracle cure, but I feel like it helped a little). Beware that it stains. And turns baby poop black. Once they start teething, you're gonna want some Orajel, or comparable product, on hand in case your baby refuses the teething ring like G did.
Ok - that's a lot of things to keep your baby clean. Maybe I should have titled this blog post Baby Cleaning Products. I've also already posted on baby food, and will be adding some more stuff about toddler feeding (which is a whole other ball game).
I will close by posing this question to my fellow moms: what baby products can you not live without?
Like diaper cream. Butt paste, with it's funny sounding name and trendy appeal, is effective yet overpriced. It's great when someone else buys it for you. But once you run out (which you will), I've found that regular old A&D Ointment works just fine at literally a third of the price.
And lotion. Poor Graham was afflicted with some eczema for most of his first year. Once he stopped breastfeeding and started drinking milk, it got much worse. Lo and behold when I switched from whole cow milk to soymilk, the eczema (and terrible diaper rash) disappeared. I suspect that the whole time the eczema was due to the dairy I was eating. However, I figured it was a topical irritant, so I treated with a variety of lotions and found that the Aveeno Eczema Therapy did make it better. Regular Aveeno baby lotion and Eucerin Calming Cream were better than nothing, but not as good as the former. And none were as good as addressing the actual issue: milk allergy.
And soap. I've tried Johnson and Johnson, Burt's Bees, and Aveeno. They all do the trick - remove crusted milk and poop from baby. All are tear free (though babies still get annoyed when you get water and/or soap in their eyes, but not annoyed enough that they're willing to cooperate by leaning their heads backwards and not forwards when pouring over the water). But I prefer the smell of Aveeno the best. In fact, I didn't care for the Johnson and Johnson scent to the point where even though I have like 2/3 of a bottle left, I bought more Aveeno and have the J&J as back-up.
And detergent. I've used Arm & Hammer for years. Why? Because it's cheaper than Tide, but not bargain basement detergent. And baking soda cleans all things, so Arm & Hammer seemed like a pretty trustworthy product. Now they have Arm & Hammer plus OxiClean that is also Fragrance and Dye Free. Everyone is happy - stains come out and no one's skin is irritated. The Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin works well, too. Oh yeah, while we're at stain removal, buy some stain removal spray. Not a stick, not a gel you have to rub in (because that just spreads the poop around - yes it's as gross as it sounds), but a spray that doesn't have to touch anything gross. Like OxiClean spray.
And diapers. Have I written about these? I think so, but here's the recap: try a bunch of different brands and then buy generic if those work just as well. In our case, G has a wide butt and both Target and Meijer brand diapers are on the wide side, and so they fit him well. If your baby starts leaking on a consistent basis, the diaper is too small. Try a new brand or get the next size up (even if your baby isn't quite in the recommended weight range for that size diaper).
And wipes. Again - buy generic. If you live in Michigan and shop at Meijer, the Fragrance/Dye Free are sturdier wipes than the Sensitive.
And first aid stuff. Again, buy generic. One thing I wasn't expecting is that even Infant Acetaminophen and Infant Ibuprofen are not dosed for Infants. You will have to call your doctor to see what dose you can give them, which is inconvenient when your baby is sick. Get yourself some hydro-cortisone cream, petroleum jelly, neosporin/anti-bacterial cream, and bandaids. If you find yourself with a colicky baby, get some Colic Calm (it's not a miracle cure, but I feel like it helped a little). Beware that it stains. And turns baby poop black. Once they start teething, you're gonna want some Orajel, or comparable product, on hand in case your baby refuses the teething ring like G did.
Ok - that's a lot of things to keep your baby clean. Maybe I should have titled this blog post Baby Cleaning Products. I've also already posted on baby food, and will be adding some more stuff about toddler feeding (which is a whole other ball game).
I will close by posing this question to my fellow moms: what baby products can you not live without?
I found the only difference with children's advil/tylenol and infants' is how concentrated it is. With infant medicine you can give just a bit to get the same amount of medication as a tsp or Tbsp of children's stuff...however the price is vastly different. I checked with my doctor for proper dosing and now buy huge bottles of children's formula instead.
ReplyDeleteWe too have issues with eczema and love Aveeno products. I find that switching to Johnson's makes it much worse (same company though) and must use Aveeno bath AND lotion.