Baby Products Unmasked By Stephen and Gina Antczak, authors of Cosmetics Unmasked

Babies can't help themselves and they cannot tell us what, if anything, is ailing them. They depend on us totally so we owe it to them to give them the best possible care that we can. This generally means learning about a baby's needs. We should know, for example, how to provide them with a good diet and if we don't know, we can easily find out. But when it comes to baby's toiletries, it's not so easy. There is a daunting range of toiletries designed specifically for babies and young children, and the marketing information about them can be misleading.

This article is based on the Baby Products chapter of 'Cosmetics Unmasked.' It explains why you should not use adult toiletries and cosmetics on babies and toddlers, what to look out for when choosing a baby product and at what age you can switch from baby products to family or adult products. Other topics covered in 'Cosmetics Unmasked' include skin care, hair care, colorants and fragrances, animal products, animal testing and everything else you want to know about the safety of cosmetics and toiletries. It contains details of over 2000 cosmetic ingredients that are potentially harmful, it exposes the truth behind the marketing hype and it explains the science of cosmetics and toiletries in simple, everyday words.

Why are baby products different?

You can buy new-born baby products, regular baby products and products for young children, and when you read the ingredients they all look much the same as the standard family toiletries. So why do you need to pay more for a baby product? The answer is simple. Harmful microbes can breed in cosmetics and toiletries, especially those that contain nutritious ingredients like proteins, vitamins and natural plant extracts. These microbes pose a much greater risk to young children than to older children or adults.

New-born babies have not yet developed an immune system. Instead they rely on physical barriers such as skin and mucous membranes, and on antibodies passed from the mother while in the womb and later from her breast milk. It is essential that babies are not exposed to unnecessary microbes during this crucial period of development so during the manufacture of baby products, great care must be taken to ensure that microbial contamination is minimal and, for this reason, the product usually contains a number of preservatives to prevent contamination during storage and normal use.

European Union (EU) law requires that, during manufacture and normal use, toiletries for children under the age of three must contain at least fifty times fewer microbes than regular cosmetics and toiletries. The regulations go as far as defining the number and type of microbes that are permitted in the various types of cosmetics and toiletries.

What toiletries should you use?

The advertisers would have us believe that we are less than adequate as parents if we do not buy their products and plaster our children in creams and lotions from the day they are born. They even suggest that we could use them ourselves to keep our skin baby-soft. But there is no law that requires all babies to have that familiar baby lotion smell and you should always question whether you really need to use a particular product on your baby.

Do you really need to buy all-over body wash for your baby? This is the child's equivalent of shower gel or body shampoo. Soap has an excellent safety record and a good brand or a well-known store brand of baby soap is probably even safer. Why expose your child to a cocktail of detergents, foam boosters, thickeners, preservatives, colorants and fragrances when you can use something as simple as soap?

Do you really need to use conditioner on your baby's hair? Consider washing your baby's hair with a mild baby shampoo then foregoing the conditioner. Your child's hair is unlikely to need conditioning and is probably better off without being constantly coated with the chemical residues of the surfactants, oils, antistatic agents, preservatives and so on. A Conditioner will make your child's hair more greasy, requiring you to wash it more often, resulting in even more exposure to cosmetic chemicals.

When you are out and about, moist tissues can be a godsend when you have to change your baby's nappy, but you do not need to use them at home. These tissues are full of chemicals like alcohol, preservatives, fragrances, surfactants, moisturisers and antimicrobials and constant exposure to these ingredients may cause skin problems, if not now, then later in the child's life. Soap and warm water using suitable disposable tissues or a towel is probably much safer in the long run, than relying on chemical wipes that are not rinsed off.

Do you really need to use baby-powder to make your baby's skin dry after a nappy change? A soft towel can do just as well and baby powders that contain talc are harmful if inhaled. Recent studies have also suggested that there might be a link between the use of talc and ovarian cancer.

Do you need to splash out on overpriced hypoallergenic products for your child? You may be wasting your money because these often contain the same ingredients as their regular counterparts, but may contain fewer colorants and fragrance chemicals. Terms like 'Allergy Tested', 'Dermatologically Tested', 'Natural' and 'Hypoallergenic' are unregulated and manufacturers can use these descriptions on their labels without demonstrating that these products cause fewer allergic reactions or other adverse skin reactions.

Do you really need to plaster your baby in that familiar smelling baby lotion? You may need to use certain emollient creams where you baby has a skin problem (see below) but otherwise, you are simply adding yet more unnecessary chemicals to your baby's life. Most of these chemicals will be artificial despite any manufacturer's claims to the contrary and even natural substances can be irritating to a baby's skin.

Baby's skin problems - do toiletries help or hinder?

Very young babies cannot tell you that they are itching and your baby will not have sufficiently developed motor skills or coordination to scratch. The best your baby can do is cry. Look out for red or discoloured patches, raised patches, a rash or flaking skin, or any other skin condition that does not seem normal. If the problem is on your baby's head it may be caused by the shampoo you are using but since you are most likely to wash your baby's hair in the bath, the problem may occur on other parts of the body as well. Of course the condition may be unrelated to toiletries. Cradle cap, characterised by flaking, yellow scales on the scalp, is surprisingly common and easily treated at home. If the standard cradle cap treatments, which are available over the counter, do not clear up the problem in a week or so, consult your doctor. It may be a more serious condition like seborrhoeic dermatitis, which can also appear on the face, neck, behind the ears and in the nappy area.

If your baby's skin does become sore in the nappy area, it is likely to be the start of nappy rash, which is a reaction to chemicals contained in the urine and faeces. The best treatment is to prevent nappy rash in the first place. Your baby's nappy areas must be kept as dry as possible and regular changing of soiled nappies is essential. A waterproof layer of an emollient cream will help to keep these chemicals away from the skin. If the skin starts to look red or sore, it is tempting to think that you should use more of the emollient but it is possible that the emollient itself is the cause of the problem. If the condition worsens when you apply more cream, stop using it and try another product. A simple one with fewer ingredients such as petroleum jelly may be the best answer. If the condition does not improve, seek medical advice.

It is worth remembering that nappy rash may be the first sign that your baby has sensitive skin and may have more problems with cosmetics and toiletries in the future. Keep a close eye on your child's skin and be ready to swap toiletries if a persistent problem occurs. Sensitive skin may also burn easily, so make certain the child is adequately protected from the sun. Do not expose your baby to strong sunshine before the age of six months. After that, limit the exposure time to short periods at first and avoid the noonday sun when it is at its strongest. Even when your child's skin is tanned, continue using a good sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15. And make sure the sunscreen is suitable for children.

What to Avoid?

If you feel you must use a cosmetic or toiletry on your baby, then you should avoid using products that contain potentially irritating or harmful chemicals. Your baby's skin is much thinner and more sensitive than your own. Generally speaking, baby products are gentler than normal toiletries. This is achieved in several ways.

SLS

Baby shampoo almost always contains sodium laureth sulfate which is considered to be one of the least irritating detergents available. It is certainly much less of an irritant than SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate), which is the most commonly used detergent in the majority of shampoos, shower gels, foaming bath products and cleansing products for adults. (It is also found in a wide range of industrial and domestic cleaners such as floor cleaner and car wash.) If you find a baby product that contains SLS put it back on the shelf and choose one that contains sodium laureth sulfate.

Colorants and fragrances

Colorants and fragrance chemicals are a major cause of adverse effects. Most baby products are only lightly perfumed and subtly coloured. If the product has a strong fragrance or a bright colour, choose another brand. If you can find unscented and uncoloured baby products they may be worth considering, providing the other ingredients are OK.

'Cosmetics Unmasked' lists over 90 colorants that are subject to restrictions in either the EU or the USA. 59 of them are not allowed in products that are used near the eyes or mucous membranes and 35 must not be used in products that remain on the skin for any length of time. They can be used in products like shampoo and shower gel which are rinsed away soon after application. You may well ask, if it is not safe for these colorants to be in contact with skin for more than a few minutes, then why should they be applied to my child's skin (or my own) at all? If they can damage eyes and irritate mucous membranes, why should they go anywhere near my baby?

Preservatives and other ingredients

So what should the other ingredients look like? That is a hard question to answer. In an ideal world, the products should not contain any of the ingredients listed in 'Cosmetics Unmasked' that have known adverse effects. In practice this is almost impossible. Baby products contain the same wide range of preservatives as any other product and most preservatives have restrictions applied to the amount that can be used, presumably because larger quantities are considered to be potentially harmful. Choose one that contains just one preservative rather than a list of three or four. In fact, it is best to choose a product that has the smallest possible list of ingredients. The longer the list, the greater the chance that your baby will have an adverse reaction to one of them or to a combination of two or more ingredients which, on their own, are normally harmless.

EU regulations ban several cosmetic ingredients from products intended for use on children under the age of three and there are several ingredients and products that are too harsh for use on infants. These are listed in detail in 'Cosmetics Unmasked'. They include boric acid, salicylic acid and related salicylates (except in baby shampoo), oxidation hair dyes, depilatories containing hydroxides, sulphides and thioglycolates, and exfoliating products that contain alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs). None of these ingredients should be used in baby products so there should be no problem providing you stick to products designed specifically for babies and infants.

Don't be tempted to colour or perm a child's hair. These haircare products contain harsh chemicals that are likely to irritate the child's skin. Several hair dyes and perms contain chemicals that are banned from use in children's products or are not recommended to be used on children.

Baby powders that contain talc are harmful if inhaled. Don't use talc anywhere near baby's mouth or nose and make sure that neither you nor your baby accidentally inhales the dust.

Avoid products that are rich in plant extracts, proteins, amino acids or vitamins. These are nutritious and may encourage microbes to grow and contaminate the toiletry. To counter this, the product may contain extra preservatives, many of which have been linked to adverse effects such as allergies and contact dermatitis.

As your child grows older

As a rule of thumb you can start to use regular toiletries when your child is three years old. Relatively few cosmetic ingredients have age restrictions placed on their use and any such restrictions lapse at the age of three. But there is no reason why you should not continue to use baby soap and shampoo for a few more years. If you do switch to regular products, start with fairly simple ones. Avoid brightly coloured or highly perfumed toiletries and go for products with short, simple lists of ingredients. If you stick to simple products your infant will be less likely to suffer any adverse effects.

As for the marketing

Finally, you should avoid watching television advertisements for baby products and avoid reading the marketing blurb on the product labels. The marketing hype can be at best misleading and at worst, is designed to make you feel you are not being a good parent unless you use a product which may be totally unnecessary.

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© Gina & Steve Antczak, 2001

This page was last updated, 3 January 2002

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