If you have a baby, you know about diapers. And if you know about diapers, you know about diaper rash. It is one of those inevitabilities of life with infants, like spit-up stained clothes and never quite enough sleep. Warm weather tends to increase the frequency and severity of diaper rashes, and they can become quite itchy and painful for your little people. So what are your options?
Well, there’s always the old stand-by: zinc oxide cream. While zinc oxide itself is a chemical compound made by dissolving zinc ash and combining with an alkali. It’s considered non-toxic, so if you’re okay with using it, here are a couple of great options:
- California Baby Diaper Rash cream, reviewed at Eco Child’s Play, is, as Susie Kim says, made in the U.S. of organic and sustainably grown ingredients, is biodegradable and cruelty-free.
- Baby Bee Diaper Ointment by Burt’s Bees contains, along with zinc oxide, sweet almond oil, lavender oil, beeswax, chamomile, rosemary, and calendula extracts, and soybean oil. It is labeled 100% natural.
- Sometimes simplest is best. Try applying pure shea butter to the red little portion of baby’s bum. It will create the same kind of barrier that zinc oxide does, but is, most definitely, all natural
- Natural Family Online offers a recipe for Calendula-Comfrey Diaper Ointment. Sounds rather simple to make: only three ingredients! Again, all natural.
- A simple combination of a tablespoon of olive oil with 5 drops of water is recommended by The Labor of Love website. They also recommend straight cod liver oil (if you have the capsules, you can just pop one open and apply directly on baby’s bum.
- Annie | My Bio & Articles
I love bare feet, Dr. Bronner's, cotton skirts, summer rain, winter snow, new places, open-minded people, deep conversations. I had a (short-lived) natural products company while I was in college: The Full Nelson Natural Products...Related Articles
Now, for alternatives to zinc oxide. There are some, though you might not believe it if you go cruising the “baby bum” aisle at your local big store. But there are always alternatives. Sometimes you just have to do a little digging.
