A Deeper Look at Toxic Baby Skincare

A Deeper Look at Toxic Baby Skincare

Mum’s iPhone, Dad’s reading glasses. The world is your infant’s tasting menu for the initial stages of their life. However, there’s no need to sterilise every dropped dummy and a little contact with germs helps develop their immunity. 

But when it comes to baby skincare, you want to make sure that the products you’re using aren’t doing more harm to your baby than the slobber on dog’s toys they’ve been chewing on.

Alarmingly, despite all the studies and news reports, many parents are STILL bathing, powdering, wiping and moisturising their babies with products containing an alarming mix of harmful toxins! Parabens, Talc, Sulphates, Propylene, Glycol and DEA are just some of the known toxic ingredients commonly used in baby bath, skin & hair care products and also in baby wipes and nappy change creams.

Thankfully these days, avoiding toxic ingredients is much easier with lots of safer alternatives on the market. Here, we help shed some light on how it is that toxic ingredients end up in baby care products and more importantly, show you how you can protect your babies by knowing what to avoid and what baby skin care products are safe to use.

In Australia and many countries around the world, the baby skin care industry is grossly unregulated. Brands know busy mums don’t always have time to read all the ingredients. And let’s be real, who really understands what all the ingredients are anyway?!

If you think those major household brand names have your back, well, they don’t necessarily. In fact, they’re some of the worst offenders.

Dangerous chemicals such as parabens are commonly used as a preservative because it’s cheap. But it’s also very nasty. Parabens may seem like a good idea as babies generally don’t suffer allergic reactions to it. But do you really want your baby’s delicate skins to be absorbing chemicals that mimic estrogen? 

Excessive estrogen is linked to cancer and other medical concerns that can affect their development. That’s just one example of the many shocking ingredients used to make everyday products for both you and your bub.

Baby product manufacturers are allowed to use certain amounts of concerning ingredients in their products. These amounts are deemed by the authorities to be at low enough levels not to cause harm. But this is the amount allowed in each individual product; e.g. each nappy cream, baby shampoo etc. What happens when you go through a tub of nappy cream and baby lotion every couple of weeks?

What happens is that your baby is being exposed to accumulative amounts of certain toxic ingredients. When you think of the number of baby wipes that will be used on the average baby over a 2-year period and the dangerous chemicals that your standard supermarket brand wipes contain, it is pretty frightening.

Due to their tiny body size, babies and especially newborns, are much more susceptible to the harmful effects of toxins than we are. A baby’s skin is also much thinner and permeable and their internal organs are still developing. Therefore, accumulative exposure of bad ingredients poses a real risk to their health and development.

You also can’t depend on slogans and labelling to help you make smart choices. Phrases such as ‘pure’, ‘safe for babies’ or ‘pediatrician recommended’ are fundamentally meaningless words designed to mislead you. Without any regulations, companies are free to get creative with the words and symbols they put on packaging to trick you into thinking their product is pure so you’ll buy it.

If this is news to you then don’t worry, you’re not alone. So what can you do about it?

It can be overwhelming but also empowering to learn more about what ingredients both you and your baby should avoid. At a glance, here’s three commonly featured offenders that you need to be aware of. 

Ingredients To Avoid

Parabens

As mentioned, any ingredient that ends in paraben, such as ethylparaben, methylparaben, or butylparaben, should be avoided. 

“ETH-“

Avoid products that have ingredients containing the letters eth – such as polyethylene glycols (also listed as PEG) or Phenoxyethanol as they contain 1,4-dioxane which is a known carcinogen.

Sodium lauryl (ether) sulfate

Also labelled as SLS, SLES, sodium dodecyl sulfate or sodium PEG lauryl sulfate. This synthetic ingredient makes shampoo and other products nice and foamy but it can irritate the skin, eyes and lungs and also contains the harmful 1,4-dioxane.

Choosing The Right Brands

When it comes to looking at ingredients on packaging, it can be confusing to know what is safe. If it seems too hard to learn about every ingredient, then align yourself with a brand you can trust and whose values match with your beliefs. A brand that discloses all ingredients and doesn’t hide nasties by only disclosing actives. This means you can buy with confidence.

Pure, gentle and nourishing ingredients are the essence of every Wotnot product. Their brand ethos is to create products that live up to their claims. 

Throughout their over 15 years of creating skin care products Wotnot have managed to remain true to their ingredient philosophy of ‘pure, gentle and nourishing’ and continue to create natural product solutions providing an all-important alternative in the market. Every single ingredient used in their products is listed on the packaging – they don’t have anything to hide!

Wotnot baby products are free of all those parabens, artificial fragrances and other bad boys. Instead they’re packed with nourishing ingredients such as organic pawpaw extract, comfrey oil, and flaxseed oil that are designed to heal, soothe and protect your babies soft skin. 

And as you’re coming in contact with your baby’s lotions and creams every day, with Wotnot you can be sure that your skin is being looked after too.

Enjoy 15% off at www.wotnot.com.au with code RESCUEBLUE15. Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. Offer available to Rescue Blue customers only. Offer ends 30 June 2021.

This article is brought to you by our friends at WotNot.