Heather Kew, RMT Because babies are so little and seem so fragile, we want to use more natural, safer, gentler things on their bodies. Their skin is just that much more sensitive and also, anything that goes on their skin will, most likely, get absorbed into their skin. Being a new mom comes with some difficult decisions to make - which seem very overwhelming and also like you don't have the time to make them.
Making your own products for you baby is a lot simpler and takes less time than you think - and is WAY cheaper than store bought products! It also gives you the piece of mind knowing exactly what you are using on your baby and giving you the control to customize to exactly what you would like to use.
Diaper rashes are a normal part of having little babies. With my daughter, when she got a bad rash, it seemed to last forever and we tried every product out there on the market. We would use up one, not be totally satisfied with it and move on to the next. One of my favorites had been an all natural one that I had gotten from The Rocky Mountain Soap Company. It was almost perfect and when I looked at the ingredients, I realized that it would not be that difficult to make myself.
After 2 kids, some tweaking here and there and a lot more knowledge of ingredients and essential oils, I have a recipe that I adore. An added bonus that we found after using this balm was that it is very versatile as well. It is amazing on eczema rashes, dry patches of skin, cradle cap and dry, chapped noses from colds.
Key Ingredients.
Grape seed oil - this oil is very gently, slightly astringent and absorbs quickly, making it a great option. Olive oil would work just as well. Another option would be to infuse your oil with chamomile or calendula. To do this, you simply fill a mason jar with dried leaves of which ever flower you choose and top the jar up with oil. You then leave this to sit and infuse. The longer you infuse it the better!
Shea butter and Mango Butter make this balm really rich and nourishing for the skin. They absorb quickly but also leave a silky finish.
Zinc Oxide - While this ingredient is optional and may not be a great option if you are cloth diapering (Zinc can build up in your diaper - this recipe has a low amount of zinc oxide and may not be an issue) in my mind, it is the superstar of this recipe. Zinc acts as a barrier, is astringent and is very calming and soothing on the skin. This can make a huge difference on a bad diaper rash.
Essential Oils:
Lavender, Roman Chamomile, Frankincense and Rose oil make this baby bum balm smell incredible but also give it an extra boost to help calm the skin but also support healing. Bonus is that these oils also help combat fungus and yeast - so if the rash is caused by a yeast growth - these essential oils will help clear it up. Because we are using this on babies, we are using a much lower percentage of essential oils than we would normally use - about 1%. I also chose essential oils that are safe to use on newborns, as well as essential oils that are safe to add to a bath, since these oils will be on very delicate areas as well as broken skin. The amount of essential oils can be cut down or cut out of the recipe all together if it makes you more comfortable
Recipe
Essential Oil Blend
- 25 drops Lavender
- 15 drops Roman Chamomile
- 5 Frankincense
- 2 Rose
Ingredients
Heat Phase
- 100 g Mango Butter
- 50 g Shea Butter
- 50 g Grape seed Oil
- 20 g Beeswax
Cool Down Phase
- 20 g Zinc Oxide
- 0.25 g Vitamin E oil
- Essential Oil Blend
Directions
1.) Prepare a heat bath. In a medium sauce pan, fill pan about 1/3 of the way full of water and place a silicone heat mat on the bottom of the pan to prevent the mixture from overheating from being directly on the pan. Place the pan on medium heat. The heat bath should be steaming hot, with the possibility of tiny bubbles on the bottom of the pan, but not come to a simmer or complete boil.
2.) Weigh out Heat Phase ingredients. In a heat resistance pyrex dish, measure the heat phase ingredients: Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Grape seed oil and Beeswax.
3.) Melt the heat phase ingredients. Place pyrex dish into the heat bath and let melt completely through (20-30 minutes) stirring often.
4.) Add in cool down phase. Remove pyrex dish from heat bath and stir. Once mixture is starting to cool down (mixture will start to get slightly gummy around the edges and on the spatula) start adding in the cool down phase: Vitamin E, Zinc oxide and essential oils.
5.) Prepare a cool bath. In a larger, flat bottomed dish, fill about 3 cm with cold water. Add pyrex dish into the cool bath and continue to stir constantly making sure to scrape down sides. Continue stirring until you reach a slight trace - when you lift the spatula out of your mixture and drizzle some of the mixture over the surface, the outline of your drizzle will stay for a moment or two before it disappears. Once this occurs, you can remove the mixture from the cool bath.
6.) Optional mixing. I found that my zinc oxide was still a little lumpy at this stage so I used my mix master to stir my mixture really well on a medium low setting for 3 minutes.
7.) Package. Pour your mixture into the container of your choice. This mixture makes approximately 225 grams. I found that this was enough for a large container for at my change table and a smaller container for in my diaper bag. I used a larger container like this one for my change table and a smaller one like this for my diaper bag.
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