Seeking Recommendations for All-natural, Organic Baby Products

There is a great website called Ecofabulous.com. I believe they have a advice area as well. Good Luck!

My Dr. reccomended Dove soap for the ecsyma. I use the perfume free white bar and it works great on my son. I was also very suprised to find out that the "just for baby" products are not good for them at all. He also told me that the vasaline intesive care lotion or aveeno lotion are good for the ecsyma.

Hope this helps.

Arbonne has wonderful chemical free (green) products for adults and children. You can contact an aquaintence of mine.
Name Carrie Minard
E-mail Address ____@____.com
Business Tel ###-###-####
Web Site www.prettyfun.myarbonne.com

I've used the products (especially the sunscreen) on my 2 yr old daughter who has sensitive skin. The products are wonderful.

Good luck! ~L.

Hi G.,
I'd do a little more research into what kind of alcohol Cetaphil contains. It is not rubbing alcohol, which is what you may be thinking. I remember back in high school chemistry that something as scary-sounding as "sodium chloride" is only simple table salt. You wouldn't want to eat chlorine, but mixed with sodium, it's benign and is just... salt.

I guess my point is, Cetaphil is known far and wide to be safe to use on children. Organic doesn't always mean safe - after all, arsenic and uranium are both completely organic compounds and you wouldn't want to put those on your baby! I'm not saying organic products are bad - many of them are great - but just because it's organic does not mean it is automatically safer than something that is not organic.

I read "Don't go to the cosmetics counter without me" by Paula Begoun. She has a chemistry background and explains what all the chemical compounds are in the products we use every day, in such a way that makes them easy to understand for those of us without a chemistry background. It has calmed many of my fears by giving me the knowledge I need to make informed decisions on cosmetic and soap products! Just my two cents.

We haven't had to deal with eczema personally but I have some friends who do and they love California Baby products and Earth's Best by Jason products. I am not sure if you know of this website or not but www.cosmeticdatabase.com is an amazing tool for "greening up" your products. Luckyvitamin.com is a great place to buy the products at a cheap price.

http://www.californiababy.com/eczema-care.html This is the website of the product i use. It's called california baby and they have some products for eczema. Although my daughter doesn't suffer from eczema i saw it on the website. There's also another book i just started to read, and it's called "Better Basics For The Home" and it's about going green, and gives you recipes on how to make your own lotions. It seems like a really good and interesting book. And there's another site you might want to check it's http://www.ewg.org/ and also http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1 and the good thing about the cosmetic database is that you can type in any product you have and it'll give you an ingridient list and tell you how safe it is.
p.s The better basics for the home book is an alternate way of going green pretty low cost. And as far as organic goes,

The following is from organic.org
"Why does organic cost more?

The truth of the matter is that organic food doesn’t always cost more. Some items, such as coffee, cereal, bread, and even hamburger, may cost the same or even less than their conventional counterparts. And, as the demand for organics continues to grow, the cost will continue to come down. When the cost is higher, consider these facts:

Organic farmers don’t receive federal subsidies like conventional farmers do. Therefore, the price of organic food reflects the true cost of growing.
The price of conventional food does not reflect the cost of environmental cleanups that we pay for through our tax dollars.
Organic farming is more labor and management intensive.
Organic farms are usually smaller than conventional farms and so do not benefit from the economies of scale that larger growers get."

Dr. Bronner is great and so is Vermont Soap. Both are organic and organically grown. Vermont Soap is online at www.vermontsoap.com. Good luck with your baby!

G.,

Hi, I like Burt's Bee's products. They are natural and they smell wonderful! You can purchase online or virtually at any health food store.

Molly

G.,

My son is very sensative and I too was appaled at all of the nasty stuff in baby products as well as ours. I found a company that has products that are pure, safe and benficial. I love that I can purchase them on line as I have little time to run errands any more. Anyway you can copy and paste this link into your browser and check it out. https://secure.myarbonne.com/arbonne/catherinebell.nsf/p1...

I hope that this helps you as much as it has helped us!!

Congratulations on going organic !
These are Certified Organic products, no chemicals no preservaties...
www.drbronner.com
and have aspecial line for babies:
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/SENSITIVE.htm
and Fair trade too.
The whole family should use them too, they have very nice scents, all natural and certified Organic.
They have also a free shipping over $20 and no taxes.
Check out their cleaning liquid: Sal Suds Cleaner for laundry and household uses. It's excellent.
harsh detergents could also be the cause of allergies and eczemas.
One of the biggest causes of allergies are vaccinations.. so you should maybe look into that too. My son who is now 27 has never been vaccinated and he is the healthiest kid I and even his doctor evr seen...
Take care!
H.
www.newearththerapies.com

Ps: Arbonne is NOT Organic and uses Parabens which are highly toxic and cancerigens, don't buy anything with Paraben, like metylparaben, Propylparaben or EDTA etc...
Burt Bees a is not 100% Certified Organic either even thou they are better than most regular products in the market

Hi G.,

I use products from http://www.originalsprout.com and love them.

I use the (daily):

Moisturizing & Detangling™
CHILDREN'S NATURAL SHAMPOO

Ultra-Hydrating™
CHILDRENS DEEP CONDITIONER

Protects and Nourishes™
LARGE SCRUMPTIOUS BABY CREAM

Good Luck!

C.

This online database of products should help: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=%2Fbrowse...

You can search by type of baby product, and it will rate some of the brands and tell you what's in them. It's very cool!

Hi G.. There is a group for mom's who are doing the natural and organic things. It's called Natural Mommy and the web site is http://naturalmoms.ning.com/. Some of the moms have kids with food allergies too so it's something to check into.

It looks like you have several awesome choices below for the skin problems, but I thought I might weigh in with a couple other all-natural product lines that might help your son.

For laundry soap, as this can be an additional source of irritation, I use a product by Shaklee (www.shaklee.com), which also makes all the other cleaning products you could possibly want for your home. They are all-natural, and chemical-free, so now I don't flip out when my 20 month old son starts licking the window... strange child :).

For food allegies, check out www.wildtree.com. They sell all-natural cooking blends and grapeseed oils. The company was started by a mom of children with severe dietary limitations, and again, is all-natural. Also, the blends they make have helped me save so much time and money, which is awesome for a full-time working mom like myself! As far as sales reps for the company go, if you can find Trudy Anderson, in the Sacramento area, she has the most knowledge of any of the reps I've met.

I don't sell for either of these companies, I just have been really satisfied by the products and the results.

Good luck!

Hi G.!

I found a great company to shop with on-line that is totally focused on creating healthier, safer products for our homes and they are very resonably priced. It is similar to a whole sale club, like a costco, etc. When you buy a certain amount every month, you get the whole sale prices. If you are interested in more information, email me back at ____@____.com - By the way, my oldest daughter has eczema too and once we got all of those pesky toxic products out of our home and started shopping at this store instead, it cleared her eczema right up. Five years later and she is eczema free - Woohoo!!!

I manage a medical spa in Redding, CA and my husband and I are organic farmers. As an extension of our farm I produce a line of natural essential oil products for people and pets. Take a look at my website: www.mccluckfarms.com for more info.

I also do custom orders, so let me know if there are products that would be of special interest for you.

You also mention that yur baby has eczema ... my Rash Relief oil or lotion is a must-have! Many of my clients with skin conditions ranging from eczema to psoriasis to acne, hives and beyond swear by it (as do I!). A little goes a long, long way.

Best of luck!

V. T

Cosmeticdatabase.com has been very helpful for me. Just click on what type of products you are interested in and a list of products pops up. They have a list of the best products to buy and a list of products that are okay, but are easier to find than a lot of the extreme health based products. Some products they have on their kid product list are Seventh Generation Unscented Baby Wipes, California Baby Shampoo and Bodywash Super Sensitive,Aromababy Natural Baby Lotion and California Baby Botanical Moisturizing Cream.
These products can be pricey but for my daughter it is less expensive for me to buy these products than to constantly be taking her to the doctor for skin rash issues or having her on prescription medications.
This site is also great for adult skin care. The EWG who runs the site also has great info on other topics. Food, pet care and home care.

C. Vaughn, widow and mother of almost 3 year old girl

Hi G.,

I am not knowlegable about organic skin cremes for babies etc. But thought I would mention something about foods. There are two other grains you might like to try.

Amaranth is a grain that some scientists believe may have been the precursor to corn. It has a flavor that somewhat resembles cornmeal. It is a very tiny grain so the texture is different.

Quinoa (Keen wa) has a nutty flavor. Both of these grains are cooked like rice and each has a higher nutritional profile than rice.

They are available at health food stores. Although the Winco stores in the Clovis/Fresno area are now carrying quinoa.

The best baby foods are the ones you make yourself. Use the same veggies and fruits that you eat. Just omit the seasonings, most of the salt and fats and blend them until smooth in your blender. They can be blended with the grains and whatever liquids he tolerates.

Best,
Merylyn (aka M.)

The environmental working group does a lot of research on health and toxins in food, formula, sunscreens, cosmetics, and skin care. They are a non-profit group and you can check out their website www.ewg.org You'll have to navigate around a little bit to find what you want, but it is helpful.

As far as buying organic, I do it as much as possible. Trader Joe's and other local co-ops and healthfood stores are easiest and most affordable. You will pay more for organic, but I think it's worth it. Just remember: with milk, meats, and eggs you need to be worried about hormones and antibiotics as well as how the animals are treated and what they are fed. For fruits and veggies, some are safer than others. Anything with a thin skin is going to absorb more toxins than those with a thicker skin. Do a web search on "the dirty dozen" and see if you can find the results that the government did on testing the most toxic fruits and veggies. Good luck!

Dear G.:
Congratulations! Organic is the best way to go for you and your family.
This company has one of the best soaps and creams,in the market besides other products
www.drbronner.com

They have a wonderful baby line. All 100% Certified Organic and are very, very affordable, no shipping charges if you order over $20 and no taxes.
and they have a 15% this month on their creams...

I see a lot of Arbonne Distribuitors responding.
be aware that their products are not 100% natural nor Organic. They contain many chemicals that are harzarous to your health, many parabens and stuff.
The distribuitors make comission of their sales, it's a MLM Networking Company.

Also many companies are labelling their products natural and Organic and they are not, maybe they have 1 ingredient that is and lots of very harmful, cancerigenous ones.

Many pseudo-organic products contain ethoxylated ingredients (ending with “-eth” or “PEG” ) that contain trace 1,4 dioxane.

The Organic Consumers Association has a very informative website and newsletter that they send every month, it's free you can subscribe here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Good Luck!

Whatever products you decide on www.vitaglo.com has the best prices on most products (i.e. we LOVE nature's baby chamomille and lavender bath wash and it's $17.00 in stores, around $11.00 on-line through vita glow). Good luck.

G.,
I work with a company that offers non-toxic, environmentally friendly products for the home as well as personal care. We offer baby care products such as shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste, even bubble bath and vitamins. Please take the survey at this link: http://www.healthyfamilybiz.com/survey to see if you use any of the products we have available. All our cleaners are phosphate free, bleach free and many of our skin care products do not contain parabans. And it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. In fact, we offer free products to our new customers so they can get to know more products. Let me know if I can help.
J.

I was looking at some of that scary info, too. I came across some great products. I am just starting to try them out myself. I hear the lotion Renu is great for eczema. Here is my website. You have to fill out a little questionaire then it will give me your info so I can contact you if you want more information on the products. Let me know!

K. Capote

www.saferisbetter.com/KeriCapote

G.,
Arbonne is great. It isn't %100 natural, but it has the safest ingredients. You can order online. It has worked awesome for my daughter's eczema.

Hi G.,

My son has food allergies and my daughter has sensitive skin. I have used California Baby fragrance free body wash. It is sold at Target.

My son's eczema has gotten worse with the change of season. I switched to using Tea Tree bar soap I purchased at Whole Foods for about $3. The tea tree body wash and shampoo is much more expensive. So, I just use the bar for his hair, too.

Another all natural product is emu oil. I have used the EMU Dry Lotion bar with success. He still scratches but his skin is less inflamed. The company sends things very quickly and it is easy to return items if you are not satisfied. http://wonderoil.com/emu_oil_home_page

As for food, my kids love rice and Korean seaweed (KEEM). The seaweed is made with salt and corn or sesame oil. You can get it made fresh at the Korean market. Feel free to send me a message if you want more ideas for feeding kids with allergies.

Good luck,
Angela

We like Weleda and Earth's Best products. And sometimes they have them at the grocery outlet which is much more affordable.

Have you heard of Arbonne? They have an entire line of botanically based, organic products for the whole family. My children love the "baby" line. You can buy it online once you become a "consultant". As a consultant you can purchase the product at a 35% discount. Plus with your first $100 order you get a free product of your choice. Call me and I can give you more info.
E.
###-###-####

Hi,
I am a consultant with The Body Shop at Home (www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/cflesher), and also a massage therapist. I use the aloe line of products when I do pregnancy and infant massage. If you would like a sample just let me know. You can go to the organic report to check out products.
Good luck,
Cynthia

Seems like you got lots of great advice, but I would also recommend baby products by Weleda. You can find them discounted online and their products are wonderful. I especially like the diaper cream and Calendula body oil. I also really like products by Isvara organics (you can find them online). She makes all of her own products, and while they are a bit more money, her quality control is like no other natural product I have ever seen. She has something for excema, which is supposed to work wonders.

Hi G.!
I love the Burts Bees line of products, especially the Baby Bee items. I use the hair & body wash for my littlest guy and on my preschooler. Their milk & honey soap is great also. My daughter used to have ecxema too, and we've tried all kinds of soaps, washes, lotions, but they never seemed to work all that well. Since I've started using the Baby Bee washes, she don't even need to use lotion, it's super gentle! Good luck! :)
~A.

Daisy Blue Naturals may also work. It is a home based business like Arbonne.

Have you tried Weleda and Avalon baby products we love them you can find them on line quite heavily discounted. Also regarding the allergies have you looked at homeopathy it may be helpful.
Enjoy! Good luck.
A.

On the food and I saw someone posted about wildtree herbs, but Trudy Anderson is my sister-in-laws mom and she really does know her stuff! I sell wildtree as well and am an avid user of the products as well! These items are not only wonderful and very tasty but they are all natural with no preservatives and no msg. you can go to www.wildtreeherbs.com or email me at ____@____.com if you would like a catalog I can mail you one!

Good luck on the soap products...you might look into melaluca (spelling?) I don't know of anyone who sells this off hand, but from what I understand the products are chemical free and I think all natural.

I love Derma-E products, they make some great stuff for sensitive/allergenic skin, and now have organic products, & don't use parabens.

Hello G. S,

I know of a great resource for you. I can be reached at ###-###-####. Hope to hear from you.

P. McCoy

Steer clear of Whole Foods, (or what my mother-in-law likes to call Whole Paycheck.) They overprice EVERYTHING. I shop at local food co-ops and family owned health food stores and they have a variety of kid friendly soaps and eco-friendly and sensitive skin friendly laundry detergents. My daughter has eczema as well. It's better if she isn't taking too many baths, I use aquaphor when she gets really chapped. I like Burt's Bees for myself but they use fragrance. Aveeno is another "fake organic" line you want to stay away from. Try Pure Castille Soap. It's incredible mild and relatively inexpensive.
Good Luck!

OMG! Thanks for your information on my beloved product as well, Cetaphil. I swore by this when my son was 12mo + because we found out he was allergic to Milk. It really stopped his ecezma etc. We have been using Aveeno now, but a little pricey. I am going to read up on this. Thank you for the info! My son is 7 now, but we still use Cetaphil soap and cleansers and lotions along with the Aveeno. We also wash with Baby Soap still.
Thanks again!

I have been shopping at a store that has exceptional products
and reasonable prices. I help people make their homes safer and healthier for their families. We help families deal with things like allergies and eczema. We have many product experiences in which families had to put heavy creams from the doctors on their small children, and it did not help much, but
when they switched products the eczema cleared up and went away.
“What if there was a product line out there you could switch to that was environmentally sensitive, contained most of the products you are already buying, and was better, safer and healthier for you and your family. If I knew of a product line like that, would you have some interest in taking a look at it, as long as all the prices were right in line with what you are used to paying?”
Contact me and we can talk more about how this can help your son's skin conditions and he can feel better.

D.

http://www.livetotalwellness.com/takeaction

Hello, yes I know of great products there are so many companies with claims of all natural but if you really look at the ingredients they usually contain alcohol or some other name you can't even pronounce. Which means it is a chemical humans should not even be using. In 2005 I had found this company that has all natural products. You can recycle all of their bottles and they are safe and non toxic. I know you said you would purchase online and you can dfo this with this company or by telephone and it comes to your front door. there products range from household cleaning supplies to bathing products. I personally think they are the best on the market and affordable. All I have to do is go to the grocery store and shop for food. the sites you can look at to get a little more information is www.melaleuca.com and www.saferforyourhome.com If you have questions on this company and how to get these products you can respond. I will not use anything but these products in my home. I hope this helps.

My daughter has very sensitive skin and gets ecsyma regularly although she does not have any food alergies yet. We have used the California Baby products and Waleda too, both of which I like. However, I think the CA Baby stuff does have some parabens in their ingredients. I recently started using Shaklee's bath and body stuff, as well as their baby oil (feels/looks like lotion). Their ingredients are all natural and work well. They don't have a diaper cream. I also use their laundry detergent for the whole family (and all the household cleaners). I started only doing it for my daughter stuff but got tired of separating out the laundry. You can go to Shaklee.com to check out their products. I think they have a full money back guarantee.

Hi G.!
My e-mail is ____@____.com. E-mail me your address and I will send you a sample of the Arbonne Baby Line. I am a Regional Vice President with the company. My husband is a principal of an Elementary School. I have 3 young boys and another on the way. If you like Arbonne...you can order them at cost if you'd like. Try them first.Hope to hear from you!
A.

My friend's son also has food allergies and skin problems and she uses California Baby products and loves them. I use Burt's Bees for my daughter and love them. As far as I know you can get both at Target.

Don't you just love that? The more you know the more afraid you become to live! I totally understand what you're going through because since I know a lot about food and nutrition and cleansers I swear.. just walking down the aisle at some stores makes me nervous.
One mother was referring to organic as in the periodic table of elements. Please know that this is one common misconception. When most people refer to organic they are not referring to organic vs. inorganic chemicals. Organic means grown without the use of pesticides, fertilizers or the like. The soil in which an item was grown must also be chemical free for a minimum of 5 years in order for the product to be considered organic.
I applaud you for wanting to go organic or natural. I'm still searching for something that will help my son. He doesn't have eczema, but he has dry skin. I have tried burt's and I have tried CA baby and now I'm on to explore something else. I'm joining this Melaleuca line thing and am hoping that maybe one of those will help him. We'll see, but like yourself I'm going to do some reading. Let me know if you find something or if you have any questions of me personally. I'm studying holistic nutrition and would be happy to help.

My son had long battled eczema. The only thing that gave him some relief were the Cortaid cremes. While shopping for his tube of Cortaid, I saw a bottle of creme specifically for exczema. I brought it home and it worked. The creme is made by Dermarest. Try it it will help!

Hi G.,

My son also suffers from allergies and eczema. I tried everything that the Dermatologist suggested and prescribed and nothing worked; until I tried this product called Renew. It is part of the Melaleuca line of products. Their claim is that all their products are natural, eco-sensitive and all that good stuff. I really was kind of desperate so I decided to give it a try. Not only with the Renew lotion but also with their line of soaps and laundry detergent. Simply because everything goes hand in hand. Laundry detergents and soaps can cause dry skin and irritation. Anyway, it has worked incredibly! We've been using it for a year now and I'm very happy with the results and my son is too (he started with this condition at the age of 3 and now he is 7.) We have a routine that we follow every night after he showers or takes a bath, he has to have lotion on his body or else it starts to dry up. Now here is the thing, since it's a direct sales company there are consultants who sell it and will tell you about it. If they sell it to you it's more expensive than if you join the company and buy it yourself. That's what I did. I don't sell it, I just buy the products for my family. If you want to try it, let me know and I can find a way to get you a sample. If you are interested to look into it go to melaleuca.com and you'll see all the products that are available. Let me know if I can help you more with this, I think you'll be happy with the results. E. A.

Hi G.,
You may want to try Arbonne Baby Care for general use and they have a skin conditioning oil and rejuvenating cream that are awesome for eczema. The products are pure, vegan, not tested on animals and don't have all the bad stuff like mineral oil that other products contain. I can send you some samples of the Arbonne Baby Care if you want to try that out. The products are pricey but worth it. If you like them, it can be worthwhile to sign up as an independent consultant for $29 (that's what I did) and get 35% off and other great deals. You can check on line at egiammona.myarbone.com. Good luck! E.

Hi G. - I see it has been a while since you requested info -but you are definitely heading in the right direction checking ALL of you personal care products, as well as what your family uses (including baby personal care products), to see their hazard ratings. Glimpse Intuitive Skin Care is now available through XanGo Distributors, and is safe for all ages and skin types. I would like to invite you to visit my website, www.findgreenhere.com, as well as checking results on http://www.my-glimpse.com/. I live in San Jose and am holding Skin Nutrition Classes in my home, as well as in the client's home, to inform regarding the unregulated US cosmetics/skin care industry in the US, and to let women/men try Glimpse for themselves. Please feel free to contact me if you would like further information. Be well! V. G. :o)