Baby Bath Wash

Lila’s Mum and Dad say this is their favourite of all my inventions and Lila just loves it in her bath. It’s easy to make and you know what is going on to your baby’s skin.

400ml water

80 ml rosewater

4 Tbs grated 100% natural vegetable oil soap – look in your health shop for a good bar.

20 ml glycerine

10 drops lavender essential oil.

Bring the water to the boil in a small saucepan and then add the grated soap. Stir until all the soap is melted then take off the heat and allow to cool a little until just warm. Add the rest of the ingredients and pour into a squeegee bottle. Depending on the soap you use this may cool into a gel or remain quite liquid. Simply squeeze into the bath. It will not bubble but cleans and moisturises baby’s skin beautifully.

Baby Wipes

The recipe I am most proud of is my baby wipes recipe. Initially I wanted to get rid of all those chemicals being wiped onto our baby’s bottoms. When I had my first two children in the 80s and all our mothers and Nanas simply used moistened squares of muslin cloth and washed them afterwards. First I made these with kitchen towels but after testing on Lila they weren’t quite tough enough for heavy duty. And I also thought a recyclable option would be good too. One of my newsletter readers kindly suggested I use rolls of Chux cloths which you can buy for $15 at some bulk bin stores. You can then wash the cloths and re-use them. So here are two options to try. The witchhazel is a fantastic antiseptic which has a great effect on itchy or inflamed skin and the rosewater not only smells great but is also anti-bacterial and antiseptic. In Morocco they pour it on their hands to wash them. It also balances out the pH levels on the skin.

½ cup water

1 Tbs rosewater

1 Tbs witchhazel

Pour a little of the mixture into the bottom of a plastic container with an airtight lid. Rip up a few small kitchen towels or Chux cloths and place them in the bottom of the container and pour a little more of the liquid every time you have about 10 towels laid down. Continue layering until you have soaked all the clothes and put on the lid. For travel packs you can simply pop a few in a zip lock bag and pour some of the mixture in. 

Baby Cloth Pre-Wash

Most clothes we buy in the shops have been treated with some sort of preservatives or additives to keep them looking good on the rack. Before your baby gets anywhere near new clothing you need to soak it and then wash it and preferably hang it on the line to dry in the sun. This pre-soak is a great for all new baby clothes and then use the natural fabric softener in the final rinse to remove any hint of chemicals:

Soak the clothes in the washing machine bowl to which you have added ½ cup of washing soda. In the morning wash as usual and then to the final rinse add the following fabric softener mixture:

1 cup baking soda

1 cup white vinegar

2 cups water

Nappy Washing

Most parents who use cloth nappies say that once you get into a routine it’s no more difficult than using disposables, and of course, you get to feel like a saint for not filling our landfills with plastic. The mistake many cloth nappy users make is that you have to use commercial soakers and bleaches to keep them clean. What you are actually doing is loading up the cloth with chemicals which don’t wash out and then can cause nappy rash. Here is my tried and true recipe for washing nappies.

1)      Soak used nappies in a bucket to which you have added ½ cup of baking soda.

2)      When you wash them in the machine use my laundry liquid or another natural product but use half as much as you would for a normal wash.

3)      In the final rinse add 1 cup white vinegar to rinse out all the soap residue.

4)      Hang in the sun to dry. Sunlight is a powerful, free and completely natural bleaching agent. If you have some tough stains to remove try dabbing with lemon juice and salt and placing on the grass in direct sunlight. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Nappy Rash Cream

All babies get nappy rash at some stage and it is tempting to rush off to the chemist or doctor to get a commercial cream. But there are two very simple, natural alternatives. Also make sure that when you are cleaning baby add some oatmeal to the bathwater to help heal the skin and use warm olive oil to wipe the bottom during nappy changes.

Aloe Vera gel

If you have a plant at home, and everyone should to treat the occasional kitchen burn, take a leaf and slice it down the middle. Open out the leaves and scrape out the gel. Be careful not to get any of the green liquid that comes out at the leaf surface as this can be an irritant. Simply rub the gel on and let it heal. Alternatively most health shops now stock Aloe Vera gel which will do the same job.

Zinc Oxide cream

Every chemist will sell you a simple jar of zinc oxide cream which will usually have some castor oil, paraffin or lanolin mixed in with it.