Caring for your baby's skin

Taking care of baby’s skin

Skin is the largest body organ. It is our first defence against the elements and it is important that this effective barrier is maintained.  Some babies are noted to have dry skin from birth and a variety of tried and tested methods are suggested to help parents smooth the skin and avoid dryness.  Water is drying on the skin, and children with skin conditions are often given “emollients” to use in the bath or shower to reduce the drying effect of the water. 

Oilatum is one example of an emollient but there are others.
Oats

A tablespoon of porridge oats in a thin cloth soaked in the bath and squeezed out will make the baby’s bath water cloudy as it releases emollient into the bath water. This can be helpful without causing reactions on a sensitive baby’s skin. The same ingredients are used in the making of Aveeno skin care products.

Moisturising the skin surface is also advised by some. Again there are a variety of proprietary creams and ointments available. Some prefer to use naturally occurring substances to moisturise the skin.

Oils

Traditionally olive oil has been suggested to parents as a good way to improve their baby’s skin. While Olive oil is often used by adults there are a number of studies which demonstrate that olive oil is unable to be absorbed by skin as the molecules are too big to pass through the effective skin barrier.  Worse, frequent use of olive oil encourages the production of blackheads and whiteheads. 

Olive Oil iused twice daily on an adults skin has been demonstrated to thin the top layer of skin so what would prolonged use do to the more sensitive skin of a baby? 

Why is this?

Olive oil contains two acids. Linoleic acid, which, despite it’s name is good for skin, and oleic acid which has been demonstrated to thin the skin by destroying the top layer. Olive oil unfortunately contains a higher percentage of Oleic acid (the bad part) in comparison to Linoelic acid.

Baby massage is often done using Sunflower,  or  Grape seed oil.  Both are high in Linoleic acid and have molecules small enough to allow the skin to absorb them efficiently.

Nut oils have their proponents, but no health professional would advise the use of any nut oil on a child’s skin in case it provoked a reaction. Allergy to nuts is one of the most common allergies.

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