Best shampoo for babies?

[somethingshiny]

I'm posting this in its own thread so it may be useful to other moms doing searches.

Lily is 11 weeks old and has more hair than I've ever seen on an infant. She has thick, dark hair that is about 3 inches long. I've been using Johnson and Johnson but I'm not happy with it. I shampoo her 2x a week. Her hair seems to hold in the oils and causes cradle cap and the back of her hair gets very tangled. Mara has suggested Mustela. Any other ideas from moms of long haired little ones?

 

[Pandora II]

I use Burt's Bee's Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash.

It's great at getting rid of cradle cap and it doesn't have any of the parabens or lauryl sulphates etc which Johnson's stuff does. It's 'tear-free' and smells gorgeous. You only need a tiny amount as it lathers up really well - and I live in a very hard water area.

I've used it on Daisy since she was born and never had a problem and she has sensitive skin - I did find the Buttermilk lotion seemed to upset her skin and so now I just use the BB Apricot Oil as a moisturiser.

The diaper cream is nice and I like the Skin Creme a lot. Have the Bubble Bath and Buttermilk Bath stuff but rarely use them. Ditto with the baby powder even though it smells amazing!

ETA: The tangles at the back I've never found a good solution for - now I dry Daisy's hair with the hairdryer rather than just towelling it and leaving it to dry naturally. I did put conditioner on it once and it worked well, but I didn't like the idea of putting a product full of chemicals that I am trying to avoid on her. D was always a side sleeper which did help a bit but there's not much you can do when they are tiny.

 

[somethingshiny]

Thanks for the suggestion. My sis loves BB products. I used a cradle cap treatment and had to use JT's shampoo to wash it out. It' J&J for older kids and I feel like it damaged her hair a bit so I definitely need to find a product line that we can continue with.

 

[Nashville]

I liked Aveeno brand.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Any suggestions for dry skin on the scalp? Aidan't scalp seems really dry. it's not cradle cap, it's more like an all over dryness and moderate flakiness. I've been using aveeno baby wash, but this was present even when we were doing just warm water sponge baths. Any ideas? Can I put lotion on his head? His face isn't dry, though part of his forehead is, it's pretty much just his scalp.

 

[E B]

We use (and love!) California Baby Shampoo & Body Wash. It's available at Target, and they have a few different formulations, but we like the 'Super Sensitive:'

http://www.californiababy.com/super-sensitive-shampoo-bodywash-8-5-oz.html

 

[somethingshiny]

HH~ It does sound like A has cradle cap. Lily's was just white little flakes too but dr confirmed it's cradle cap, just not like the standard thick yellow crusties. I used Cradle Cap Care from Walmart and brushed the heck out of her hair (like 45 minutes of brushing to loosen the flakes which became more and more as the product worked in, then combing it out of her hair and repeating.) Her scalp looks great now but I am concerned about it returning. If you lotion the scalp it may make it worse but it won't hurt him.

I am allergic to lots of Aveeno products so I can't try those but I'll look into the BB and California at Target. I do want to find something I can buy locally.

If anyone has more suggestions, keep em coming!

 

[TravelingGal]

Any suggestions for dry skin on the scalp? Aidan't scalp seems really dry. it's not cradle cap, it's more like an all over dryness and moderate flakiness. I've been using aveeno baby wash, but this was present even when we were doing just warm water sponge baths. Any ideas? Can I put lotion on his head? His face isn't dry, though part of his forehead is, it's pretty much just his scalp.

Don't do this without looking it up, but I vaguely remember a recommendation about olive oil for some strange reason....

 

[Mara]

SS we also use Aveeno for J's baths and have since he was born. I love the way it smells. CA Baby is another great brand. We were gifted like 10 things of Aveeno and CA Baby so enough to last him 2 years !! He's 8mo and we have only gone through 1.5 bottles.

But neither of those worked well for the head... as you know, our friend gave us the Mustela and swore by it for her kids' cradle cap so we used it. All I know is that J didn't really seem to HAVE bad CC though he had flakes...so I don't know if it was the Mustela or not.

HH..J had dry flakey scalp and I assumed it was just kind of like their skin has to adjust to being out. We didn't do anything for it but use the Mustela. It may have been a mild CC, who knows. Also, in our baby class the one lady said that if you put something on the baby, don't put lotion, put EVOO. We didn't start putting lotion on J til he was like 2 mo+. He had some little dry patches of skin that have since evened out.

 

[Pandora II]

Olive oil is recommended for dry scalps and even cradle cap in babies.

I used it on Daisy and then washed it out with the BB.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We used California Baby for years.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Any suggestions for dry skin on the scalp? Aidan't scalp seems really dry. it's not cradle cap, it's more like an all over dryness and moderate flakiness. I've been using aveeno baby wash, but this was present even when we were doing just warm water sponge baths. Any ideas? Can I put lotion on his head? His face isn't dry, though part of his forehead is, it's pretty much just his scalp.

Don't do this without looking it up, but I vaguely remember a recommendation about olive oil for some strange reason....

Yup, this works. I only had to do it once - I rubbed it in, massaging his little head (he fell asleep, he liked it so much), waited about a half hour, then washed with J&J baby wash and then combed out the flakes. It was gone and never came back

 

[MonkeyPie]

Oh and SS, Micah gets KNOTS in his hair from tossing his head back and forth when he is restless. So far, most of them I have had to cut out When I am home with him though I brush his hair a couple times a day and it keeps it from happening. When anybody else watches him (ahem...DH), he gets knots.

 

[somethingshiny]

Thanks for the continued advice. I'm going to pick up some ca baby from target if I can find it and try that just because I can get it in the area. I will probably order the mustela too but not until I have a big enough order for free shipping thru amazon/ I'm so cheap!

mp~ I comb/brush Lily's hair at least twice a day too. I was hoping to find something to prevent the knots so I don't keep straightening her curls.

 

[sbde]

somethingshiny - i use aveeno for my son.

however early on my son did have very bad cradle cap and the one thing that worked for us based on my ped's reco was to lather up his hair with the baby wash (we were using j&j at the time) and use a soft toothed toothbrush to brush off the flakes while the shampoo was still on. you'll be able to see the flakes come off in the lather. then rinse thoroughly. doing this at 3-4 baths (we bathed him every other day) cleared the cradle cap up completely.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Awesome, thanks ladies. I guess I always assumed CC was the thick gross crusty stuff. This is just like bad dandruff. I'll give the EVOO a try.

 

[Puppmom]

I use Johnson's since we got it as a gift and I found that DS's scalp was way worse after washing than it was before! His scalp isn't really very dry anymore but we're definitely switching to something else.

FWIW, my pedi told me brushing their hair every day is good because it moves the oils around and keeps their scalp moist to some extent.

ETA - edited for spelling errors

 

[snlee]

I use Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash on my newborn and toddler. Love it.

My son had really bad cradle cap as a baby so I'd use Burt's Bees Oil, leave it in for 5-10 mins then wash it out.

 

[somethingshiny]

I ended up getting BB. I was set on getting CA baby but I don't like the smell. Lily needs a bath today and I'm actually excited to try it. I know, it's sad. It has a great smell and feels so light and actually rinses off completely, at least on my hands.

 

[Jennifer W]

How did you find it? I'm probably a little late, but if you don't love that one, I can heartily recommend Paul Mitchell products. They make a kid's de-tangler spray, which I just got last week and it's fantastic. Amelia was born with longish, thick dark hair too, and it's been a fight to keep it untangled. This stuff is great - like a very light conditioner spray that you leave in. Spray it on wet hair and comb through.

Their kids shampoo, Baby Don't Cry is also really nice.

 

[somethingshiny]

Our target is now carrying an extensive line of BB products.

Thanks for the tip about the spray, I'm sure we'll need it!

 

[AllieLuv83]

I picked up some burts bees shampoo at the Christmas Tree shops. They have it on diapers.com as well.

 

[somethingshiny]

Loving BB! Lily's hair isn't getting nearly as knotted. I think because it rinses so clean. And removes the spit up smell!!

 

[lovelylulu]

shiny seems like you found something you love, but I california baby. i'm addicted to the smell. so good. i actually started using the lotion on my own definitely non-baby, adult skin. really good stuff.