7 Natural Baby Care Recipes

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All natural homemade baby skin care recipes
Wellness Mama » Blog » Motherhood » 7 Natural Baby Care Recipes

I love using natural products for all of my personal care, cleaning and household needs, but if you’re not ready to jump on the DIY deodorant and toothpaste bandwagon just yet, at least consider using all natural products on your kids!

Most kids are exposed to a scary number of chemicals on a daily basis, and even babies are born with chemicals in their umbilical blood. Most baby products and shampoos contain chemicals and many are not actually safe for baby. For example, many baby shampoos (including J&J) have some of the worst chemical ratings and baby oil is just liquid petroleum oil with some added (artificial) fragrances.

A baby or child’s perfectly soft skin absorbs almost anything put on it, so natural options are really important! There are a few companies who make natural baby care options, but the cheapest, easiest and most natural way is just to make your own. Actually, you can just use pure coconut oil for everything from cleaning to moisturizing to treating diaper rash, but if you’d prefer a little variation, check out these recipes!

These are the recipes I use on my own kids and give to friends when they have babies.

Natural Diaper Cream-Cloth Diaper Safe!

UPDATE: I’ve created an updated version of this diaper cream that is even more effective and you can find the recipe here.

We started cloth diapering with our third child and I will never go back! Not only is it much cheaper, but it is more natural and much easier than I expected after hearing horror stories from my mother-in-law about the old-school cloth diapers. Thanks to cloth diapers and better nutrition my babies very rarely get diaper rash, but for the occasional time when a baby poops during the night and doesn’t wake up until morning or gets a rash while in the car seat on a trip, it can be a little tougher with cloth diapers.

Commercial diaper cream should never be used with cloth diapers since the fish oil in it will leave a fishy smell no matter how much you wash the diapers. It will also void any warranty on the cloth diapers. After much research and some trial and error, I finally created a diaper cream that is cloth diaper safe and that works as well as the medicated versions.

It can be used directly with cloth diapers if you don’t mind stripping the diapers after using them, but I prefer just to line the diaper with a piece of an old t-shirt when I’m using diaper cream to avoid the extra laundry hassle.

Diaper Cream Ingredients

How to Make Natural Diaper Cream

Heat a couple inches of water over medium high heat in a double boiler or small sauce pan. Melt the coconut oil in a glass bowl or double boiler top above the boiling water. Add the calendula and chamomile flowers and keep the heat going on low/medium for at least an hour or until coconut oil has started to turn yellow and smells of chamomile and calendula. Make sure to check the water level often and make sure it hasn’t gotten too hot or evaporated off.

Carefully strain the flowers out, reserving as much of the coconut oil as possible. A fine mesh metal strainer is best for this, or a cheesecloth will work, though you’ll lose more of the coconut oil. Make sure all visible pieces of the flower have been removed.

Using a small immersion blender or even a fork to mash, mix the infused coconut oil with the shea butter and arrowroot or zinc oxide if using until it forms a thick paste. I actually have a small food processor I use for this mixture (and not for food) and when mixed in a food processor it makes an airy, velvety cream.

Store in a small glass jar and apply as needed. Use a liner with cloth diapers. This is much more concentrated and effective than store-bought versions and a little goes a really long way! It can also be used for adult yeast infections or for  healing of the perineum postpartum.

Why These Ingredients?

I chose each of these ingredients for a specific purpose. Coconut oil is very effective on its own for treating rash, as it is anti-fungal and very soothing to skin.

Calendula has antibacterial properties and speeds skin healing while Chamomile has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-parasitic properties and is especially helpful for diaper rashes.

Shea Butter, besides making the skin incredibly soft, has anti-fungal and yeast-killing properties when raw. It is high in Vitamins A and E and helps promote collagen production in the skin. It is naturally anti-inflammatory and has an SPF of 6. It also helps prevent and get rid of stretch marks.

homemade natural baby oil recipe

Vitamin Rich Baby Oil

Regular baby oil is petroleum based and packed with artificial fragrances! You can always use plain coconut oil, but making an infused oil adds some vitamins and speeds skin healing. This is my favorite:

Baby Oil Ingredients

Baby Oil Instructions

There are two ways to make this recipe.

Fast way: You can infuse over heat like in the recipe above: “Heat a couple inches of water over medium high heat in a double boiler or small sauce pan. Melt the oil in a glass bowl or double boiler top above the boiling water. Add the calendula and chamomile flowers and keep the heat going on low/medium for at least an hour or until oil has started to turn yellow and smells of chamomile and calendula. Make sure to check the water level often and make sure it hasn’t gotten too hot or evaporated off.” and then just strain the flowers out and use as regular baby oil.

Slower but more concentrated way: Put the calendula and chamomile in a glass jar and pour the oil over it. Put a tight-fitting lid on. Keep in a cool, dark place and shake daily for 6-8 weeks to make a gorgeous light-orange oil that is great for baby or adult skin. It is soothing on eczema or skin irritation and calming to baby.

homemade all natural baby powder recipe

Soothing Baby Powder

Some regular baby powder contain talc, which is closely related to asbestos and has been linked to various cancers. Please don’t put it on your baby’s tender tushie! There are natural alternatives that are incredibly easy to make and work better without the  side of cancer.

Here’s the recipe.

Homemade Baby Wipes

We make our own baby wipes and I use the same natural formula for cloth wipes or to make disposable wipes. They are not only more natural and environmentally friendly… they are cheaper too! 🙂

Here’s the recipe.

Super Smooth Baby Lotion and Lotion Bars

I’ve used my basic homemade lotion recipe on all of our kids and it is gentle enough for baby skin. Here’s the basic recipe.

I also recently discovered that homemade lotion bars are an even better option and are very protective on baby’s skin but still allow it to breathe. You can add chamomile or calendula to the oils if you want, but the basic lotion bars work excellent, especially on babies with sensitive skin or eczema. They are even easier to make, last longer and are fun for kids to use too. They have a natural SPF of about 7.

You can also just use plain coconut oil… tired of me saying that yet?

Baby Shampoo or Wash

Babies don’t actually need soaps or shampoos for the most part. They have naturally protective oils in their skin that are better not washed off.

If you do need a lathery soap to feel like baby is clean, I’d suggest Dr. Bronner’s sensitive skin liquid castile soap for both soap and shampoo. On my daughter (11 months) I just use natural microfiber cloths to clean off the food, dirt, etc. without stripping all of her natural oils. I also use them to wash her hair. Then, I just use coconut oil or baby oil (above) when needed, which isn’t often.

Natural Teething/Pain Relief

I don’t use children’s Tylenol, children’s Motrin or any other children’s version of a pharmaceutical on my kids. The poor things must navigate the waters of teething without the help of medicine, but I do use natural means to help ease the pain when I can.

Chamomile tincture is by far my most used tincture with babies and kids. I use it mostly externally on babies to sooth colic or teething and internally for older kids who have trouble sleeping or who have a head or stomach ache. Here’s the tincture recipe. I dilute or let the alcohol evaporate when using on babies or children.

Note: if you’re looking for more natural solutions for surviving teething, check out this post!

Do you make your own baby products? Use natural ones? What is your best advice for keeping toxins away from baby? Share the wisdom below!

These are natural baby care recipes including diaper cream (cloth diaper safe), baby oil, baby powder, soap, lotion, and wipes with calendula and chamomile.

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

313 responses to “7 Natural Baby Care Recipes”

  1. Kathryn Avatar
    Kathryn

    I plan on making some of your diaper rash cream but am unable to find caledula. Is there another herb I can use in its place? I ordered Rosemary but saw on another website that Rosemary essential oil is unsuitable for baby’s bottom. Is replacing calendula with Rosemary a bad idea?? Thanks!

  2. Deanna Avatar

    What would you recommend for a fungal diaper rash? Also, i use cloth diapers and am wondering how I would sterilize those?? Thanks!!

  3. shana Avatar

    about the diaper cream, I had to add quite a bit of zinc oxide to get mine to thicken, is it still safe to use on my son? I also added a bit of corn starch.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      It should be fine and you probably will need only a tiny amount.

  4. Sierra Amato Avatar
    Sierra Amato

    Hi Katie, have you tried diaper free with number 4 or 5? They still get some redness in those fat rolls but a whole heck of a lot less than with diapers. Plus they can move around easier;0

  5. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Thank you so much for this nappy rash cream recipe. My little boy had shocking nappy rash and the so called “organic” commercial creams I tried only made his skin worse. Since using your recipe, his rash has disappeared! This success has definitely inspired me to make more of our beauty and cleaning products. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂

  6. Caroline Avatar
    Caroline

    Can you use calendula flower powder for the diaper rash cream?

  7. Tyra Nicole Avatar
    Tyra Nicole

    HELP! I am not due until June 28th but at my Dr. appt. this morning the doc says that I am almost 2 cm dialated and my mucus plug has …….. I know that doesn’t really mean things will speed up immediately but it could mean that the baby will arrive before June 28th and I don’t have my oils and powders ready 🙂
    Can I use the calendula and chamomile powders instead of the flowers? Will it give the same fragrance and have the same effect? I know that the flowers would need to be drained out for the baby oil, will the powder melt in/dissolve and it will it potentially irritate the baby?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      As long as the powder is very fine, it should work…Congrats and best of luck with delivery 🙂

  8. Kaitlyn Pitchford Avatar
    Kaitlyn Pitchford

    I am trying to stay away from baby tylenol and pharmaceutical medications for my 1 year old. What do you recommend when babies have high temps or are just not really feeling good?

    1. Rena Avatar

      I would like to know this too! That is mainly what I use over the counter medicines for, not so much pain.

  9. Ashley Avatar

    Hi, I just wondering how you use chamomile tincture for teething babies?

  10. Laura Jessup Avatar
    Laura Jessup

    I simply use cocnut oil or all skin care for my baby. I use cloth dipes and wipes as well and since coconut oil didnt seem to heal her rashes we’ve had the best luck with good ol’ air drying 🙂

    I did cure her cradle cap with the no poo method (yes I no poo my nb haha). I added a little tea tree oil to the apple cider vinegar/water mixture which helped. Now I don’t have to wash her hair like ever. Since we use cloth wipes with homemade solution she is usually wipe bathes but when we do submersion baths I do have a homemade baby soap (not tear free since I added tto but that can be omitted). I just used an old foaming soap pump, 1/4 cup of be bronners baby Castile soap. I got it at target cause I wanted it like immediately and didnt want to wait for shipping haha. Yes, I’m the kind Of Person who gets an idea and I want it done yesterday!!! Anyway, then I put a squirt of vitamin e oil, fill with water, and voila!! My older daughter likes yummy smelling stuff (I caught her washing her hair at my moms all sneakily because she wanted her hair to smell nice haha, she’s 5). So we bought her some lavender to put in all her hair and body products and she’s happy now 🙂

    I also use grapeseed oil or olive oil a few drops of tto and fill with water for my cloth wipes. I had gotten lazy for a couple days and used disposible wipes for a couple days and now my poor baby has an almost bleeding rash. I feel awful 🙁 so now I’m tryin to heal that and vitamin e oil seems to be working.

    We’re pretty simple with what we use on te kids. It makes life easier and healthier 🙂

  11. Phaedra Burch Avatar
    Phaedra Burch

    I’m newly pregnant with my second and am super excited about making my own baby products!! Thank you so much for this resource!

  12. Molly Avatar

    Hi, I am making all of the baby products for a good friend who is having a baby. Everything is coming out great but the diaper cream. I have mixed the coconut oil and the shea butter and arrow root powder and to say it isn’t even close to a paste is an understatement. I did not let the coconut oil cool completely before I mixed in the other ingredients. Is that the problem or do I have to wait for the liquid I have now to cool and harden. From the instructions it seemed like it was a paste right away. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the great site.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      You can add more arrowroot, but it can take a day or two to completely harden. Was the coconut oil you used solid at room temp before you started?

      1. Tara Fox Kirk Avatar
        Tara Fox Kirk

        Hi wellness mama. I am having the same issue. Mine was at room temperature before I infused it. :/

        1. Andrea Meyer Avatar
          Andrea Meyer

          Hi. I just made this for the first time excitedly and mine is so liquidy. I added much more arrowroot and oxide then recipe stated to try to thicken it, because I don’t want to waste it, but it’s still pretty liquidy. Definitely not a paste. I’m really hoping it will get more solid/paste but for next time, any ideas?

          1. Wellness Mama Avatar
            Wellness Mama

            It can take a couple days to fully harden… try putting it in the fridge for a few hours and then removing for a couple hours to get an idea of the real texture…

          2. Abigail Avatar

            Mine also came out in liquid form and I made it Saturday (it’s Monday morning now). I even put it in the fridge for several hours and took it out only to have it become liquid again. I’m so disappointed! My coconut oil was solid at room temperature 🙁

  13. Hailey Steck Avatar
    Hailey Steck

    I used calendula and chamomile powders, and it doesn’t look like they will strain out easily (for diaper cream). Do you think that will be a problem?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      If they are too fine to strain out, it should still work fine…

  14. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    My daughter is 7 and has had this rash on her tush on and off for 6 months. The doctor says it is probably fungal and bacterial and had me using all sorts of horrible chemical creams (lotrimin, hydrocortisone, Bactrian, prescrip anti fungal….) and it starts going away, but always comes back. I stopped all creams and made my own with coconut oil, kukui nut oil, and some tea tree. Unfortunately it isn’t working and has started spreading. Do you or anybody here have any ideas on what I could add to make this a really powerful anti-fungal and anti-bacterial? Can I add tea tree to this and if so how much? I just feel so lost and don’t want to use anything chemical on her anymore. Thanks for all your help and awesome recipes

    1. Jill Cummings Avatar
      Jill Cummings

      If it is a fungal problem, try 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract in an ounce of water. Use a cotton ball and apply at every diaper change. It has cleared up any yeast diaper rash my daughter has had in a matter of hours. It is also an all natural antibiotic. Good luck!

      1. Erin Baker Avatar
        Erin Baker

        I am going to have to try that. My poor baby boy has had an off and on yeast infection for about a month or two now. Do you happen to know how to kill the yeast that is stuck in the cloth diapers? I really don’t want to use bleach and i don’t have a pot large enough to boil them in. Any ideas?

        1. Laura Jessup Avatar
          Laura Jessup

          Do you use vinegar? That should get it out of the CD. Or put tto in the wash. I use vinegar or tto every wash as a disinfectant.

          You can also use gentian violet but I wouldn’t put it directly on te CD as it will stain horribly. Use a barrier like an old tshirt. Let it air dry too.

          1. Erin Baker Avatar
            Erin Baker

            I am using vinegar in the rinse. I fill a downy ball with vinegar and toss it in with the diapers at the start of the hot wash. I have put some tto into the final rinse as well as doing an initial soak with unsoiled diapers with the tto in hot water.

  15. Lisa Avatar

    OK, so I made the diaper cream today. Wow, it smells fantastic!

    I am reluctant to throw out the oil-soaked chamomile flowers, however, so I’m just leaving them out to dry for now. They are so scrumptious, and I’m sure they can be used for something, I’m just not sure what! Maybe incense? (I’ve never tried making any.) Dabbled into homemade candles? I’d love to hear Wellness Mama’s or anyone else’s ideas on how to use these…

  16. Amy Exner Avatar
    Amy Exner

    Hi there! what is the shelf life of these products? I just finished my first trimester and obviously don’t need these products now, but want to have them made up before baby arrives in September. Thanks for the great recipes!

  17. Tara Avatar

    How long will the diaper cream last? I don’t need it now but wanted to make when I have time to have it when I need it.

  18. Lisa Avatar

    If making the diaper cream without calendula, should I use twice as much chamomile instead?

      1. Lisa Avatar

        Thanks, Wellness Mama. I really appreciate your website. So much good info for me (an earth-lovin’, au natural, first-time mamma-to-be!).

  19. Kathryn Avatar
    Kathryn

    Just to clarify, what do you mean by ” use a liner” with the diaper cream?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      It should wash out, but just to prevent any absorption issues, I use a disposable/biodegradable bamboo liner if using a lot of diaper cream..

      1. Roxanne Avatar

        It also lets you just flush the poo in the toilet and leaves the nappy pretty clean most of the time

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