Natural Baby Essential: Coconut oil

Image by JPhilipson

Matt and I are all about products that do double, triple, or quadruple duty. Particularly those that are a single ingredient. Like baking soda--aka deodorant, toothpaste, kitchen cleanser, catbox deodorizer, stain remover, etc etc. Since we've had a baby, coconut oil has become one of those.

Eden's never really had what I would consider a full-blown diaper rash, but every once in awhile her butt will start to look a little red. We were using Burt's Bees Diaper Ointment, which worked beautifully and smelled wonderful, for the first month. Then all of a sudden one day I put it on her--no broken skin and no more red than usual--and she screamed absolutely bloody murder and would not stop. Assuming it had to be the cream, I quickly washed it off and she eventually settled down. We tried it one more time, just to be sure that was it, and sure enough--the same thing. She obviously developed some kind of sensitivity to one or more ingredients in the product--which was a shame, because we really liked it, but there was nothing we could do.

So we were on the hunt for something new. We'd obtained some refined coconut oil (basically it's processed and flavorless and cheaper than the raw or virgin coconut oil that's pricier and healthier) when I was pregnant in an effort to help slow stretch marks (it didn't work, but it is a wonderful moisturizer). I decided to try some of that on Eden since when I'd used it, I had appreciated how quickly it melted into my skin without making it feel greasy. Anything oily or greasy (like zinc oxide or petroleum-based balms) are a concern with cloth diapers because they can cause the diapers to repel water, which leads to leakage.

It worked beautifully. We applied a little coconut oil (easy because it's sort of a soft solid when you scoop it out, then melts at body temperature and soaks right in) to the red areas with each diaper change and by the next day, all traces of redness were gone. We've been using it for over a month now and it's shown no signs of causing problems with her diapers, and usually clears up her skin overnight.

Eden also developed a case of baby acne around 4 weeks old, which didn't seem to bother her much, but was something of a bummer to me, since she'd had such lovely creamy baby skin. I'd read that 4 weeks is a common time to develop it, and that it nearly always clears on its own by about six weeks, but I noticed that heat, drool, and dry skin seemed to exacerbate it and so though it might seem counterintuitive, I rubbed a little coconut oil on her cheeks in an effort to help her skin balance out. Sure enough, by six weeks her skin was beautiful and clear. I think it probably would have cleared up by itself anyway, but it seemed like the rough texture was improved by applying the coconut oil once or twice a day. Her cheeks still tend toward dryness and so I usually apply it to her face every morning and after a bath, and these days she looks like an "after" model for Clearisil.

We also use the coconut oil as an allover moisturizer after her bath, and I know some people swear by putting a dollop in the bathwater as well. We wash her in our bathtub and so since we don't want to slip and break our necks on an oily floor, we tend to avoid that measure. But as a moisturizer, it's effective, surprisingly nongreasy, and happily, completely nontoxic--so when she puts her hands in her mouth immediately after we apply it, we don't have to anxiously scan a list of ingredients to make sure she's not eating poison. It has just one ingredient, which we love.

Lastly, Eden has a tendency to develop a dry and occasionally flaky scalp--and I've found it helps quite a bit to rub some coconut oil into her head before she gets in the bathtub. In the tub, I just rub her head with a wet washcloth and that's it (no soap). Afterward, I rub in a little more coconut oil and she's good to go. Her hair and scalp never look or feel greasy--just soft.

We received ours from a generous friend who had it on hand, but there are a number of sources for coconut oil on the internet or at health food stores. You can get a 14-oz jar from Amazon for about $7 shipped. It also makes an easy and flavorless cooking oil. What we've done is take a larger batch and scoop it out into smaller containers--like baby food jars--so that we can have one in the kitchen, a small one by the changing table, one in the bathroom, etc. I usually scoop it into a jar and then microwave until it melts, then re-solidifies into a smooth block.

Relatively cheap, completely nontoxic, extremely effective, and very multipurpose--we're sold.