Welcome to the April 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Kids and Personal Care
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories, tips, and struggles relating to their children's personal care choices.
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Leaf and Acorn both have eczema, though Leaf's is far worse. We discovered this during her recent hospitalization, where the second hospital had a policy that every child be bathed every day by a nurse so they could inspect for skin issues.
The daily lathering in soap tore up her skin. She already had blisters from the EKG leads and raw spots from taping down her IVs, but the washing was just too much.
At home, we reserve soap on the kids for days when they're actually dirty - not just every day. Even us adults don't bathe every day if we haven't gotten all sweaty, because it dries out our skin too. Acorn loves playing in water, so every other day or so we let him sit in the tub, with just plain water, and let him play and splash.
They don't smell, so clearly they're just fine without so much soap. And less washing has cleared up all but the worst of Leaf's eczema spots without any other treatment.
Hair, too, gets washed less often here than most families. I have very curly hair, and curls tend to be dry at the ends because the natural scalp oils don't flow down the hair shaft so easily. While Acorn's hair is not as curly as mine, it still is super fine and somewhat curly:
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| 5 am in the ER, but still curly, and never been cut |
While I've done conditioner only routines and apple cider vinegar and baking soda routines, and currently am using solid shampoo bars....what's working for Acorn these days is just to not wash his hair that often. We wash it about as often as we soap the rest of him - maybe once a month - and adding just a tiny speck of a natural conditioner to help manage fly-aways.
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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon April 10 with all the carnival links.)
- Rub-a-Dub Co-Bathing in Our Tub — Bath time is more than soap and water! That Mama Gretchen shares how co-bathing with her toddler has opened up a world of cleanliness, learning, and bonding.
- This is How We Take a Bath — Shannon at GrowingSlower shares her special formulas for babywash and a happy bath time.
- How to Gently Trim Your Toddler's Nails — Shannon at The Artful Mama discusses some of the gentle suggestions she has received to help Little Man overcome his anxiety of having his nails trimmed, as well as how she copes with her need for his nails to be trimmed.
- Baby bath time and skin care — Ursula Ciller shares some simple and natural tips for bathing and skin care.
- Want Your Child To Love Getting Clean? Have Them Make Their Own Soaps, Shampoos, and Lotions! — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares her secret to empowering her daughter to "get clean." Together, Jennifer and her daughter make their own body washes and lotions which makes clean up time fun!
- Encouraging Self-care Through Awareness... and Fun — Amy at Presence Parenting shares some tips on how to transform self-care from a struggle into an opportunity -- for kids and adults.
- Caring for kids' curls — Lauren at Hobo Mama tells you how to clean, condition, comb, and style ringlets and waves on little heads.
- Playing in the Rain — Jorje of Momma Jorje loves how her family has come to make a family event of showering!
- The Cleansing Power of the Football — Rachel at Lautaret Bohemiet talks about her son's favorite bath buddy.
- Coconut Oil: Nature's "Baby Magic" — Megan at The Boho Mama has only one must-have baby care item in her cupboard: Coconut Oil!
- For Sensitive Kids, Less Is More — Kadiera at Our Little Acorn finds less cleaning is better.
- Bathtime: Just Another Chance to Play! — Lyndsay at Our Feminist {Play} School discusses the many reasons bath time is important - getting clean isn't one of them.
- Hygiene? What hygiene? — Sheila at A Gift Universe confesses some of her most embarrassing hygiene secrets.
- Confused About Chemicals? — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep describes how to find out where the toxic chemicals are in your house and tips on alternatives.
- Clipping Those Talons — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings describes the ways her daughter's tolerance for personal care has changed over time, especially when it comes to nail clipping.
- Sit Back, Relax and Unschool Hygiene — Instead of focusing on tactics of how to 'get' your child to focus on hygiene, Authentic Parenting explains how to help your child internalize hygienic standards.
- Help! My Tot will not let me brush her teeth! — Mudpiemama shares five positive ways to help toddlers brush teeth and sabotage the tooth fairy’s secret conspiracy.
- Self Care and the Spirited Child — Amy at Toddler In Tow shares how a balancing act between independence and connectedness helps her spirited child learn appropriate self-care.
- Hairbrushing is a Safety Issue — Dulce de leche guest posting at Natural Parents Network explains that although tangles are not a safety issue, self-confidence and body boundaries are.
- 15 Ideas to Prepare Toddlers and Preschoolers for Dental Procedures — Dionna at Code Name: Mama is sharing ideas on how to thoughtfully prepare little ones for dental visits (particularly those that require anesthesia).
- Holistic Care of your Toddler's Teeth — Erica at ChildOrganics tells a tale of her children's teeth issues and how she uses homeopathy and good nutrition to keep cavities at bay.
- Bath Time Bliss : Fuss-Free Bath Time for Toddlers — Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares how she has made bath time completely fuss free for both her and her toddler.
- Homemade Natural Toothpaste — City Kids Homeschooling hosts a guest post on a homemade natural toothpaste recipe that kids will love!
- Bathing Strike Strategies — Crunchy Con Mommy offers her best tips for keeping your little ones clean when they refuse to bathe.
- Bodily Autonomy and Personal Hygeine — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children discusses the importance of supporting a child's bodily autonomy in the prevention of abuse.
- A Tub Full of Kiddos! — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment has kiddos who love the water, so bathtime is a favorite evening activity!
- The Trials of Tidying My Toddler — Adrienne at Mommying My Way shares the difficulties she has with getting her on-the-go son to be still enough to get clean.
- Wiped Clean — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen shares her recipe for homemade diaper wipe solution to clean those sweet little cloth diapered bottoms in her home!
- Snug in a Towel: Embracing Personal Grooming — Personal care is time consuming,especially with more than one child; but the mama at Our Muddy Boots is learning to embrace this fleeting and needful time.
- EC: All or Nothing? — Elimination Communication. Even the title sounds complicated and time consuming. It doesn't have to, if you adapt it to meet your family's needs, says Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy.
- Routine Battles — In a guest post at Anktangle, Jorje of Momma Jorje outlines a simple incentive to help inspire your little one to follow a routine.
- Redefining Beauty For My Daughter — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger relays her struggle to define her own femininity and how her preschooler unexpectedly taught her a lesson in true beauty.
- Rub-A-Dub-Dub, Three Girls In The Tub — Chrystal at Happy Mothering shares how she turns bath time into a few minutes of peace and quiet.
- Montessori-Inspired Activities for Care of Self — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now has a roundup of Montessori-inspired activities for care of self and ideas for home environments that encourage independence.
- 10 Gentle Tips for Little Ones Who Hate the Bath — Kim at life-is-learning gives 10 tips to get your little one into the bath and maybe even enjoying it.
- The Boy With The Long Hair — Liam at In The Now discusses his son's grooming choices.
- Personal Care in a Montessori Home — Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares a summary of the ways she has organized her family's home to make for easy, Montessori-inspired toddler personal care.
- Styling Kids — Kellie at Our Mindful Life is letting her kids decide what to look like.
- Clean Kids: Laundry and Bath Tips — Kimberly at Homeschooling in Nova Scotia shares tips on how to get your children helping with laundry plus recipes for laundry and liquid soap.
- How to Clean Your Children Naturally: A Tutorial — Erika at Cinco de Mommy shows you how to clean your children.
- Cleaniliness is next to... dirt — The lapse-prone eco-mom (Kenna at Million Tiny Things) sometimes forgets to bathe the kids. Except in the mud pit.
Whoa. The hospital required a nurse to bathe children every day?? That is wrong in many ways, and I can only imagine how that would have made you and your daughter feel uncomfortable :( At any rate, our family is much like yours - we don't see a need for daily bathing, or soap at every bath. Our kiddos have sensitive skin, too, so we've had to figure out a routine that does not irritate it.
ReplyDeleteThat totally bugs me that the hospital required such a thing for a sensitive-skinned (or any) kiddo.
ReplyDeleteI like your less is more philosophy. Our little guy loves baths so much that he begins begging for them immediately after dinner every single night. We limit his exposure to products, but we can't keep him out of the water!
Your kiddo is so cute in that photo.
That's our practice, too — less can definitely be better! We do water-only washing for both our boys, except for a little slick soap/shampoo where we need to sneak into neck folds to clean out the muck. (This might be only a fat-baby thing, lol.)
ReplyDeleteWe also don't use those harsh soaps they have in hospitals — we had my mother-in-law visit and bring us some antibacterial soap. By the end of her visit, Mikko's skin was peeling off on his hands. It was kind of scary, but it cleared up once we stopped using the soap again. I can't imagine your poor Leaf having to be bathed in that yucky soap every day — no wonder her skin reacted poorly. :(
Yup. Every day. Their argument was that it allowed for an assessment of skin condition, and was good for preventing bed sores and such....but it was already pretty clear to everyone that her skin was not happy. We'd already had wound care in to look at blisters from EKG leads and such.
ReplyDeleteThey were mostly sticking with baby wash type soap, not antibacterial stuff, but they were doing bed baths, which also meant it wasn't getting rinsed well, which just makes it worse. Wipe with soapy cloth, wipe with non-soapy cloth, dry with a third.
ReplyDeleteIf we let him, Acorn would never get out of the bath. It was a prime motivator in getting his ENT to close his trach site relatively soon after his trach was removed - a kid who loves to splash and play in the water with a wide open hole straight into his lungs is just plain dangerous.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend we're hoping to take him to a swimming pool for the first time ever, which should be quite entertaining for all of us :)
I'm not convinced soap is such a great thing, either. I've heard of people going soap-free for a year -- just bathing thoroughly in water only -- and having improved skin and less body odor. I'm not brave enough to try it on myself -- but my son never gets any soap on him. No shampoo either. He smells fine, feels clean, and obviously can't react to the soap I'm not using! Fewer baths are good, too -- that disturbs the natural oils less and is less irritating, especially for super-sensitive skin.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked that the hospital wasn't more sensitive (and clued into) the fact that MOST children have skin that will react to so much exposure to soap. So sorry that you had that experience. Their argument seems so backwards - that it would allow for a skin assessment? I would think that letting the skin alone and allowing it to do its own thing would be a more true assessment of a real reaction rather than one based on exposure.
ReplyDeleteShampoo bars! I haven't thought about those in quite some time, that might be a good idea for Aodhan if we decide to move away from the apple cider and baking soda.
We're in the same boat and use soap very sparingly. I noticed that when we go visit the grandparents and they get lots of baths (my mom's favorite thing to do with them) their skin completely dries out.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to me that the hospital wouldn't connect skin conditions with every day bathing, especially given the stuff they use! :(
Yay! Someone else who doesn't suds up every night! My boys bathe every night as a part of their routine, but no soap. No shampoo. My youngest boy's hair looks just like your's and I use a little coconut oil to detangle.
ReplyDeleteOur son and I have eczema, we only bathe him when he's dirty too. And I generally only shower on weekends if I'm dirty myself, especially if it's dry out.
ReplyDeleteOnce per month? That is awesome! We take family showers once or twice per week, but don't soap up the kids every time. Perhaps we could go even longer than we do. When we DO soap up, I like to mostly stick to the "hot spots." I don't see much need for elbows to be washed with soap, ya know? Butt cracks, on the other hand... lol
ReplyDeleteUrsula Ciller
ReplyDeleteLess soap is the way to go. I love water and have to shower every day (even icy cold if no hot water) and don't use soap on my little one (always a warm bath/shower) and only very limited on myself as the soap and even the town water dries out my skin. At my parents place on the farm we have dam water, it is so soft and never dries skin out even with long hot showers/baths. For baby, I always add cammomile tea to soften and improve the water. I think that most hospitals operate on a biomedical system - not often holistic or even healthy.