A Crunchy Mom’s Guide to Kid’s Bath Time

I know you’re probably thinking, “bath time is easy, I don’t need anyone explaining it to me.” BUT I want to share a few things that I’ve learned since becoming a mom so that you can create a healthy space for yourself and your littles. We all take baths, well at least I hope we do! It’s apart of my family’s daily routine and something I never thought twice about as a new mom. I ran the bathwater, put my baby in the bath, washed and then dried with a towel. That’s how most bath times go, right? But have you ever looked a little deeper into it?

The first healthier switch I made in my baby’s bath was what products I used. I was under the impression that anything labeled “organic” or “all natural” was best for babe but honestly its not. Most companies green wash their products – you can read more about that here. Which can cause a multitude of health issues.

My children’s favorite time of the day is BATHTIME! At any mention of the word bath, they are smiling and laughing with each other, trying to strip off their clothes and jump in the tub! They play together and splash around,  I normally always oblige and clean up the water that travels out of the tub after they get out. I normally let my sweet babies stay in the tub until they are nice and pruney! We don’t have a set schedule for their baths; it just happens organically every day. Whenever their bath time occurs, I know I’m in for lots of bubbles and lots of giggles!

You might think that our government regulates nasty chemicals with harmful health consequences— but you’d be wrong. We’ve got a broken chemical system here in the U.S. It’s from 1973 and it grandfathered over 80,000 tested chemicals to be allowed in products. Yep, over 80,000 chemicals that have never been tested for safety, are in products on store shelves. Amongst these chemical filled products are your children’s favorite character shaped brands, “natural,” “sensitive skin” and “no tear!” So, you need to understand how important it is to take your health and your family’s health into your own hands. I say this daily and only because it’s the best piece of advice I could ever give anyone. Research everything for yourself. These days, knowledge is so easily obtained via the internet, ebooks and documentaries on Netflix. I always tell my clients, friends and family to use the Skin Deep website on www.ewg.org and download the Healthy Living app on their phones, plug in your products or products that you’re looking at and see for yourself what’s in them and what their ingredients are linked too.

My research has lead me to sticking with ‘The Never List’ that is available on the Beautycounter website and only use products that do not contain those ingredients. We are a Beautycounter family and we each use and love their body washes. Mercy and all other babies have such sensitive skin, it’s important to use products with very few ingredients and ones that don’t cause them to have reactions to the chemicals in name brand products. A great gift to give to a friend or family member at their baby shower is the Baby Bundle Collection from Beautycounter. I gift this set to my mama friends at their showers and always receive great feed back after they have used it on their LOs. The Baby Gentle All-Over Wash is specially formulated for babies’ bath time. This two-in-one hair and body wash is ideal for delicate skin. The gentle, tear-free formula effectively cleanses and nourishes from head to toe without stripping away moisture.

Nolan, Harper and Scarlet Reese use the BeautycounterSuper-Duper Clean Kids Body Wash and they love it! It creates bubbles for them to enjoy during their bath time which is always a MUST with those two. It is gluten- and nut-free, the formula contains a combination of nourishing fruit extracts that provide a deliciously fresh berry scent. Did you know that 1 in 3 children will be diagnosed with allergies, ADHD or asthma? The incidence of these conditions has skyrocketed over the last 20 years and toxic chemicals are a factor. This is why I am so hell bent on researching products before my kids wash their little bodies with them. As much as I wish I could let them use their favorite character’s body wash I KNOW better so I do better. Beautycounter has become such an amazing Light in my life because it helps me not only learn things myself but help educate the ones around me to take their health into their own hands as well.

These are the perfect bath and after-bath products for your littles. All my friends that are currently expecting, these baby products deserve to be on your registries! Type your current bath products into the Healthy Living app, throw them in the trash if they aren’t safe for your babies, and make the change to a healthier lifestyle for yourself and your children.

My hope in writing this blog is to shake you up and help you realize how lax our beauty laws are in America. Sadly, our government cares more about making money (from selling chemical filled products AND profiting from our medical bills and meds when we get sick) than our health. I challenge you to get your baby, children and your body washes, flip them over to where the ingredients are and check out the ingredients. Type them into google, go to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep page and type them in there or download the Healthy Living app and scan them. Let me know if I can help you in any way to #switchtosafer. This is a movement and we need lots of voices to affect change. If this strikes a cord with you and you feel passionate about this and you would like to be a voice for change, I would love to have you on my team helping me do this because no one person can do this alone #takethejob.