Chemical dangers for baby’s skin
Published May 15th, 2008
Your baby’s skin is supposed to be soft and smooth. But in reality, leading American paediatrician Mathew Avram says, most young children are prone to all kinds of rashes and skin problems. Eczema is another common skin condition affecting one in five children.
The good news is that these problems are usually easy and affordable to treat. "At birth, a child’s skin is 40 percent thinner than adult skin, and when you have thinner skin, your skin is more susceptible to you having complications," he says.
Meanwhile a recent study has found that baby shampoos, lotions and powders may expose infants to nasty chemicals called phthalates. The same chemicals are found in other common products including cosmetics, toys and vinyl flooring.
The study’s lead author, Dr Sheela Sathyanarayana, a paediatrician at the University of Washington, says: "The bottom line is that these chemicals likely do exist in products that we’re commonly using on our children and they potentially could cause health effects."
The study, which appeared in February’s issue of the journal Pediatrics, involved 163 babies, aged 2 to 28 months.
Babies don’t usually need special lotions and powders, and water alone or shampoo in very small amounts is generally enough to clean infant hair, Sathyanarayana said.
As for baby wipes, midwives and dermatologists recommend that these should not be used in the first few months of a baby’s life. Instead, cooled boiled (i.e. sterile) water applied with cotton wool is recommended at nappy changing time.
DermaH20 WaterWipes are the only baby wipes to comply with this recommendation while remaining as convenient to use as ordinary baby wipes.
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