Herbs for Baby's Bath

The birth of a grandchild is special in so many ways.  You see this precious new child and you want her to have the best possible start in life. Providing organic baby care items is one way to protect and nourish her tender new skin.

Our week old grand baby.

When my children were babies it never occurred to me to question the purity of over-the-counter baby care items.  Everyone I knew used and trusted Johnson & Johnson baby wash and shampoo.  It was just what you used.

But most baby products you find in stores aisles contain petroleum by-products, artificial dyes, and chemical fragrance. 

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Babies rarely need soap to get clean and an infusion of soothing and healing herbs can gently clean and nourish their delicate skin.

Bath herbs with sock bags.

While reading Rosemary Gladstar's book, Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health, I was happy to learn that many of the herbs and flowers growing in my backyard can be infused in water for an organic alternative to commercial baby wash products.

Rose petals, chamomile, lavender, calendula, and comfrey.

Chamomile, calendula, lavender, rose petals, comfrey, and plantain are all commonly used in baby care recipes.  

Basic Baby Bath Herb Recipe

1 C dried calendula blossoms
1C dried chamomile blossoms
1 C dried comfrey leaf
1/2 C dried lavender (I used leaves and flowers)
1/2 C dried rose petals

Mix together and place in a quart canning jar.  

The process is easy;

• Place a handful of the herb mixture in a cloth bag.  I bought a 6 pack of soft ankle socks and used them for the bags.  Tie the end of the bag to keep the herbs enclosed. I found that hair binders worked great for this.

• Next run the bath water over the bag of herbs and allow to steep for about 10 minutes.  

• When the water has cooled to a safe temperature, wash the baby with the herbal infusion.  You can use the sock bag as a wash cloth.  The smell wafting up from the bath water is relaxing for the baby and also the parents.

• Drain the water as usual, place the spent herbs in the compost bin.  

When the bath is over your baby will smell like fresh herbs.

Variations

You can add herbs to the Basic Baby Bath Herb Recipe to meet the specific needs of your baby;

• To relax baby for a good night's rest, add in 1/2 C hops strobiles.

• To soothe irritated skin, rashes, or itching, add in 1/2 C dried plantain leaves.

• Fennel seeds can be added to help a colicky baby.  (Fennel is well known for easing digestion.)

• Mint leaves make a cooling bath for those hot summer days.

Additional Resources

Rosemary Gladstar's book, Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health contains recipes for bath herbs, baby powder, diaper rash salve, and baby oil.

Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair, by Dina Falconi has a chapter titled, "Especially for Babies", and has recipes for baby bath, creams, salves, powders, and oils.