When I was pregnant with my first, I did what most new mamas do — I registered for all the things. The cute bottles, the popular lotions, the highly-rated everything. It wasn’t until I started actually reading ingredient labels (thanks, pregnancy insomnia) that I realized how many products marketed to babies contained things I couldn’t even pronounce.
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I’m not here to fear-monger or make anyone feel guilty about what’s in their diaper bag right now. Goodness knows we all do the best we can with the information we have. But I wanted to share what our family learned and the switches we made — because sometimes it helps just to hear what another mama figured out through trial, error, and way too many late-night research sessions.
Why We Started Looking at Baby Product Ingredients
Honestly? It started with a rash. My oldest had the most sensitive skin, and every “gentle” baby product we tried seemed to make things worse. I finally sat down one evening and started Googling the ingredients in our baby wash, and y’all — I went down a rabbit hole.
I have a science background, so I know how to read studies and evaluate sources. What I found wasn’t necessarily that everything on the market is poison (it’s not), but that a lot of products contain ingredients that just… don’t need to be there. Fragrances that can irritate. Preservatives with questionable safety profiles. Dyes that serve no purpose except to make things look pretty on a shelf.
Once I started paying attention, I couldn’t stop. And gradually, we made switches — not all at once, but product by product as things ran out.
The Products We Changed First
Baby Wash and Lotion
This was the big one for us. We ditched anything with fragrance, parabens, and sulfates. I know those words get thrown around a lot, so here’s the simple version: fragrance can mean dozens of undisclosed chemicals, parabens are preservatives that mimic estrogen, and sulfates are what makes things foam but can be really drying.
We switched to brands that use simple ingredient lists. Castile soap diluted with water became our go-to for a long time. For lotion, plain coconut oil or shea butter worked better than anything in a fancy bottle.
Sunscreen
Living in Florida, sunscreen isn’t optional — it’s survival. But traditional sunscreens contain chemical filters that absorb into the skin. We made the switch to mineral sunscreens with zinc oxide as the active ingredient. Yes, they can leave a white cast. Yes, my kids sometimes look like little ghosts at the beach. But it sits on top of the skin instead of absorbing into it, and that matters to me.
We’ve tried a bunch of brands over the years, and I keep a running list of non-toxic sunscreen options for kids that actually work in Florida humidity without sliding off in five minutes.
Diapers and Wipes
This one surprised me. Traditional diapers can contain chlorine, fragrances, lotions, and dyes. We tried cloth for a while (Florida heat made that… interesting), and eventually landed on a fragrance-free, chlorine-free disposable option that worked for our family.
For wipes, we switched to water wipes or just plain wet washcloths. Simple, effective, and so much gentler on sensitive skin.
Cleaning Products That Touch Baby Stuff
Laundry Detergent
I never thought much about laundry detergent until I realized how much residue stays on fabric — fabric that my baby was sleeping on, wearing, and putting in their mouth. We switched to a fragrance-free, plant-based option and haven’t looked back.
Grove Collaborative has been a great resource for finding cleaner cleaning products. I love that I can set up a shipment and not have to think about it — one less thing on the mental load.
Household Cleaners
Once the babies started crawling, I became hyper-aware of what was on our floors. We moved to simple ingredients: vinegar, castile soap, baking soda. For anything that needed more muscle, I found concentrated plant-based options that I dilute myself.
This mindset eventually extended beyond just baby products. When we got our chickens a few years later, I applied the same thinking to their care. We use food-grade diatomaceous earth in the coop for pest control instead of chemical treatments, and it works beautifully.
Bug Spray and Outdoor Protection
Okay, if you live in Florida, you know that mosquitoes are basically the unofficial state bird. But DEET always concerned me for little ones. We switched to plant-based repellents, and Wondercide has been a game-changer for our family. We use it on ourselves, the kids, and even on our mini labradoodle when she’s being especially delicious to the bugs.
It smells like lemongrass and cedar instead of chemicals, and it actually works. Which, in Northwest Florida during summer, is saying something.
What We Learned Along the Way
Not Everything Matters Equally
Here’s the thing I wish someone had told me earlier: you don’t have to switch everything overnight. Focus on products that stay on the skin (lotions, sunscreen) before worrying about things that rinse off quickly. Prioritize what baby spends the most time with — bedding, clothing, things that go in their mouth.
“Natural” Doesn’t Always Mean Safe
Marketing is sneaky. “Natural” and “gentle” aren’t regulated terms. I learned to flip the bottle and read the actual ingredients instead of trusting the front label. It takes more time at first, but eventually you learn which brands you can trust and shopping gets easier.
Simple Usually Wins
The best baby products often have the shortest ingredient lists. This applies to so much of life, honestly — our homeschool philosophy, our approach to toys, the way we spend our days. Less really can be more.
Raising Kids the Old-Fashioned Way
This whole journey fits into how we’re trying to raise our kids overall. We want them outside more than inside. Playing in the dirt, collecting bugs with their bug catcher kits, feeding the chickens, exploring the backyard. A childhood that looks more like the 1990s than 2025.
Part of that, for us, means being thoughtful about what goes on their bodies and in their environment. Not paranoid — thoughtful. There’s a difference.
We still use sunscreen and bug spray. We still buy things in stores. We’re not living off the grid. We’ve just tried to make more intentional choices where we can, and let go of perfection where we can’t.
What I’d Tell a New Mama Just Starting This Journey
Don’t let it overwhelm you. Don’t throw out everything in your house tomorrow. Just start noticing. Start reading labels. Make one switch at a time as products run out.
And give yourself grace. We’re all just doing our best with what we know. The fact that you’re even thinking about this stuff? That means you’re a good mama.
If you want to dive deeper into research, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a database where you can look up product safety ratings. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good starting point.
And if you’re standing in a store aisle right now, exhausted and overwhelmed, trying to figure out which baby lotion to buy — just look for the shortest ingredient list with words you recognize. That’s usually a pretty safe bet.
We’re in this together, friend. One small switch at a time.
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