Natural Babies Hair & Skin

I want to take a moment to switch it up a bit and talk about babies and toddlers with natural hair.  I get so many compliments on the texture and amount of hair that my daughter has.  I think her hair is like that due to genetics (her father's because my hair texture as a baby was a hot mess) and the right hair products.

Our Ladybug last summer (excuse my toes in the pic)

Before Ladybug was born I searched the internet profusely trying to find a product to make my baby have "good hair".  I couldn't have her out in public just looking any kind of way.  I just knew I didn't want my baby to have that rough and dry looking hair.  You know some people have their kid's hair looking a hot damn mess (which I blame completely on the parent).  After a while I though to myself, "This is so ridiculous."  A product doesn't make your child have "good hair" but it does help keep your child hair moisturized and allows it to be more manageable.  I had to start thinking along the lines of how I take care of my hair and I knew that's how I wanted to take care of my daughter's hair.

Since becoming pregnant I started getting on this whole natural ingredient thing.  Like I paid attention to what I put in my hair and on my body, so I had to do the same for my baby.  So finally I came across California Baby.  This line was created by a mom who was obsessed with living the healthiest and naturalist life that she could for not only herself, but for her children also.  According to California Baby's website, "California Baby's manufacturing plant in Culver City, California, is an FDA-registered, certified organic, eco-friendly facility run on solar panels".  The founder of this company also "bought a farm in Santa Barbara where she grows the flowers used for extractions in her products".  Like how cool is that?  Right then I knew this was the body wash/shampoo I wanted for my newborn.  I first saw it in BuyBuy Baby and Target, but when I went to the California Baby website, I saw they have so many other products.  I've also read nothing but great reviews on their eczema line as well.

Now let me tell you about the cost.  Being certified organic and all that good shit comes with a price.  An 8.5 oz bottle is $11.79 and a 19 oz bottle is $20.99.  In my eyes that's not bad, but for some people I know its a lot.  Especially when you can get two or three bottles of Johnson & Johnson and some lotion.  But let me tell you, this shampoo and body wash combo is soooo worth it!  I love it!  At the time, I used the Calming™Shampoo & Bodywash.  It doesn't have a strong scent, it left my baby's skin super soft, and her hair was shiny and never dry.  After washing her hair I would put a little coconut oil and/or olive oil on her hair, brush it, and she was good to go.  I also never had any issues with cradle cap (not sure if it was due to this routine or pure luck).

After a bath, I would lotion her down with California Baby's Calming™Everyday Lotion.  I found myself having to lotion her entire body several times a day because her skin would get so dry.  I figured that I needed something thicker than this lotion so I hopped to Wal Mart and got some Aveeno lotion for babies.  Now why in the hell did I do that?  Aveeno's line is supposed to be great for sensitive skin, at least that was always my experience with it.  When I tell ya'll that lotion had my baby's body covered in fine bumps from head to toe, I mean from HEAD to TOE.  I was furious; more so with myself for using it.  Then as a first time mom, I was super scared.  Not to mention my husband was jumping down my throat about why I even switched brands like that.  This happened when she was around 8-12 weeks old, so after going to the doctor and waiting for her rash to clear up I was back at square one trying to figure out what kind of lotion to use.

Finally I went back to California Baby's website and they released the Calendula Cream.  But the gag was...it was $25 for a 4 oz jar.  I had to give it a try and it was nothing short of amazing!  I had to learn how to use a little because I was going through those jars like it was crack.  No, I've never used crack but I'm just sayin'.  It was gone fast.  They finally released a 6 oz. tube and...hold your breath...keep holding...it was $32.  I was like okay this is it.  We gotta find a cheaper alternative, but my husband told me to keep using it, so here we are 2 years later and I still use the same cream but now I also use the Calendula Shampoo & Bodywash.  Now California Baby rarely has any kind of sale on their website.  I usually order their products from Target because I can get a 5% discount using my Target card plus sometimes they have a sale on all baby bath products or you can buy like two products and get a $5 gift card.  There have been plenty of times though where I have had to bite the bullet and go ahead and pay full price because we've ran out.  I'll say this though, it might hurt the pockets a little but there is nothing like a peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about our daughter's skin.

Ya'll know I get side tracked some of the time so in the next post I will focus more on the products I use for my daughter's hair. 😄

Feel free to leave comments on what you use for your little one's hair and skin!