Natural skin-care ingredients are always best for babies because babies have sensitive, delicate skin. However, some baby skin-care products contain harmful ingredients and artificial fragrances. Luckily, mothers can often find ingredients that are more suitable for their baby’s skin. Keep reading to find out what the best natural ingredients for baby skin are.
*This is a guest post and all opinions are those of the author. This post may also contain affiliate and/or paid links. Rest assured that we only work with companies and individuals that we trust. While some of those companies and individuals may work in the medical field, this post is not intended to be a substitution for medical advice. Always speak to your doctor if you have concerns about your mental or physical health.
Shea Butter
Shea butter is a rich, creamy fat that will keep your baby’s skin soft and protected. It has antifungal properties, and it’s a natural anti-inflammatory ingredient. In addition, it’s high in vitamins A and E, which promote collagen production. You can use products that contain shea butter to soothe your baby’s sensitive skin. It’s a great choice to use in your baby’s daily routine to strengthen their skin’s natural barrier.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is the main ingredient in many baby skin-care products because it contains healthy fats, vitamins, and antioxidants. In addition, it can fight off skin irritants and soothe your baby’s skin. You can also create homemade products for your baby using olive oil—for example, you can make homemade diaper cream with olive oil as a main ingredient.
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Chamomile
Chamomile is a hypoallergenic skin healer that can benefit your baby’s skin. Most people use chamomile for its soothing, healing, and anti-inflammatory properties, which are thanks to natural compounds found in the chamomile flower bud. As a result, you’ll find chamomile in many baby products, such as wipes, lotions, and body washes. If your baby has dry, sensitive, or itchy skin, chamomile is a fantastic healing option. It soothes skin irritations while having a calming effect.
Avocado Oil
Many people enjoy the health benefits of avocados, but you can also use avocado oil on your baby’s skin. It’s a great skin-softener, and it has antioxidant properties. It locks in moisture and protects your baby’s skin barrier. In addition, it’s a fast-absorbing oil, meaning your baby won’t be greasy after you apply the oil.
Aloe Vera
The aloe vera plant contains a natural gel that can treat medical conditions as well as your baby’s skin. Aloe vera is effective in fighting rashes, minor cuts, and insect bites. If you notice red or itchy patches on your baby’s skin, you can apply aloe vera gel as a soothing and natural treatment.
Babies have sensitive, delicate skin. Therefore, it’s essential to use natural skin ingredients that are healthy for your baby. We hope our list of the best natural ingredients for baby skin was beneficial to you. We also encourage you to try some of these natural ingredients yourself!
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Author Bio
Christina Duron is a writer living in the Chicagoland area. Her passion for writing and mental health help create thought provoking and engaging pieces and hopes to use them to empower mothers and women to embrace the beauty of motherhood.
Breast compression is the underdog of breast feeding techniques.
Emphasis is rarely put on the importance of breast compression in those first few weeks after the milk comes in. It sounds self explanatory, right? You just squeeze your breast, what’s so hard about that? I did breast compression with my first. And my second… I think?
The fact that I can’t even remember doing them means that they weren’t important to me back then. After learning how to do them properly with my third one, and learning all the reasons why and when, I realized that I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I had known about this the first time. And the second.
Learn more about how to do this important breastfeeding technique!
*This post contains affiliate links which means that if you click on one of these links and buy a product, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Rest assured that I only recommend products that I love from companies that I trust.
HOW
Step 1: Get your baby latched on properly.
I like this infographic from The Milk Memoirs
After baby starts sucking you may FEEL your milk let down (not all women can feel it) and/or SEE your baby’s sucking start to become longer and slower.
Step 2: Grasp your breast with whichever hand feels more comfortable.
Some might prefer to grasp with the hand closest to the breast, others might be more comfortable reaching across their body. This will also depend on what position you are holding your baby in to nurse. You can switch it up throughout the feeding.
Step 3: Hold your thumb on top of the breast and the other four fingers on the bottom of the breast.
Your hand will form a letter “C” (it helps to imagine you’re holding your breast like a cheeseburger). Try to keep your hand close to your chest. You want to stay as far back from the nipple as possible so you don’t affect baby’s latch. It’s not as effective to squeeze the breast from the sides or to use a “scissor” hold.
Step 4: Squeeze as hard as you can handle. It shouldn’t hurt, but you want to use firm pressure, especially if your breasts are engorged.
Do not move your fingers around or slide them towards the nipple. Try not to rub or massage the breast as this can cause irritation on the skin. If you have extremely full breasts, whether it’s the first morning feed or when your milk first comes in, you may feel “lumps” of milk. Concentrate on putting pressure on those spots first.
Mom Smart Not Hard | momsmartnothard.com
Step 5: Squeeze one spot for roughly 10 seconds (or as long as baby continues to suck) and then release.
You will notice baby take longer, bigger gulps, some milk might even leak out from the corners of their mouth. That section of the breast will start to soften. Baby may temporarily stop sucking after a few big gulps to rest.
Step 6: Wait for baby to start sucking and compress the breast again.
You can try moving your fingers onto a different spot or switching hands to access the other side of the breast.
WHEN and WHY
DO NOT do them before your milk comes in.I mean, you can, but there’s no point.
Do them when your milk comes in. You will have a lot of it and your newborn baby will get tired of sucking before they get to that hind milk.
Do them when your breasts are really full.Usually in the morning or if you’ve been away from baby and haven’t fed or pumped in a while. It’s a great way to empty out full and sore breasts very quickly and make sure that baby is getting to the hind milk before they get too full.
The Turn Up The Heat breast pads by TheDandelionShoppeUS on Etsy are perfect for warm relief during engorgement and also cold relief to treat soreness. They have a removable machine washable cover and I love the hole in the middle to avoid irritating sore nipples!
Do them when your breasts are not full. Doing compression during feeds even when your breasts feel empty will help drain the milk glands completely which will increase your milk supply.
Do them when you have a clogged milk duct. This is when one of those “milk lumps” gets stuck and doesn’t want to empty. Put a warm wet washcloth on top of the breast first and then apply lots of pressure to that stuck lump while you nurse.
Do them while pumping. Breast pumps are not as efficient at emptying a breast or getting enough hind milk. A good example of this is to compare a bottle of pumped milk while doing compression vs. without. You will see a higher fat content in the bottle pumped with compression.
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Do them when you have incredibly sore nipples.Baby won’t have to suck as hard to get enough milk (giving your nipples a bit of relief) and it will also speed up the length of the feeding.
Do them when baby falls asleep at the breast and/or stops sucking.Breast compression will either make baby start drinking some more, or spit out the nipple if they are full.
Do them when baby cluster feeds. The hind milk will help baby to feel fuller for longer and can reduce the amount of time you spend feeding.
Do them during night time feedings or dream feeds. Babies are quite drowsy in the middle of the night and may not suck with the “power” that they use during the day. Doing breast compression can help baby get milk more efficiently so that everyone can go back to bed.
Do them if your baby has greenish-colored poops.The greenish color could be because they’re not getting enough hind milk.
Do them if your baby gets a slight diaper rash.Not enough hind milk can change the consistency of baby’s poops and cause their bums to get red. (Plus, switch to hypo-allergenic bamboo diapers to help ease persistent diaper rashes)
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There are so many benefits to using breast compression!
The biggest WHY is to get baby the hind milk that has a higher fat content. It will help them to gain weight faster and stay full longer.
I know that breast compression is usually only suggested in the first couple months – during the time when breastfeeding is still trying to become well established. But I became SO obsessed with doing them because I was able to see the benefits in my baby right away that I continued to do them whenever I felt it was necessary.
Another good site to check out for more visual aids is Breastfeeding.Support it’s run by IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) Philippa Pearson-Glaze and the site has a ton of breastfeeding articles, tips and advice with some great pictures.
Milkologyis a 90 minute online breastfeeding class run by certified lactation specialist, Stacy Stewart. For less than $20, you can get some amazing tips for breastfeeding success – with a money back guarantee!
A great breastfeeding resource is the Breastfeeding Handbook from Mom Smart Not Hard. Download, print and put it into a binder to have access to everything you could possibly need to know about breastfeeding.
A lot of women who experience breast pain during pregnancy might have concerns about breastfeeding and engorgement.Learn more about breast pain during pregnancy in this article from Mom Loves Best.
This awesome article from Positive Health Wellness has tons of information about breast changes during pregnancy.
check it out!
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