Everyone knows how special a baby’s skin is… or do they? It is very different from an adult’s skin, and requires special care.
Why is it so important to be careful when putting anything onto your baby’s skin?
Well, because a baby’s skin:
- is only about half as thick as an adult’s skin and remains undeveloped until about a year of age, so chemicals diffuse across it and into the bloodstream much more easily and quickly;
- lacks an adult’s metabolic enzymes. Without these enzymes it cannot ‘deactivate’ many chemicals, making baby more prone to irritation and sensitivity reactions;
- is only slightly acidic when compared with adult skin. Applying alkaline products to baby’s skin (such as most commercial soaps and cleansers) risks irritation and dermatitis; and
- has a very large surface area relative to the baby’s size. Even small amounts of absorbed chemicals results in higher blood concentrations than would occur in an adult.
To meet commercial two-year shelf life requirements, most available baby care products contain high levels of chemical preservatives and stabilisers—yet these chemicals are known to both dermatologists and cosmetic formulators as the main perpetrators of skin irritation. Why do we require such long shelf lives from these products, especially for baby care? A skin cream consists of water and oil in emulsion, something like dairy cream. Imagine dipping your finger into a jar of dairy cream on the shelf, every day, for two years. How much preservative would be needed in that cream to keep it from going bad? Would you eat something like that (even if it was ‘organic’)? At BCP we make our baby care products fresh and on site, specifically for each and every individual. This means that our products can be made free of added preservatives and chemical stabilisers. Our baby care products have a pH of 5.o to match the natural pH of baby’s skin, thus soothing and protecting the skin against alkaline irritation.
If you would like to learn more about any of the chemicals and ingredients in your baby’s skincare products (such as preservatives, essential oils, sunscreens or stabilisers) Contact Border Compounding Pharmacy. and ask one of our friendly pharmacists.
Your baby’s skin will thank you!