Non-Toxic Bathtime Swaps for Your Baby

When choosing products for your baby’s bathtime, it’s important to stick with organic and non-toxic options. Explore this guide to the best non-toxic bathing products for your little one, to find everything from baby bathtubs and shampoos to towels and bath rinsers.

Because our babies’ little bodies and system are not fully developed and can be extra sensitive, it’s important to select healthy, non-toxic products for bathing your baby, to limit exposure to harmful chemicals. Sadly, mainstream personal care products often are the biggest offenders when it comes to including harsh and harmful chemicals in their products – including baby and children’s products.

No longer can we feel safe using mainstream brands like Johnson & Johnson or Aveeno Baby. Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, for example, contains artificial food dyes, PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate that can cause allergies or irritation, and highly irritating fragrances that receive a “High Hazard” rating from EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.

So it’s important to take a gentle and minimalistic approach to your baby’s bathtime.

1. Choose an organic baby shampoo and body wash

Your baby’s shampoo should be clean and gentle, and free from synthetic fragrance, phthalates, parabens, and harsh preservatives.

Choosing a natural and non-toxic baby shampoo and body wash for your little one is an absolute must, and the good news is that most of these products are relatively affordable. Thanks to the EWG Skin Deep database, we have great data to help us make healthy choices when it comes to baby shampoos and body washes. And with a newborn, you may not even need to use soap/shampoo at first – you can simply rinse them in the bath.

My go-to brand is Little Biomes Gentlest Baby Shampoo, which is free of added fragrances and suitable for sensitive skin. For more recommendations, check out our entire list of the best organic baby shampoo brands.

2. Your baby doesn’t need lotion

In all honesty, I can’t recommend that you purchase baby lotion because babies simply don’t need any. If you feel that your little one’s skin is on the dry side, or could use a moisture boost, please only occasionally use a natural option such as this one.

Also, please note that all newborns go through a period where their skin starts flaking off; this is completely normal, is not a sign of dryness, and does not need to be moisturized.

If your baby has eczema and you are looking for a cream, check out this list of the best baby eczema creams.

3. Choose a safe, PVC-free baby bathtub

There are many great, non-toxic bathtubs available for bathing your baby, so the choice really comes down to space and personal preference.

4. Use organic towels and washcloths

• Burt’s Bees Baby Towels & Washcloths: Burt’s Bees makes wonderful, organic towels for newborns that are GOTS-certified.
• Natemia Organic Cotton Towels: These towels are plush and made with organic cotton.

5. Don’t forget the extra, miscellaneous non-toxic baby bath products

• Skip Hop Moby Waterfall Bath Rinser Cup: This is the best rinser that I’ve come across. It’s made by Skip Hop and is free of BPA, phthalates, and PVC. It’s sturdier than some of the other rinsers available on the market (specifically the Munchkin brand rinsers). Perhaps one of the best features is that it stands up when not being used. I’ve even thrown this into the dishwasher every now and then.
• Skip Hop Moby Bath Kneeler: This isn’t an essential item, but many moms do like using this to protect their knees while giving baby a bath. We have a bathmat that I use instead of this. It is BPA- and phthalate-free.
• Rubber Duckie: This is actually a rubber duckie made from natural rubber, and not plastic/PVC, so it doesn’t contain the dangerous chemicals you’ll find in the plastic versions. It contains no BPA and no phthalates. The only downside is that this does contain a spout so it will allow water to get inside (why do companies do this!?). If you’d like to, you could always fill that hole with a hot glue gun (be careful around baby, of course). There’s a little friend for the duckie too, a blue rubber whale. The whale is sealed, meaning it won’t accumulate mold and bacteria inside.
• Hevea Bath Mat: Once your baby graduates from their baby bathtub, you may want to start bathing them in a regular bathtub. To prevent slipping, you’ll want to use a bath mat. Most bath mats are made from toxic materials, but the Hevea Bath Mat is made from 100% natural rubber. It works well and we love ours! It’s a great find.

Ready for Bathtime?

I hope this guide to the best non-toxic baby bath products helped get you off to a great start! It’s so important to use clean baby products, and bathtime is no exception. Enjoy bathtime and all the great memories, and be sure to have a go-to bathtime routine.