Bath time is one of my favorite moments with Lil Z. He absolutely loves it, and it’s a sure-fire way to calm him down if he is being fussy. I remember the first bath I gave him in the kitchen sink when he was a wee little thing, I was equal parts excited and terrified. What started as a quick and efficient procedure to get him clean and out of the tub safely has evolved into a long, luxurious routine. As soon as I lay him on the blanket and start to warm some oil in my hands, I can see his arms and legs relax, he breaks into a gummy grin and begins to coo. I adore the way he follows me with his eyes as I lovingly bathe each and every little finger and tiny toe. I love how sometimes when I am finishing up he has already started to nod off, and he watches me in a trance-like state as I dress him up, swaddle him, and get ready to put him to bed. It is the perfect bonding time for me and Lil Z-Bear after a long day at work.
Given how special bath time is, I wanted to make sure I was using baby products that I absolutely loved on him. Like most moms, I started out with the ubiquitous Johnson’s baby products: Johnson’s Head to Toe body wash, Johnson’s Baby Oil, and Johnson’s Baby Lotion. I have no complaints about any of them. They are perfectly adequate. But I realized that ‘adequate’ was hardly enough for sharing such treasured moments with Lil Z.
In addition to Johnson’s, since Z-bear’s face was rather dry, we tried Mustela Hydra-Bebe Face cream. I was rather disappointed at Mustela’s face cream, and discontinued use after only a week since I noticed Z’s face was getting even dryer. Furthermore, he protested every time I put it on his face. It is really too heavily fragranced for a baby product. And the fragrance is hardly ‘baby-ish’ at all, I conclude that it smells like a mixture of Nivea, Ponds Cold Cream, Viceroy Cream (the last is an old school face cream from my childhood days that my parents would sometimes use) with some Old Spice thrown in. My husband very appropriately said when he picked him up that he smelled like ‘old people’. Needless to say, we said bye-bye to Mustela pretty quickly.
So what do we use on Lil Z now? A friend recommended Weleda, and boy do we love it. I use the Calendula Soap on his body, Calendula Shampoo and Body Wash on his hair and face, and Calendula Lotion on his face and body. It smells amazing, light and herbal, and makes me think of a spa every time I use it. It is very mild, Lil Z pops his eyes open right after I put some on his face and is all smiles, it never irritates his eyes. All the products pack some serious moisturizer. Dry skin is a thing of the past. An added bonus – the herbal smell relaxes him and bath time has gone from pleasurable to euphoric.
The products are natural and the company has a good ethos. They are more costly than Johnson’s, but a little bit goes a looong way, so we won’t be running out of the products anytime soon. They are easily found in the natural section at our local Wegmans, and I have even seen it at some Target stores, so finding it is a breeze. So I hope Lil Z doesn’t grow up too fast so I can cherish our special bath time just a little longer.
Lil Z-Bear 