There is a thriving market for baby products—and these include cleaners. Everything from baby wipes to special soaps to laundry detergent.

The prevalence of allergies in infants, children and adults today might make people consider using products that before seemed silly and a waste of money. So let’s talk about it…

And let’s start with detergent. The most commonly known “baby detergent” is Dreft. Many people never consider washing their baby’s clothing with anything else first; but in truth: unless your child proves to have a strong sensitivity to regular detergent, there is no reason to use Dreft. Many detergents when used different than the instructions won’t wash out completely and leave a residue on clothing (all clothing—not just children’s clothes). This MAY be a problem if your child has extreme skin sensitivities. Sometimes infants with an intolerance to milk (casein) or soy proteins will have difficulties seen most noticeably in their skin—either through eczema or just irritation to things that don’t bother the rest of us. But rather than spend the extra money on infant laundry detergent, you might try using regular detergent first. If you feel that the infant detergent is somehow more mild, wash your children’s clothing alone (or with items of your adult clothing that aren’t heavily soiled) and reduce the amount of regular detergent used in the load. After all: what exactly is the indicator that your child will be “ready” for clothing washed in regular detergent?

We discuss stain cleaners and treatments in my article: Urine and Child Stains and Odors.

Infant wipes can be had without the extra ingredients that you can’t pronounce by simply using a clean, damp washcloth. I keep a large supply of those thin, microterry cloth washcloths on-hand for this. I keep a pop-top bottle of water in the changing area to wet my cloths; or if I’m actually in a routine that permits it, I fill an old wipes container with wet wipes in the morning and then change the supply before bedtime so that bacteria doesn’t breed (and in this case, I treat the supply with some tea tree oil). The beauty of this is that if you DO have a child with sensitive skin, water is by far the least irritating thing to use on them. And in cases where the child has irritation, you can add a few drops of lavender oil to the water (you’ll need to shake it before you use it as oil and water will separate) to help their skin. You can also use tea tree oil (in addition to or instead of lavender) for general germ-killing.

When it comes to bathing products, I actually do opt for baby formulations for older infants or infants with hair—but only because they are tear-free/tearless formulas. For newborns without hair, I honestly just use water. The worst of their problems are between the legs, between the toes, under the arms and by far—the neck and ear area. If you have a very chubby child, you will find that cleaning in their little rolls of fat is a challenge, and making sure that little wet crevices are dry (either by towel-drying and/or powdering) will prevent cracked and broken skin, and possibly the growth of yeast. But using a baby bathing product doesn’t change any of this and is simply spending more money on an unnecessary set of chemicals (or way more money to buy natural products) before they are actually needed. In fact, the babies in my home have benefitted from plain water and a rougher terry cloth washcloth to help exfoliate their skin better than when using baby bathing products meant to soften. Since infants are naturally sloughing off dead skin cells for the first few months, bathing products are actually working against this process.

Now let’s talk about cleaning products. This is one area where I really believe that extra care is warranted because in this day and age we are already exposing our children to far more environmental toxins and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) than ever before in history. There’s no need to add to that load. We are also simultaneously preventing our children’s immune systems from exercise by completely removing all “germs” via bleach and sanitizing hand cleaners among other things.

There needs to be a compromise.

Certainly, there are situations where actual germ-killers are warranted. Situations where you are cleaning feces and urine are such cases. Whenever possible, remove the soiled item from any room your child spends a great deal of time in (like where they sleep) to clean it. In this case, if you can find a natural cleaner that can rid the soiled item of all traces of excrement—this is worth paying for.

If you have a premature, twin, drug-exposed (remember, I am a foster mom) or otherwise compromised young infant, situations where a KNOWN sick person has come into contact with your child’s items warrant extra special care. This is another situation where finding products with minimal chemicals and low or no VOCs is worth seeking out and spending money on. That being said, vinegar is a known and worthy germ-killer as are a number of essential oils. In fact, if you can find Thieves essential oil blend and use it with great care (as it is a potent germ-killing formula), you could use this just about anywhere. Steam cleaners are ideal as they use nothing but water and heat (as long as the item you are cleaning can tolerate both water and heat).

In the end, if you must resort to strong chemicals, make sure that you take extra care to rinse items exposes to these chemicals with water a few times to be sure no residue remains that could prove harmful to your child.