Natural Baby Care: Baby Balm (and All-Purpose Healing Salve)

January 31, 2009 by The Smyths 1 Comment

Nathan a few months ago . . . now he's walking!

My good friend Tara and my sister Jaime encouraged me to start cloth diapering a few years ago.  I love it!  Though at times it can be a challenge, I would never go back to disposable diapers unless I had to.  My boys had trouble with yeast infections for about two years, until I switched to mostly organic diapers (probably due to the micro-fleece in the Fuzzy Bunz I was using, though they were great diapers in every other way).  For the past year I have been using a homemade baby balm/salve and it has been such a blessing.  It is so easy to make and you can use it for diaper rash, eczema, craddle cap, etc.  You can also add some echinacea extract to it to make an all-purpose healing salve.  Just plain coconut oil is great for the skin and I have also used arrowroot powder to help relieve rash due to an allergy/virus.  My husband even likes to use the healing salve.  I hope it can bless your family as it has ours.

 

Baby Balm

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 heaping T. bees wax ( I recommend flakes, as it took my husband’s strength to break the chunk I got ).
• 30 drops total of any/all of the following (essential oils or extracts): calendula, comfrey, chamomile, rosemary, plantain, lavendar.
• 3-4 drops liquid grapefruit seed extract
• optional: few drops of vit. E oil
• Melt base oil and bees wax in small pot on low heat until lumps are gone; remove to pot holder and let sit for 5 minutes while mixing all other ingredients in small bowl; stir for one minute and let sit again just until edges start to firm ( you will see little bits of solid coming together as you scrape the edge ); quickly mix in other ingredients and pour into container(s).  Makes just over 2 ounces ( I usually double the recipe ).
• Note: You may want to use a little less bees wax during cold weather season to make it a little softer.  The coconut oil melts quickly between warm fingers, so don’t worry if it seems too hard.

All-Purpose Healing Salve – Just add a little echinacea extract to the baby balm and you’ll have a great healing salve that can be used for anything, from burns to cuts to dry skin to chapped lips . . . anything!