Making your own diaper rash cream is easy and is also really important to the health of your baby! While it’s easy to pick up products like Desitin and Boudreaux’s Butt Paste as a diaper rash treatment, many diaper rash creams and ointments contain chemical-containing emulsifiers that can enter the body through the skin. Additionally, parabens as well as animal-based lanolin are often found in lotions and creams and should be best avoided.
The good news is that a DIY diaper rash cream is so simple to make and can provide the highest quality natural skin care ingredients while soothing your baby’s skin. Learn how to make this wonderful DIY diaper rash cream and be well on way to a healthier baby!
How to Create a DIY Diaper Rash Cream
Let’s start by mixing the shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax in a double boiler, or you can use a glass bowl and place it in a saucepan with an inch or two of water. Shea butter is the perfect ingredient for diaper rash ointment since it’s antifungal and anti-inflammatory, which helps fight off yeast. Shea butter also promotes cell regeneration and improved collagen production, which can help heal diaper rashes quickly and safely.
It’s no surprise that skin-improving coconut oil is in this recipe since it can help to soothe swelling and burning as well as reduce redness and itching. And let’s not forget natural beeswax, made from honeybees, is amazing for moisturizing while preventing bacteria. Bring the water to a boil to melt the ingredients.
Next, remove from heat and add the zinc oxide, witch hazel, and calendula. Zinc oxide is a very effective treatment for diaper rashes because it repels moisture, keeping it away from your baby’s bottom. When you mix the powder with the warm shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax, it will blend in helping create a smooth textured cream.
Witch hazel is like a skin astringent that can help reduce acne. It makes sense that it would be great for diaper rash and irritation. It provides the comfort of minimizing redness and swelling, while reducing irritation, which your baby will appreciate! Calendula is pretty amazing, too. Calendula contains anti-inflammatory linoleic acid, which helps reduce further irritation from diaper rash as well as possibly preventing it in the first place.
Stir in the remaining ingredients as they start to cool. Continue stirring until well blended. As it continues cooling, pour the mixture into a container with a tight-fitting lid. You can store it for 2–3 months and use, as needed, with the comfort of knowing that your baby is getting the best, chemical-free care possible.
DIY Diaper Rash Cream with Beeswax & Calendula
Total Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 15–20 applications
Ingredients:
¼ cup shea butter
½ cup coconut oil
2 teaspoons beeswax pastilles
4–6 drops calendula
2 tablespoons zinc oxide powder
½ teaspoon witch hazel (alcohol-free)
Directions:
Mix the shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax in a double boiler, or you can use a glass bowl and place it in a saucepan with an inch or two of water.
Bring the water to a boil to melt the ingredients.
Remove from heat and add the zinc oxide, witch hazel and calendula.
Stir in the remaining ingredients as they start to cool. Continue stirring until well blended.
As it continues cooling, pour the mixture into a container with a tight-fitting lid.
You can store it for 2–3 months and use, as needed,
By Dr Josh Axe, DNM, DC, CNS
Dr Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, doctor of chiropractic and clinical nutritionist with a passion to help people get healthy by using food as medicine. In 2008 he started Exodus Health Center, which grew to become one of the largest functional medicine clinics in the world.
Dr Axe has created one of the top 10 most visited natural health websites in the world at www.DrAxe.com which has over 6,000,000 monthly visitors, where the main topics include nutrition, natural medicine, fitness, healthy recipes, home remedies and trending health news.
(Source: draxe.com; October 2, 2016; http://tinyurl.com/za3gthu)