Is it safe to use lotions and oils on my baby's skin?

The verdict

Plain water is enough for a newborn, and anything beyond that should be chosen for babies rather than borrowed from an adult bathroom.

The NHS's advice on washing and bathing a baby is that you can use just water, or add a liquid cleanser that is suitable for babies, and that if you want to use any oils or lotions, you should check they are suitable for babies. That is the whole rule, and it is deliberately permissive: the NHS is not telling you to avoid moisturising a baby, it is telling you to check what is in the bottle.

The Raising Children Network is slightly firmer on soap, advising that you avoid using soap because it will dry out your baby's skin, and use a mild baby cleanser instead if needed.

Why newborn skin is different

A newborn's skin barrier is not finished. It is thinner, it loses water faster, and it absorbs what is put on it more readily than adult skin does. That immaturity persists for weeks rather than days.

Three consequences follow. Products are absorbed more, so the ingredient list matters more. The skin dries out faster, which is why over-washing causes problems. And irritants provoke a bigger reaction, which is why fragrance is the most common cause of a rash that arrives after a change of products.

This is also why vernix - the waxy coating a baby is born with - is left to absorb rather than scrubbed off, and why a first bath is not urgent.

What to actually use

For washing, plain warm water is sufficient for the first weeks. The NHS describes the practical method: run the cold water first and then add hot, check the temperature with your wrist or elbow, and mix it so there are no hot patches. The Raising Children Network puts the safe bath temperature for babies and children at between 37C and 38C.

For moisturising, an unperfumed emollient designed for babies is the standard choice, and it becomes genuinely useful if your baby has dry skin or eczema. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises patting a baby dry and applying a small amount of fragrance-free, hypoallergenic moisturising lotion right after a bath to help prevent dry skin or eczema.

For nappy area care, a barrier product applied at each change during a flare-up does more than any cleanser. Water and cotton wool, or fragrance-free wipes, are enough for routine changes.

Fragrance is the thing to look for

If one heuristic is worth carrying, it is this: fragrance is the most common avoidable irritant in a baby's bathroom. "Unscented" is not always the same as fragrance-free, because some products use a masking fragrance to cover a base smell. Read the ingredient list rather than the front of the bottle.

Adult products are the other frequent culprit - shower gels, bubble baths, adult moisturisers with actives in them. None of these are formulated for a barrier that is still maturing.

Baby massage and carrier oils

The NHS notes that after a bath is a good time to massage your baby, and that massage can help them relax and sleep, with the same caveat about checking that any oils are suitable for babies.

The kitchen-cupboard oils that were once standard for baby massage are now regarded with more caution. The concern with olive oil in particular relates to its oleic acid content and its effect on an immature skin barrier, which is why UK practice has moved away from recommending it for newborns. Sunflower oil is often preferred for older babies for the opposite reason, its higher linoleic acid content.

We are stating that as the direction of practice rather than as a quoted national instruction, because the UK national guidance on postnatal care, NICE guideline NG194, does not set out a product list, and we could not verify a current NHS page that names specific oils. If your baby has eczema or broken skin, ask your health visitor or GP which emollient to use rather than choosing a food oil.

Essential oils are a separate category entirely and are not appropriate for babies. That is covered on our page about essential oils and vapour rubs.

How often to bathe

Newborns do not get dirty. Two or three baths a week, with face, neck, hands and nappy area cleaned daily - what health visitors call topping and tailing - is plenty, and reduces the drying that daily bathing causes.

The Raising Children Network suggests washing a baby's hair only once or twice a week, and doing it after washing the rest of the body so the baby's head does not get cold.

Keep baths short. Long soaks strip more than they clean.

Safety during a bath, which matters more than the products

The NHS is explicit that baby bath seats should not be used. It relays RoSPA's recommendation directly: bath seats can come away from the bath, and babies of any age can drown very quickly in just a few centimetres of water, with no noise or struggle. A bath seat is not a safety device and it is not safe to leave a baby unsupervised in one, even for a few seconds.

Everything in this section outranks everything above it. A perfect emollient routine is worth nothing if a baby is left alone in water.

Where guidance differs

There is no real conflict here, but the level of detail varies a lot.

The NHS is deliberately non-prescriptive: water or a baby-suitable cleanser, and check any oils or lotions are suitable for babies. It names no brands and no ingredients, which is honest but leaves parents to interpret it.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is more specific in one direction, recommending fragrance-free, hypoallergenic moisturiser after a bath to help prevent dry skin and eczema, and giving detailed sponge-bathing method for the newborn period.

The Raising Children Network is more specific in another, telling parents to avoid soap outright because it dries the skin, giving a numeric safe bath temperature of 37C to 38C, and limiting hair washing to once or twice a week.

Combined, they describe the same routine: less product, no fragrance, short baths, moisturise if the skin is dry, and never look away.