Homemade Sunscreen for baby with Step by Step Instructions

Homemade Sunscreen for baby with Step by Step Instructions


This blog post will be personal reflection about sunscreen and my own journey in research and finding the right fit for our family. First I have outlined 3 popular store brands, then I will give instructions for how to make your own.


We are preparing for our annual week down the shore! This year we will have a 12 month old with us. So sun protection will be high up on the priority list, especially given his fair skin. But after some research over the years, I've found there are only one or two brands I really feel safe with. As it turns out, even the brands labeled and designed for babies, aren't so safe after all. Most of my research was done at a fabulous website called EWG's SkinDeep Database. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ So this year I decided to research the safest ingredients and make my own. And surprisingly, most of the ingredients were already in my house!

So here's a glimpse into my research:

Below please find a list of three of the most popular sunscreens you can find at the local drug store or supermarket. 

Please click on each of the active ingredients to see information from the Environmental Workers Group Skin Deep Database to see the risks associated with their use on humans.(by the way the inactive ingredients are pretty awful too, feel free to look them up yourself) 

 

Coppertone Water Babies Ingredients

(http://www.coppertone.com/products/kidandbaby/waterbabies/lotion/regular.aspx)

Ingredients: Active Ingredients:
Octinoxate 7.5%, Octisalate 55, Zinc Oxide 14.5% (Sunscreens).

Inactive Ingredients:Water, propylene glycol, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, neopentyl glycol diheptanoate cylopentasiloxane, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, PEG-12 dimethicone crospolymer, triethoxycaprylylsalane, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, ethylhexyl palmitate, diazolidinyl urea, methylparaben, propylparaben, sodium chloride.

Banana Boat Baby 

Active Ingredients
Homosalate (15%) , Octinoxate (7.5%) , Octisalate (5%) , Titanium Dioxide (2.4%)

Inactive Ingredients
Water , Isohexadecane , Ozokerite , Cetyl/PEG/PPG 10/1 Dimethicone , PEG 8 , C30 38 Olefin/Isopropyl Maleate/MA Copolymer , Glycerin , Sodium Citrate , Sodium Chloride , Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice , Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) , Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C) , Retinyl Acetate (Vitamin A) , Dimethicone , Phenoxyethanol , Methylparaben , Butylparaben , Ethylparaben , Propylparaben , Isopbutylparaben , Disodium EDTA , Alumina

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist Sunblock Spray

Active Ingredients
Avobenzone3.0% , Homosalate8.0% , Octisalate4.0% , Octocrylene (2.35%) , Oxybenzone5.0%

Inactive Ingredients
SD Alcohol 40 2 (68%) , Isobutane , Diethylhexyl 2 6 Naphthalate , Trisiloxane , Dimethicone , Acrylates/Octylacrylamide Copolymer , PPG 5 Ceteth 20 , Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E) , Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C) , Retinyl Acetate (Vitamin A) , Cyclopentasiloxane , Acrylates/Dimethicone Copolymer , Fragrance

Now that you've seen how toxic your run of the mill sun block is, check out my recipe!

My baby sunscreen recipe:

Ingredients needed:
I have again put a link to the Environmental Working Group listing of each ingredient for you to read about them, as I have above for the drug store brands.

Shea Butter 
Coconut Oil
Carrot Seed Oil
Beeswax
Zinc Oxide(non-nano)
Chamomile Extract
Vanilla Extract 

Other materials needs:
Glass jar
Pot
Boiling water

All of the above ingredients in my recipe have a risk catagory of ZERO, except the Zinc Oxide which has a catagory 2-3 risk. Zinc has a risk for allergy and immunotoxicity of LOW, and zero for cancer and developmental and reproductive toxicity. The concerns of zinc are only for when it is airborne in sprays.

All of these ingredients I either had in the house, or was able to get delivered to me through Amazon.com in two days.

Step 1:

Gather all ingredients.

Step 2:

Slice beeswax into tiny peices.

Step 3:

Boil water

Step 4:

Put most ingredients into a glass jar:

3 tbsp shea butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp zinc oxide
1tbsp beeswax
1 tsp carrot seed oil
1/2tsp chamomile extract(you could use the oil instead, I just used what I had in the house)
1/2tsp vanilla extract for scent

At this point, leave out the chamomile extract and zinc.

Place jar in hot pan with hot water and carefully let it begin warming and stir often. Be careful not to let water boil too much and shake the jar or splash into it. Continue to stir until everything is melting and well incorporated. The beeswax will melt last, but hang in there, it will melt.

Now that everything is well combined, remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. 
Carefully stir in the zinc oxide until it is completely incorporated into the mixture. Now add chamomile extract and vanilla extract.

Stir well, let cool and there you have it, you're very own SAFE sunscreen. The whole process took 15 minutes and now I have a wonderful sunscreen that is both sun protecting and soothing to the skin, that I can feel good about applying to my baby and young children while we are down the shore this week!

safe sunscreen recipe for baby
Ingredients for homemade baby sunscreen














This recipe has not been evaluated by the FDA, use at your own risk.