I love coconut oil. I am sure you too have discovered reasons why you love it. Cooking, beauty remedies, medicinal... But did you know how many ways you can use it for your baby? I am certain we have all stumbled across some past article somewhere listing the hundreds of uses of coconut oil; but not all of them mention the many ways it can benefit babies. I am a new mom and have personally made some amazing discoveries for different ways coconut oil has helped me and my child, so I am going to narrow them down for you so perhaps you too can add them to your own 'mom arsenal'.
Back when my son was only 5 months old he developed some kind of rash on his back that spread onto his shoulders and down to his elbows. At first my husband and I thought it was a Heat Rash and maybe I was overdressing him at night (it was January, so I had an extra layer on him just in case). After about a week of dressing him lighter, I noticed the rash was getting much worse instead of better. It didn't seem to bother him at all but it looked pretty horrible to me, especially after his nighttime baths. So then I thought, Maybe it's his bath soap? and decided to try a gentler brand... Another week went by and still no improvement. I changed his laundry detergent too and still no improvement.
At the time, I was just getting off of a VERY LIMITED diet of absolutely NO Dairy, Soy, Nuts, Gluten, Eggs, or Shellfish. Don't even ask me what I ate every day. At one point I was on a total elimination diet and wasn't able to eat ANYTHING but chicken, broccoli and rice for EVERY SINGLE MEAL for TWO WEEKS! - But that's a whole other blog post... Anyway, since I was still breastfeeding I figured, Maybe he's having a reaction to my reintroducing some of these foods back into my diet? (Please no!!)
After doing lots of research on baby skin rashes, I decided the rash sort of looked like Eczema - so I started doing research on how to treat baby Eczema. One of the most common treatments listed is the importance to moisturize the skin. One time in the beginning I had tried using a mild lotion from The Honest Company, and it seemed to irritate the rash and actually made it worse; so I knew if I did in fact need to keep it moisturized I would have to find something extremely safe and gentle. I wanted to use something completely natural and irritant free, so I decided to give coconut oil a try. I grabbed the giant tub we had in our kitchen for cooking and brought it upstairs into our nursery. Every night after his bath I started giving him a coconut oil massage before putting on his diaper. People, I could not believe my eyes - the rash started going away almost immediately! Each morning upon waking up, I could see drastic improvement. I only had to use it a few times before the rash completely disappeared. When I later discussed the situation with our Pediatrician, she agreed that the rash must not have been food allergy related if the coconut oil had helped it to go away. Whew!
I wish I had better pictures of the rash BEFORE I started using the coconut oil, but it cleared up so fast I was only able to snap a few pictures at the tail end right before it had completely healed.
At the time, I was just getting off of a VERY LIMITED diet of absolutely NO Dairy, Soy, Nuts, Gluten, Eggs, or Shellfish. Don't even ask me what I ate every day. At one point I was on a total elimination diet and wasn't able to eat ANYTHING but chicken, broccoli and rice for EVERY SINGLE MEAL for TWO WEEKS! - But that's a whole other blog post... Anyway, since I was still breastfeeding I figured, Maybe he's having a reaction to my reintroducing some of these foods back into my diet? (Please no!!)
After doing lots of research on baby skin rashes, I decided the rash sort of looked like Eczema - so I started doing research on how to treat baby Eczema. One of the most common treatments listed is the importance to moisturize the skin. One time in the beginning I had tried using a mild lotion from The Honest Company, and it seemed to irritate the rash and actually made it worse; so I knew if I did in fact need to keep it moisturized I would have to find something extremely safe and gentle. I wanted to use something completely natural and irritant free, so I decided to give coconut oil a try. I grabbed the giant tub we had in our kitchen for cooking and brought it upstairs into our nursery. Every night after his bath I started giving him a coconut oil massage before putting on his diaper. People, I could not believe my eyes - the rash started going away almost immediately! Each morning upon waking up, I could see drastic improvement. I only had to use it a few times before the rash completely disappeared. When I later discussed the situation with our Pediatrician, she agreed that the rash must not have been food allergy related if the coconut oil had helped it to go away. Whew!
I wish I had better pictures of the rash BEFORE I started using the coconut oil, but it cleared up so fast I was only able to snap a few pictures at the tail end right before it had completely healed.
From that moment on I became an even firmer believer in the glorious powers of coconut oil and all it can do for us. To that end, here are the top reasons why I continue to keep coconut oil in my nursery:
1.) Massage Oil: Per my story above, that stuff is like the King of Moisture, and a soothing massage after bath with coconut oil not only has helped keep my baby's skin super soft like the day he was born, but he also LOVES the relaxing massage he now gets every evening before bed. Spoiled!
2.) Diaper & Yeast Rash Ointment: There was a period when my son had a nickle sized rash on one of his butt cheeks that just would NOT go away. I tried all different kids of diaper rash creams and nothing worked. My mother told me it was probably a yeast rash that apparently you have to get prescription ointment for because normal diaper rash creams won't do anything for it. It was then I remembered reading once before that coconut oil is antifungal and antimicrobial, so I decided to give it a try. No doubt, after a few days of using the coconut oil, the rash was completely gone! Now whenever my son starts to get a little rashy (which doesn't happen often but is unavoidable) I put a little coconut oil on there and it clears right up.
3.) Eczema Treatment: I am convinced my son had an Eczema breakout on his back and the coconut oil is what healed it. Ever since I started massaging his skin every night with coconut oil, the breakout has never returned. If you have problems with eczema, I challenge you to give it a try and see if it works for you - I'm not an Eczema expert in any way, but you might be surprised at the results coconut oil gives you.
4.) General Skin Moisturizer: I have a few natural baby lotions that I like and use periodically (Confession: sometimes they're used more for me than the baby!), but when my baby's skin looks a little dry from crawling around all over the floor and playing outside in the dry, Arizona heat, I rub a little coconut oil on the dry areas and boom - the dryness is gone and my baby's soft skin is back. I also love that if he were to decide to put his hands or feet in his mouth after moisturizing I don't have to feel bad about what he might be ingesting because it's just coconut oil and completely harmless!
So those are my top reasons why I keep coconut oil in my baby's nursery. What about you? Have you had any success stories like these with your baby? Other than cooking and personal beauty regimens, are there any specific uses for coconut oil that you love that I should try? Comment below or shoot me an email - I would love to hear about them!
Thanks for reading!
...:::Mrs. Daum
2.) Diaper & Yeast Rash Ointment: There was a period when my son had a nickle sized rash on one of his butt cheeks that just would NOT go away. I tried all different kids of diaper rash creams and nothing worked. My mother told me it was probably a yeast rash that apparently you have to get prescription ointment for because normal diaper rash creams won't do anything for it. It was then I remembered reading once before that coconut oil is antifungal and antimicrobial, so I decided to give it a try. No doubt, after a few days of using the coconut oil, the rash was completely gone! Now whenever my son starts to get a little rashy (which doesn't happen often but is unavoidable) I put a little coconut oil on there and it clears right up.
3.) Eczema Treatment: I am convinced my son had an Eczema breakout on his back and the coconut oil is what healed it. Ever since I started massaging his skin every night with coconut oil, the breakout has never returned. If you have problems with eczema, I challenge you to give it a try and see if it works for you - I'm not an Eczema expert in any way, but you might be surprised at the results coconut oil gives you.
4.) General Skin Moisturizer: I have a few natural baby lotions that I like and use periodically (Confession: sometimes they're used more for me than the baby!), but when my baby's skin looks a little dry from crawling around all over the floor and playing outside in the dry, Arizona heat, I rub a little coconut oil on the dry areas and boom - the dryness is gone and my baby's soft skin is back. I also love that if he were to decide to put his hands or feet in his mouth after moisturizing I don't have to feel bad about what he might be ingesting because it's just coconut oil and completely harmless!
So those are my top reasons why I keep coconut oil in my baby's nursery. What about you? Have you had any success stories like these with your baby? Other than cooking and personal beauty regimens, are there any specific uses for coconut oil that you love that I should try? Comment below or shoot me an email - I would love to hear about them!
Thanks for reading!
...:::Mrs. Daum
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