If keeping your kids clean and moisturized has become more of drudgery than a delight, maybe bath products are to blame. And while you do your best to keep the water and suds out of their eyes, nose and ears, sometimes that’s just not enough. Whether you’re scrubbing caked-on dirt off of muddy knees or are patching up a skinned elbow, every product that touches your child’s skin should be kid-friendly. Find out how to choose effective products that’ll be pleasant for both you and your kids to use every day.

Picking a kid-friendly body wash

A quick trip down the body wash aisle opens up a world of possibilities for fragrance and color choices, especially in the eyes of your children. Letting them choose their own soap or body wash might make bath time more interesting for your kids, but it probably isn’t the best idea for their skin.

Soap in general tends to dry out skin, whether on an adult or a child. Even cleansers marked as “mild” can irritate a child’s delicate skin. When the skin becomes itchy and dry, it’s hard for kids to keep themselves from scratching; this can lead to redness and more irritation and increase the possibility of other infections. So instead of choosing a cleanser based on its fruity scent or bright color, turn to kid-friendly washes designed with sensitive skin in mind.

• Soap-free wash: Skip the sting, and opt for a cleanser that moisturizes and is free of eye-irritating ingredients. Infant- and child-friendly formulas, like Mustela Dermo Cleansing body wash, gently loosen dirt and oils without making kids’ eyes tingle or their skin dry out.
• Bubble bath: If trying to get your kids in the tub leads to nightly tantrums, encourage them with a bit of bubbly. Infuse a little fun into bath time with bubble bath that won’t irritate sensitive skin. In addition to enhancing their bathing experience, Jurlique Baby’s Soothing Bubble Bath will also calm your kids before bedtime with its soothing lavender scent.

Choose a no-tears shampoo

If you dread the shampoo cycle as much as your kids do, it’s time to switch the lather. Among bath time products, shampoo is most likely to irritate the eyes. Regular adult shampoos contain ingredients that aggravate and dry out eyes upon contact, and most kids haven’t developed the reflexes necessary to squeeze their eyes shut and keep out soapsuds. Once your children associate bath time with shampoo that stings and burns, they’ll do their best to avoid bath time in the future.

Keep bath time stress-free and simple with the following formulas:

• Tear-free shampoo: Avoid the tantrums and tears with a shampoo that’s eye-friendly and gentle to the scalp and skin. Leave out harsh, drying ingredients and lather their hair with shampoos that utilize natural extracts instead. Mustela Baby Shampoo blends an outdoorsy scent with soothing ingredients like coconut oil, wheat and chamomile for a tear-free, more enjoyable shampoo regimen.
• Dual-purpose wash and shampoo: Want to make bath time even easier? Go for a double duty agent with a shampoo and cleanser in one. Jurlique Baby’s Gentle Shampoo and Body Wash combines several natural ingredients and skips the chemicals for a kid-friendly version of clean.

Keep that skin soft

Your efforts to keep your children’s skin from getting dried out and irritated will all be in vain unless you moisturize their tender skin. Applying a moisturizer after bath time helps, but you’ll need to reapply it after they’ve been in dry conditions, too. Kids are prone to getting dry skin in general, but some might be more prone to it if they inherited dry skin from their parents. Additionally, frequent hand washings, cold weather and low humidity also have an impact on how dry your child’s skin gets.

• Skin moisturizer: Although those fragrant lotions at bath and beauty shops might smell tempting, keep in mind that a child’s skin is just as sensitive to lotion ingredients as it is to cleansers – especially for those with skin allergies. Keep your child’s tender skin from being riddled with rashes, and soften up with a scent-free lotion like Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream for Sensitive Skin instead.
• Lip balm: Hands, knees and elbows aren’t the only areas that get dry and chapped. Kids’ kissers get dry, too. But instead of letting them grab that lip balm with the snazzy label and tasty scent, have them slick on an organic balm that leaves out harmful chemicals and dyes, like All Terrain Kid’s Lip Armor Protection & Healing Lip Balm SPF 25 in bubble gum and cherry. And be wary before letting a small child run off with a tube of lip balm – it’s easy for lip balm to become a germ carrier once your child shares it with the rest of his or her preschool class.

Fixing boo-boos

Cuts and scrapes come with the territory when you have an active kid. But what some parents might not realize is that wounds don’t always heal perfectly, no matter how small they are. Any accident that breaks the skin has the potential to cause a scar. That’s why you should treat the area for scarring during and directly after the healing process.

However, not all scar medicines are ideal for children. They, like soaps and shampoos, tend to sting upon skin contact, making your children more than reluctant to let you dab healing medication on their skin. Instead, check out these child-friendly formulas.

• Tear-free scar spray: Scars on kids demand gentle attention. But getting your child to stand still long enough to apply boo-boo medication is a long shot – unless you have a kid-friendly ointment on your side. Kelo-cote Spray for Kids, which comes in an easy-to-apply, spray-on bottle, takes the discomfort out of caring for scratches and dries on its own with no need to rub it in or apply a bandage.
• Treatment for older scars: Did a scraped elbow go under your radar a few months ago, leaving a scar you just found on your child’s arm the other day? It’s not too late to treat it. Whether it’s from a bite, scrape or bee sting, Mederma for Kids Skin Care for Scars Topical Gel is formulated specifically for older scars.

Making an easy skin care routine for your little ones can be as simple as picking out the right kid-friendly formulas. No longer will their eyes sting from soap splatters, nor will their skin feel dried out after a dunk in the bathtub. In fact, the right cleanser might even encourage them to look forward to getting cleaned up.

But washing off the dirt is only half the battle. Keeping their skin moisturized and preventing scars from forming is an equal challenge. With the help of scent-free lotions and sting-less scar treatments, your kids won’t be so averse to letting you take care of their skin. Mission accomplished!

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