A Day in the Life | Caring for Children's Skin

As a mom of three young children under the age of 4, I know it can be hard to know how best to care for their tender skin. Here I’ll walk through a sample day in the life with daily skincare routines and how best to apply some of our products for specific needs. I certainly don’t remember to do all this in a typical day, but for the sake of learning, here’s what a day could look like.

We start the morning with diaper changes. My 6 month old has a little redness from the day before, so after I get him completely clean, I use a clean finger and spread on a nice thick coat of Diaper Salve to help soothe the inflammation and to help create a barrier against more irritants in case he dirties his diaper again. I see a little dry patch of skin on his arm and use a clean finger on my other hand to massage some diaper salve into it to hydrate his sensitive skin. Babies dry out easily, so we don’t give frequent baths and I try to spot treat any dry or rough patches that appear.

Afterwards, we’re getting dressed and brushing hair. My crazy 2 year old red head wants his hair tidy like daddy’s, so I grab whatever jar of tallow or serum is nearest – my husband’s Rough Stock Whip or our Grow Hair Serum – and smooth out his curls as I comb it down.

Next, it’s outside to play. Despite putting our sandbox inside the screened porch, the mosquitos can’t be kept at bay. I hear my son screaming and I come running, only to find that a mosquito has landed on his arm and he’s too scared to swat it off himself. By the time I make it over to him, it's already left a welp. I rub some Bites Serum into it to keep the itching at bay and he quickly forgets. When everyone is done playing, they scurry inside and are given a once-over for any additional bites. Each one is treated with a dab of the roller bottle and the swelling is kept under control. I discover a little rash on my daughter’s ankle and put some Soothe Serum on it – it’s what I tend to favor for more widespread irritants.

We head out to the splash pad – our favorite summer hangout. My 2 year old refuses to keep his bucket hat on, so his face is a little red when we get back to the car. He also likes to wander through the grass, so he has a few new ant bites. I keep a Bites roller bottle in my car first aid kit, so I grab it and put it on his bites. I grab my Sun Kissed serum from my purse and rub it on both kids for a little after sun care. 

The kids jump in the bath when we get home, I decide to do a little cradle cap treatment for my oldest. She has long hair, so it’s harder to see where her lingering patches of cradle cap are. I have her lay back in the warm bath water and soak her scalp for a couple minutes. Then I apply a few dropperfuls of Grow Serum to her scalp, parting a line of hair at a time to drip it on and massaging it into her head where the cradle cap is present. I let it soak while she plays for a while and then take a plastic comb and gently brush through the areas where I applied it, removing the softened flakes. I then wash her hair with baby shampoo to remove the oil. I’ll generally wait a couple days and treat it again to avoid irritating the skin from too much combing.

After bath time, we rub some Baby Whip onto little arms and legs and smooth down the wet hair with a dab too. We pull out the fingernail clippers and tidy up everyone’s nails, finishing them off by massaging some Grow Serum into the cuticles and rubbing some Detox oil cleanser into the bottom of their feet to calm them down.

At bedtime, my daughter’s lips are dry, so I give her a bit of my Mommy Salve to rub into her lips as she takes a sip of water and gets in bed. I also add a dab of Mommy Salve on my baby’s chin to help with his teething rash. I also re-apply Restore Salve to whatever bites are still visible, and to ease my son’s mind as he thinks back on his mosquito experience. Then everyone settles in for the night.