Choosing hypoallergenic products for your baby

Walk down the baby aisle and nearly everything says “hypoallergenic”. Wash, lotion, wipes, laundry detergent, diaper cream: the word is doing a lot of work, and it’s natural to assume it means “safe for babies”. It doesn’t quite. Here’s what the term really tells you, what paediatric and dermatology guidance actually recommends for newborn skin, and what the big eczema-prevention trials found when they tested the idea that more moisturizer is always better.

What “hypoallergenic” means, and what it doesn’t

Health Canada’s consumer guidance on cosmetics is blunt about it: a product labelled “hypoallergenic” can still cause allergic reactions. The word just means the product is less likely to cause one. There’s no standard test a product has to pass before using the term, and no fixed list of ingredients it has to leave out.

In practice, most companies use it to signal that they’ve dropped the ingredients that cause the most reactions, fragrance above all. That’s helpful. But two “hypoallergenic” products can have very different ingredient lists, and the only way to know is to read them.

An allergic reaction, by the way, is different from irritation. Irritation is direct damage from something harsh, like a strong soap, and it can happen to anyone. An allergy is the immune system learning to react to a specific ingredient, and it usually shows up after repeated exposure. “Hypoallergenic” speaks to the second problem; it says nothing about the first.

Why babies need fewer products, not more

The case for keeping it simple comes from the skin itself. A 2025 review of infant skin barrier science describes newborn skin as thinner, more permeable and less developed than adult skin, which makes it more vulnerable to irritants, infections and drying out. Its surface is still becoming acidic in the first month, and its community of microbes is still settling in.

Every product you apply is one more thing that thinner skin has to deal with, and one more ingredient your baby’s immune system gets to meet. That’s why the review’s recommendations, and those of paediatric groups, converge on mild, fragrance-free products, used sparingly.

Fragrance-free is the label that matters

If you take one phrase from this article, make it fragrance-free. Fragrance serves no purpose for skin, it’s a well-known trigger of reactions, and it’s in a surprising number of products marketed for babies. That’s why it’s the first ingredient dermatology and paediatric guidance tells you to leave out.

The 2025 review recommends fragrance-free, soap-free cleansers, fragrance-free and alcohol-free wipes, and fragrance-free moisturizers applied right after bathing. The Canadian Paediatric Society’s handout on baby skin says the same: if you use soap, choose a mild, unscented one and rinse it off well; for dry skin, use an unscented moisturizer.

What paediatric guidance says about bathing

Newborns don’t get very dirty. The Canadian Paediatric Society says daily bathing isn’t necessary; a warm, wet cloth between baths is fine, with the face, hands and diaper area cleaned as needed. The 2025 skin barrier review suggests two or three baths a week to avoid drying the skin, in lukewarm water.

Soap is optional. When you do use a cleanser, keep it mild, fragrance-free and soap-free (true soap is alkaline and works against the acidic surface baby skin is building), and put it only where it’s needed: neck folds, hands, the diaper area. Rinse well and pat dry rather than rubbing.

Moisturizing: when it helps

For dry patches, a plain, fragrance-free moisturizer applied a couple of times a day traps water in the skin. Thicker creams and ointments hold moisture better than thin lotions; the Canadian Paediatric Society mentions petroleum jelly as an effective option. The 2025 review adds a tip: apply moisturizer right after the bath, while the skin is still damp.

The Eczema Society of Canada has a practical one too: wash your hands before you apply moisturizer, so you don’t carry irritants or allergens onto your baby’s skin from whatever you handled last.

If your baby has eczema (the itchy, red, dry rash that often starts on the cheeks, arms and legs, usually sparing the diaper area), moisturizing becomes part of daily care, and a family doctor or paediatrician can add treatments approved for infants to calm the inflammation. Don’t stop or change a prescribed treatment on your own.

Can daily moisturizer prevent eczema? What the trials found

For a while, there was real hope here. Small early studies suggested that slathering newborns in emollient from birth might stop eczema from developing, on the theory that a well-oiled barrier would keep allergens out. Then the big trials came in.

The BEEP trial, published in The Lancet in 2020, randomly assigned 1,394 newborns with a family history of eczema, asthma or hay fever to daily emollient for the first year or to standard skin care advice. At age two, eczema was present in 23% of the emollient group and 25% of the control group, a difference well within chance. Skin infections were more common in the emollient group. The authors concluded that families should not use daily emollients to try to prevent eczema in their newborn.

A 2022 Cochrane review pooled 33 trials with more than 25,000 infants and reached the same place: skin care interventions such as emollients in the first year probably do not change the risk of eczema, probably increase the risk of skin infection, and may increase the risk of food allergy, though that last finding rests on limited evidence.

The takeaway isn’t that moisturizer is bad. It’s that moisturizer is a treatment for dry skin, not a vaccine against eczema. Use it when your baby’s skin needs it.

A simple routine and a simple test

Putting it together, a low-risk routine for a healthy baby looks like this:

• Bathe two or three times a week in lukewarm water; wipe face, hands and bottom as needed in between.
• Use a mild, fragrance-free cleanser only on the parts that need it.
• Moisturize dry areas with a fragrance-free cream or ointment, ideally right after the bath.
• Choose fragrance-free wipes and diaper cream, and keep the number of products small.
• Keep your baby out of direct sun; after six months, the review suggests a broad-spectrum sunscreen on exposed skin when shade isn’t possible.

Before introducing any new product, borrow Health Canada’s advice for cosmetics and try it on a small patch of skin first. For a baby, a dab on the inner forearm once a day for a few days will reveal obvious irritation. It won’t catch every allergy, but it’s a cheap safeguard.

You can compare fragrance-free baby care products and gentle cleansers in our listings.

“Hypoallergenic” is a promise of “less likely”, not “never”, and the products that live up to it best are the ones with the shortest ingredient lists and no fragrance. Bathe less than you think, moisturize when skin is dry rather than on principle, and if a rash doesn’t settle within a couple of weeks of simple care, or if your baby seems uncomfortable, see your doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist.