Homemade Diaper Rash Cream: 2 Baby Rash Cream Recipes That Really Work!

Looking for ways to save money on baby supplies?

As a new parent, you’re immediately faced with the high cost of diapers, baby wipes, baby furniture, and other newborn supplies that can be rather expensive.

One way to cut costs is to make some of your own baby supplies — like homemade baby wipes, homemade baby shampoo, homemade teething oil, and of course, homemade diaper rash cream.

Following are 2 homemade diaper cream recipes that will safely protect your baby’s bottom from diaper rash at a fraction of the cost. (You’ll see the cost savings below!)

 

Why You Need To Use A Diaper Cream

Almost all babies need diaper cream at some point. It protects your baby’s bottom from moisture in between diaper changes — particularly during overnight — and can help heal rashes.

Most commercial diaper creams are “barrier creams”. They act as a barrier between your baby’s sensitive skin and the hostile diaper environment and will also contain some soothing or healing ingredients. — Dr. Sears

Diaper rash cream is expensive to buy and it usually contains ingredients that you don’t recognize and can barely pronounce.

Good news: You can make your own diaper cream with just a few basic ingredients. Your homemade diaper rash cream will be just as good as store-bought creams, and it will cost less in the end.

TIP: Don’t be deterred by the initial cost of the ingredients needed to make your own diaper rash cream. They will last a long time — maybe even throughout the entire time that your child is in diapers!

 

Ingredients In Homemade Diaper Rash Cream

These are the ingredients that are used to make most homemade diaper rash creams:

Beeswax is the key ingredient that makes the cream cover the skin and act as a barrier. It is used instead of Mineral oil or Petroleum Jelly in many mainstream diaper creams — like Balmex and Weleda Diaper Cream. Beeswax also has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Natural oils — such as Jojoba oil, Grapeseed oil, and Castor oil — act as the carrier oil in the recipe. They help the other ingredients mix together and create the desired consistency. The type of oil you use can affect the overall properties of the cream. For example, Jojoba oil is very close to the skin’s natural sebum and has fungicidal properties. Grapeseed oil is silky in texture and easily absorbed. It’s also non-greasy and can make your homemade diaper rash cream thinner.

Vitamin E is extremely beneficial to the skin. It seals skin, provides some barrier protection and promotes healing.

Essential oils don’t just add aroma to your cream — although they do make the cream much more enjoyable both for you and baby. Like the carrier oils mentioned above, different essential oils have different health benefits as well. Lavender and Tea Tree oils are 2 of the most common essential oils used in diaper rash creams — because they are so gentle on skin. Many essential oils are too potent and can even burn skin if they’re not diluted in carrier oil first. However, both Lavender and Tea Tree oil can be put directly on the skin without any negative effect. This makes them the best essential oils that are ideal for a baby’s sensitive skin.

• Lavender oil is thought to have antibacterial and antiviral properties and may even reduce pain when applied to the skin.
• Tea Tree oil (also called Melaleuca oil) is thought to combat yeast and have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties.

Zinc Oxide is found in most commercial diaper creams that do not use Mineral oil or Petroleum Jelly as a base — like Desitin, A+D Diaper Cream, and Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. Zinc Oxide acts as a barrier to protect the skin. It also promotes healing by tightening the skin due to its astringent properties. The Zinc works with the skin’s collagen to help heal the skin.

 

2 Homemade Diaper Rash Cream Recipes

 

#1 – Basic Diaper Cream Recipe

• Grate ½ ounce of Beeswax into the top of a double boiler using a cheese grater.
• Add 2 ounces of carrier oil (see above) and ½ teaspoon Vitamin E oil.
• Set the top of the double boiler onto the bottom of the double boiler and heat the mixture over low heat until the Beeswax is melted.
• Add 6 drops of baby-safe essential oils.
• Mix the ingredients together using a whisk.
• Scrape all the cream into a jar with a rubber spatula.

TIP: Start by making this basic, Zinc-free diaper cream the very first time. Use this after each diaper change as a urine barrier and to soothe any irritations. If it works fine for your baby, then you may not need or want to make the thicker (slightly messier) version with Zinc Oxide in it.

 

#2 – Heavy-Duty Zinc Oxide Diaper Cream Recipe

• Melt 4 ounces of Olive oil and 1 ounce of Beeswax in a double boiler on low heat.
• Remove from the stove and add ½ ounce of Zinc Oxide.
• Add 10 drops of baby-safe essential oils.
• Mix the ingredients together using a whisk.
• Scrape all the cream into a jar with a rubber spatula.

TIP: Zinc Oxide tends to make homemade diaper rash cream thick and pasty. It isn’t always easy to apply. Some parents prefer a smooth cream that glides over baby’s skin instead. Others prefer the added benefits of using a diaper rash cream with Zinc Oxide. You might try making small amounts of diaper rash cream with and without Zinc Oxide to see which you prefer. You could also make both and keep both on hand for use at different times — depending on which one seems more appropriate for your baby’s skin at the time.

 

Tips For Making Your Own Baby Rash Cream

Here are some handy tips before you start making baby rash cream at home:

• If you want to extend the shelf life of the diaper cream, add Grapefruit Seed Extract as a preservative.
• Add more carrier oil to soften your recipe or more Beeswax to make it harder in consistency.
• Cold-pressed oils are more beneficial than oils that were heated during processing.
• To make a thick salve or ointment diaper rash cream, use a fat that is solid at room temperature — like Cocoa Butter or Coconut oil.
• Instead of buying Vitamin E oil, you can break open Vitamin E capsules and use the oil inside for your homemade diaper rash cream.
• If you don’t have a double boiler, buy a metal bowl from the dollar store and use that inside a larger pot to act as a double boiler. Keep that bowl just for making your own homemade beauty products and diaper creams — so you don’t need to worry about leaving beeswax and other sticky residue in the bowl.
• Instead of using a whisk, you can get quicker results by using a hand emulsifier.
• Simply clean out a glass food jar — such as a baby food jar — to store your homemade diaper cream in.
• Ideally, you’ll want to store all products with essential oils in a dark, glass jar to keep the light out. At the very least, do not set them in a warm location or sunlight — because essential oils will turn rancid with heat.
• Always keep a lid on your homemade diaper rash cream to preserve it. But be sure to let it cool before capping it initially.

 

The Cost: Storebought vs Homemade Diaper Cream

Storebought diaper rash cream can be quite expensive, depending on the ingredients that are in it.

Here’s a cost estimate for the Basic Diaper Cream Recipe above — which includes Beeswax, vegetable oil, Vitamin E, and essential oils.

• A 5-ounce bar of Beeswax is roughly $4, depending on where you are. The above recipes use 1 ounce or less of Beeswax, so we will round up to $1.
• Vegetable oil can be as simple as Olive oil or Canola oil, which ranges from $5 to $20 a bottle. You probably already have some of this oil on hand. However, if you need to buy it, you’ll only use a few ounces for your homemade diaper rash cream recipe. So the oil will cost you less than $1.
• The price of Vitamin E can vary greatly, depending on the brand and quantity. The cost for 4 fluid ounces is usually between $5 and $8. Since you’re using ½ to 1 teaspoon for the diaper cream recipe, you will end up using less than $1 of the oil. You can also cut costs by opening up existing Vitamin E capsules, if you already have them.
• Essential oils also vary greatly in cost. Lavender oil is one of the more affordable essential oils. It costs about $5 to $10 a bottle, depending on how much you want to buy. Lavender has so many uses around the house, chances are you’ll want to start with a medium to large bottle. You are only using a few drops per recipe.

As you can see, it costs less than $5 to make a 4-ounce batch of the Basic Diaper Cream Recipe above.

TIP: While the initial cost for you to buy all of the ingredients may be as high as $20, you’ll get many batches of diaper cream (and other household uses) from those ingredients. If you only made diaper rash cream from the leftover ingredients, then you’d probably have enough homemade diaper cream to last a few years — until your child gets out of diapers!

On the other hand, the cheapest you can find commercial diaper rash cream is somewhere around $5 for 2 ounces — like this Boudreaux’s Butt Paste Diaper Rash Ointment.

 

Things To Make With The Leftover Ingredients

• Homemade Beeswax Lotion Recipe
• 12 Fun Ways To Use Essential Oils & How Many Drops To Use
• Easy Homemade Lip Balm Recipe
• How & Why To Use Essential Oils With Your Dog
• DIY Miracle Healing Salve Recipe