Welcome to the April 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Kids and Personal Care
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories, tips, and struggles relating to their children’s personal care choices.
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| Photo Credit: Flickr/David J. Thomas |
Children and dirt are just two little peas in a pod. What child doesn’t love getting dirty? I’m sure that there are some but honestly, most kids love dirt.
What dirty kid loooooves getting clean? (Are those crickets I hear chirping????) Thought so. I know that Tiny loves playing in the muck and although she isn’t opposed to bath time, it isn’t high on her priority list.
Wee ones have better things to do with their time than to stop for a bath or shower. Sure, bath time can be fun if you have some toys or some bath paints at the ready but even so, it is still not an activity that most children beg to do. Go to the park or take a bath? Which one do you suppose your child will want to do?
I am lucky in that Tiny usually just goes along for the personal hygiene ride. She loves to shower or take a bath WITH me but will not do it alone. Until recently, she enjoyed having her hair washed and her faced scrubbed. But then, she figured out that SHE is in control of her body and that a wet, wiggly Tiny can manage to frustrate a wet, soapy mama to the point that she gives up on doing an actual scrub down or hair wash.
So I had to get creative. I had been really busy in the kitchen the past few months concocting the potions, er, um, recipes for my Ebook, and Tiny was a great sous chef. It dawned on me that she would probably REALLY enjoy making products that she could then bathe with. Brilliant!
Fully intending on writing a second Ebook geared towards children’s personal care products, Tiny and I started playing with some recipes. Together, we created a really fun fizzy bath soak, a great body/face wash, and a nourishing body lotion. They were easy to make together (remember that Tiny just turned 3) and she felt pretty cool making her own bath products. Tiny was so smitten with her creations that she wanted to test them out immediately after making them.
Two weeks later and bath times are back in working order. Tiny LOVES using “mine soap mama” and slathers herself with the body lotion. When I told her we would be working on more recipes she got rather excited. She pulls out the pots and pans daily asking if we can “create.”
Any time you can empower your child to take charge of the care of their body you will likely be met with enthusiasm. When you take away control by forcing your approach or agenda on your child, you will be met with more resistance. Get creative in how you encourage their taking control (and enjoying) a personal hygiene ritual.
If you are interested in making personal care products WITH your child that your child will love using, then stay tuned for my next Ebook. It will launch this July. Until then, here is a super easy teaser recipe for you!
Bath Ice Cubes
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup cocoa butter
- 1 tablespoon coconut crème
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon almond oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon powdered oatmeal (just grind up some oats in a food processor)
- 2 drops tangerine, lavender, or lemon EO
Directions
- Melt cocoa butter in double boiler, remove from heat.
- Mix coconut creme, coconut oil, almond oil, honey and oatmeal in a separate bowl and blend well.
- Add mixture to melted cocoa butter, blend well.
- Add tangerine, lavender, or lemon EO (or your favorite child friendly EO) and blend in.
- Pour mixture into ice cube trays, chill until firm.
Toss one cube into a tub of running water and enjoy!
It’s Finally Here! An Ebook full of simple, gentle, nourishing recipes for your entire body. These 40 recipes all incorporate coconut oil, known for its holistic healing properties.
Read more about this great resource at my Ebook Store page. Get your copy today for the introductory price of $5.95!
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Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon April 10 with all the carnival links.)
- Rub-a-Dub Co-Bathing in Our Tub — Bath time is more than soap and water! That Mama Gretchen shares how co-bathing with her toddler has opened up a world of cleanliness, learning, and bonding.
- This is How We Take a Bath — Shannon at GrowingSlower shares her special formulas for babywash and a happy bath time.
- How to Gently Trim Your Toddler’s Nails — Shannon at The Artful Mama discusses some of the gentle suggestions she has received to help Little Man overcome his anxiety of having his nails trimmed, as well as how she copes with her need for his nails to be trimmed.
- Baby bath time and skin care — Ursula Ciller shares some simple and natural tips for bathing and skin care.
- Want Your Child To Love Getting Clean? Have Them Make Their Own Soaps, Shampoos, and Lotions! — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares her secret to empowering her daughter to “get clean.” Together, Jennifer and her daughter make their own body washes and lotions which makes clean up time fun!
- Encouraging Self-care Through Awareness… and Fun — Amy at Presence Parenting shares some tips on how to transform self-care from a struggle into an opportunity — for kids and adults.
- Caring for kids’ curls — Lauren at Hobo Mama tells you how to clean, condition, comb, and style ringlets and waves on little heads.
- Playing in the Rain — Jorje of Momma Jorje loves how her family has come to make a family event of showering!
- The Cleansing Power of the Football — Rachel at Lautaret Bohemiet talks about her son’s favorite bath buddy.
- Coconut Oil: Nature’s “Baby Magic” — Megan at The Boho Mama has only one must-have baby care item in her cupboard: Coconut Oil!
- For Sensitive Kids, Less Is More — Kadiera at Our Little Acorn finds less cleaning is better.
- Bathtime: Just Another Chance to Play! — Lyndsay at Our Feminist {Play} School discusses the many reasons bath time is important – getting clean isn’t one of them.
- Hygiene? What hygiene? — Sheila at A Gift Universe confesses some of her most embarrassing hygiene secrets.
- Confused About Chemicals? — Jaye Anne at Wide Awake, Half Asleep describes how to find out where the toxic chemicals are in your house and tips on alternatives.
- Clipping Those Talons — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings describes the ways her daughter’s tolerance for personal care has changed over time, especially when it comes to nail clipping.
- Sit Back, Relax and Unschool Hygiene — Instead of focusing on tactics of how to ‘get’ your child to focus on hygiene, Authentic Parenting explains how to help your child internalize hygienic standards.
- Help! My Tot will not let me brush her teeth! — Mudpiemama shares five positive ways to help toddlers brush teeth and sabotage the tooth fairy’s secret conspiracy.
- Self Care and the Spirited Child — Amy at Toddler In Tow shares how a balancing act between independence and connectedness helps her spirited child learn appropriate self-care.
- Hairbrushing is a Safety Issue — Dulce de leche guest posting at Natural Parents Network explains that although tangles are not a safety issue, self-confidence and body boundaries are.
- 15 Ideas to Prepare Toddlers and Preschoolers for Dental Procedures — Dionna at Code Name: Mama is sharing ideas on how to thoughtfully prepare little ones for dental visits (particularly those that require anesthesia).
- Holistic Care of your Toddler’s Teeth — Erica at ChildOrganics tells a tale of her children’s teeth issues and how she uses homeopathy and good nutrition to keep cavities at bay.
- Bath Time Bliss : Fuss-Free Bath Time for Toddlers — Christine at African Babies Don’t Cry shares how she has made bath time completely fuss free for both her and her toddler.
- Homemade Natural Toothpaste — City Kids Homeschooling hosts a guest post on a homemade natural toothpaste recipe that kids will love!
- Bathing Strike Strategies — Crunchy Con Mommy offers her best tips for keeping your little ones clean when they refuse to bathe.
- Bodily Autonomy and Personal Hygeine — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children discusses the importance of supporting a child’s bodily autonomy in the prevention of abuse.
- A Tub Full of Kiddos! — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment has kiddos who love the water, so bathtime is a favorite evening activity!
- The Trials of Tidying My Toddler — Adrienne at Mommying My Way shares the difficulties she has with getting her on-the-go son to be still enough to get clean.
- Wiped Clean — Laura at Pug in the Kitchen shares her recipe for homemade diaper wipe solution to clean those sweet little cloth diapered bottoms in her home!
- Snug in a Towel: Embracing Personal Grooming — Personal care is time consuming,especially with more than one child; but the mama at Our Muddy Boots is learning to embrace this fleeting and needful time.
- EC: All or Nothing? — Elimination Communication. Even the title sounds complicated and time consuming. It doesn’t have to, if you adapt it to meet your family’s needs, says Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy.
- Routine Battles — In a guest post at Anktangle, Jorje of Momma Jorje outlines a simple incentive to help inspire your little one to follow a routine.
- Redefining Beauty For My Daughter — Justine at The Lone Home Ranger relays her struggle to define her own femininity and how her preschooler unexpectedly taught her a lesson in true beauty.
- Rub-A-Dub-Dub, Three Girls In The Tub — Chrystal at Happy Mothering shares how she turns bath time into a few minutes of peace and quiet.
- Montessori-Inspired Activities for Care of Self — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now has a roundup of Montessori-inspired activities for care of self and ideas for home environments that encourage independence.
- 10 Gentle Tips for Little Ones Who Hate the Bath — Kim at life-is-learning gives 10 tips to get your little one into the bath and maybe even enjoying it.
- The Boy With The Long Hair — Liam at In The Now discusses his son’s grooming choices.
- Personal Care in a Montessori Home — Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares a summary of the ways she has organized her family’s home to make for easy, Montessori-inspired toddler personal care.
- Styling Kids — Kellie at Our Mindful Life is letting her kids decide what to look like.
- Clean Kids: Laundry and Bath Tips — Kimberly at Homeschooling in Nova Scotia shares tips on how to get your children helping with laundry plus recipes for laundry and liquid soap.
- How to Clean Your Children Naturally: A Tutorial — Erika at Cinco de Mommy shows you how to clean your children.
- Cleaniliness is next to… dirt — The lapse-prone eco-mom (Kenna at Million Tiny Things) sometimes forgets to bathe the kids. Except in the mud pit.
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Jennifer, Thank you! This sounds like a lot of fun and a really lovely way to encourage self-care of the body in many ways – bath, kitchen, whatever. Look forward to your next book due out in July.
You are such a rock star! Good for you for getting Tiny involved in the creative process – I bet she loves it
That is amazing! Like mother, like daughter — you guys are so creative! I love the idea of crafting your own bath recipes and products. I look forward to your next ebook!
I have always loved the idea of including the littles in the kitchen, and this is the perfect extension of that. I’ll have to store this idea away for when BabyE gets a little bit older. Your new ebook sounds great! Can’t wait!
Ooooo – I can’t wait for the next e-book! As Jem gets older I’m sure she is going to love helping make her own spa products
This is amazing and I can not wait to make this with Aodhan tomorrow! Thank you so much for sharing this little teaser, and I look forward to your next e-book.
I never want to use any harsh cleaning products on my baby, but your recepies are totally natural, nourishing and gentle. What a really brilliant and fun approach to engaging little ones!
I can’t wait to make these! My kids enjoy making our homemade hygiene items. They also take their ‘medicine’ willingly when they have helped make them.
It is best for us adults to guide the children while they are still young to be more responsible. I’ll make sure that this simple advice will be implemented in our home. waste water treatment
It’s very interesting that there are raw ingredients available in the market now to create such products but what is more important is to ensure this will be processed to strict quality control to get only the best output from such.