Tesco My Baby Bath

INTRODUCTION

Cheap and excellent, those are two words you don't often hear in the same sentence. But I am getting ahead of myself.

With this product, it's all in the title: it's sold by Tesco, it's for babies, and it's for the bath. I first started using it when my elder son was a few months old; he is now aged three, and I still use it on him, and have used it on his younger baby brother since birth.

APPEARANCE

It comes in a light blue plastic bottle with a darker blue cap. The bottle is "wavy", with two firm indents on each side so that you have a firm grip when you pick it up. This is useful, because baby bath is slippy stuff. The cap has a flip-top so you can just tip the bottle up and squirt out some of the blue thick liquid rather than having to unscrew the cap.

The bottle is made from polyethylene and the cap from polypropylene, which means that it can all go in the recycling collection.

WHAT'S IT FOR?

As the name suggests, it's for bathing babies. The back of the bottle states "I'll gently cleanse baby's delicate skin to leave it feeling fresh and clean". The directions for use are to pour it into warm water and mix to produce bubbles. This is how I use it to produce a bubble bath for my elder son, but with the baby, I tend to use it slightly differently. I add a few drops to a bowl of water to produce a very weak solution that I can wet cotton wool with to wipe baby's face clean; then I put baby into a bath of clear water and use a small squirt of baby bath to wash his hair with. After this is rinsed, I soap his body with it and only then let him have a play with the bubbles!

IS IT ANY GOOD?

I think it's excellent. There are three statements printed on the front of the bottle, and I will give you my opinion on each:

I'm kind to eyes

As I stated above, I use a weak solution of this baby bath to wash my son's face with, including wiping his eyes and his ears. This doesn't cause any irritation at all and he doesn't seem to mind me doing it.

I'll gently cleanse delicate skin

Well, it gets my kids clean - and they can be fairly grubby by the end of the day. A small amount creates plenty of bubbles, so you don't feel like they are in an excessively "soapy" solution, and you don't need to slavishly rinse it off.

I'm hypoallergenic

This means that it is supposed to cause fewer allergic reactions than other products. None of the family has had an allergic reaction to it.

My sons have a nice fresh smell after they have been washed with Tesco My Baby's Bath. Unlike soap, it doesn't have a drying effect on their skin and I very rarely apply any lotion after bathing.

ANY OTHER USES?

I suppose I should point out that "mum" uses it quite often too, for the bath or in the shower. As I mentioned above, I wash baby's hair with it, and still sometimes wash my three year old's hair with it instead of his toddler shampoo - it rinses clean away and leaves a lovely fresh smell. I also use it to refill the hand soap dispenser, and guests often comment how nice it is!

ANY NOTES OF CAUTION?

Even though I do really like this product, I will point out that it does, as with many foaming products, contain sodium laureth sulphate, which has been the subject of much debate as a potential carcinogen (largely dismissed) or, ironically, skin irritant. I was concerned enough to do some research into this ingredient and was satisfied by what I found. If I thought that it wasn't safe, I wouldn't use it. I like to think that I am a reasonably well-informed consumer, as I have a first class degree in chemistry.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

It is available in Tesco priced £0.98 for 750ml, which works out at 13p for 100ml. This compares with Johnsons Baby Bath 500ml for £2.49, or 50p for 100ml - more than three times as much! I originally used Johnsons Baby Bath on my elder son but once I tried the Tesco brand I was permanently converted as it seems just as good at cleaning, and smells fresh without being too overpowering. I have also converted my sister and friends.

OTHER PRODUCTS IN THE RANGE

There are other Tesco baby toiletries in this range:
· Tesco My Baby's Body Wash 250ml
· Tesco My Baby's Sensitive Moisturising Bath 500ml
· Tesco My Baby's Moisturising Bath With Baby Oil 500ml & 750ml
· Tesco My Baby's Lavender and Chamomile Moisturising Bath 500ml
· Tesco My Baby's Head to Toe Wash 500ml

All are more expensive and I have not tried them yet, as I am very happy with the original. However, I imagine that the different formulas may suit certain skin types better than others.