Any idea what kind of hand soap is best to have around the house with a new baby? I've read that you want to get antibacterial hand soap, to ensure that everyone who touches baby has been disinfected, and I've read that you want to avoid antibacterial hand soap because it can actually be bad for baby.
What kind of hand soap is actually safest? Specific brands or general types would be helpful!
pineapple / 12566 posts
Unless your baby is sensitive or allergic, I think whaterver soap you normally use is just fine.
hostess / watermelon / 14932 posts
Definitely avoid antibacterial. We had seventh generation hand soap and it was fine! 
squash / 13764 posts
@MrsBananaGrabber: I think for newborns, there's always a risk that fragranced stuff could irritate their skin/respiratory system, so better to err on the side of caution!
clementine / 812 posts
I used Method foaming. The scent is almost undetectable after your hands are dry.
grapefruit / 4455 posts
We used antibacterial, and I can't remember the scent, but if you're being cautious, I'd guess that unscented is best. I once worked with babies and came to work with this scented oil, just a little bit, on me, and it caused one of the littler babies to break out in hives. I felt terrible about it!
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
We used Bath and Body Works foaming hand soap. Its antibacterial, but we mostly really cared that it was the foaming kind. You have to wash your hand a million times a day so being able to rinse it off quickly when the baby was screaming was key. Scented kinds never bothered our son, although we mostly stuck to the citrus fruit scented ones. We also kept bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere. Needless to say, throw some hand cream into the mix because your hands will be DRY.
pomelo / 5607 posts
Personally I'll be using one with no SLS, pthalates, etc, and probably unscented, but I'm kind of obsessive about that.
pear / 1750 posts
I'm an already frequent hand-washer and I'm prone to eczema. I use non-antibacterial, SLS free and I don't plan on changing anything. Babies have to be exposed to germs at some point to strengthen their immune system.
grape / 96 posts
It doesn't matter except that for your benefit you might want to use a gentle soap because all of a sudden you'll be washing your hands like a 14466 times a day.
pomegranate / 3160 posts
The kind that is soapy. Seriously, don't worry about soap. Use this extra time you have before baby to nap. Nap all you can.
honeydew / 7463 posts
Whatever you already have! Really, don't worry about it. There are so many other things to worry about and there is so much fear mongering around having a baby. I wish I hadn't spend so much time before and immediately after he was born worrying about minutia.
Related but not original question - get a few pumps of purell to place around the house. It's almost just as effective and sometimes you don't have the time to wash and dry. It's why hospitals have purell everywhere! Obviously hand washing is preferable but its not always an option.
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