Oiling babies / children
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I can understand doing it after they've swum in chlorine as it can be drying. But to do it before just feels gross as surely it'll just sit as a layer on top of the water?
I don't know before and after but after I have bathed my baby I use olive oil on my baby body not on face when she was born she had some dry skin and it has worked wonders where as barrier creams weren't working. It is my partners culture to oil the baby as they say good for their skin I don't do it all time but after bathing I do and has worked wonders she rarely gets any dry skin now
Sounds like an old wives tale but each to their own. My concern would be trying to hold a baby safely in water when it’s covered in oil.
I’ve heard that can help prevent chlorine from absorbing into the skin. It was actually recommended when I was googling whether it’s safe to let my baby swim in the pool around 4 months
@Dorothy oh how interesting! In my husbands home country most people wouldn’t have pools (just ocean, lakes and rivers) so not sure if this would apply to them, but makes sense not to absorb the chlorine
@Caroline yes this is exactly what happens! We were fortunate enough to be in one of the only hotels with a pool and there were actually signs up that said “don’t oil children BEFORE entering the pool.” However, everyone was sitting on the side of the pool oiling their kids and the water had an awful dirty film over the top of it - You could even see the pool filter system was struggling with the oil
My mum and my mother in law say that it goods for their skin and it makes it soft and smooth. My little one has eczema on different areas and my husband says that I should follow my gut and I haven’t used oils so far. But both of the ladies insist on petroleum jelly and oils and creams 😭