The truth about Johnson’s baby products.

Both my babies are Johnson’s babies.

It sort of happened by accident, we got a bottle of the Baby Bedtime Bath in a pack provided to us at hospital when our son was born. In those early days, looking for certainty and clear advice, it was a no-brainer for us to take the products that came from our midwives, products from a brand we knew we could trust and just get on with looking after our new baby.

So, it was with a certain level of bemusement that I responded to a Facebook message a few weeks later suggesting I should throw out all the Johnson’s baby products we were then using.

“Oh, he’ll be fine, I’m sure,” I airily replied.

My correspondent had her heart in the right place, but I was confident that Johnson’s baby had my baby’s wellbeing uppermost of mind and I was, quite frankly, pretty sick and tired of the unasked for advice.

Alys with both her young children. Images: supplied.

Especially advice based on myths, rather than facts. But, it turns out you don’t have to look very hard to find conspiracy theories about Johnson’s baby products.

Parabens, formaldehyde, toxic ingredients, fragrances, chemicals, people like to chuck around scary sounding words in the same breath as ‘Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Bath’, a product my family has used every day since our son came home from hospital five a half years ago.

But there are simple truths to Johnson’s baby products, and I want all parents to know them.

MYTH:

Johnson’s Baby products aren’t safe for babies.

THE SIMPLE TRUTH:

Johnson’s have a five step safety process that every product on the shelves has to undergo. It involves sourcing safe raw materials from our trusted suppliers and a toxicology assessment to make sure there are no nasties.

Johnson’s puts every ingredient through a clinical evaluation to make sure Johnson’s products get the tick of approval from health care experts like dermatologists and paediatricians.

That’s before products have even hit the shelves.

Johnson’s products are used by a group of in-home reviewers, who test them to ensure they are well tolerated and safe for use.

Finally, Johnson’s has a rigorous ongoing evaluation process. So, after products are released their team are still monitoring the products’ efficacy as well as staying on top of all the latest research and science.

MYTH:

‘Natural’ products are always better than ‘chemical’ products.

THE SIMPLE TRUTH:

As much as we might prefer to think that natural ingredients will be safer and milder than synthetic ingredients, that’s simply not the case.

Some natural products can be very harsh on a baby’s skin.

It can be very difficult to maintain consistent levels of components from plant extracts. That’s why Johnson’s sometimes adds synthetic ingredients to their products to improve their safety and reliability.

Your best bet to make sure your baby stays safe is to choose products that have been rigorously tested.

All Johnson's products undergo rigorous testing. Image: iStock.

MYTH:

If you can’t pronounce everything on the ingredient list you can't use the product on your baby.

THE SIMPLE TRUTH:

You definitely can.

This one is as silly as they get.

Everything in our life is made up of complex structures of atoms and molecules. For example, here are some of the components of an all-natural chicken’s egg; hexadecenoic acid, threonine, glucose and methionine.

Not only that, but most natural ingredients also have a scientific name. Here are some of the ingredients you’ll often find in so-called natural products for babies; lavandula (lavender), matricaria chamomilla (chamomile), Cymbopogon (lemongrass), citrus bergamia (bergamot) and prunus dulcis (almond).

The reason you might find the ingredients lists on Johnson’s products so overwhelming is that they use the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients. That’s a system that is used around the world in cosmetic products and it makes it easier to compare product to product.

MYTH:

Johnson’s contains toxic chemicals.

THE SIMPLE TRUTH:

Johnson's are completely upfront and transparent about what you’ll find in their products.

You can see for yourself here. That, combined with their commitment to rigorous safety testing and evaluation mean parents can be confident that Johnson’s products are safe for baby.

Why do you use Johnson's products?

Mamamia is hosting an exclusive Mums-to-be Masterclass at Boronia House Mosman Thursday November 3rd. With limited tickets to be won, this morning event will be hosted by Mamamia’s Alys Gagnon and will feature a panel of key experts. Enter here for your chance to attend.