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Baby · Ingredient check
Paste any product's ingredient list — a baby lotion, wash, balm or diaper cream. We flag what pediatric and dermatology guidance says to keep off infant skin or use with caution, and the gentle emollients it recommends — and we cite every call. This is an educational screen, not medical advice; a baby's skin is not a small adult's.
1 of 3 ingredients flagged
Lanolin / wool alcohols
Lanolin is a genuinely useful emollient (it's the basis of many nipple and diaper creams) and outright allergy is uncommon (patch-test positivity ~1.7–3.3% in dermatitis patients, well under 0.5% in the general population), but it was the 2023 Allergen of the Year and sensitisation rises with the repeated, occluded exposure typical of baby creams. Fine for most babies; worth knowing as a possible cause if a rash appears, and worth avoiding on already-broken skin.
Inert occlusives (petrolatum, mineral oil, dimethicone)
Petrolatum, mineral oil and dimethicone are FDA-recognised skin protectants for general/adult OTC use — inert, non-sensitising occlusives that lock in moisture and support the barrier. They're the workhorses of baby balms and diaper creams, and long clinical practice treats them as well tolerated on infant skin, though dedicated infant-specific safety trials for these individual ingredients are thin — pediatric skin-barrier research flags a broader gap in infant absorption data generally, not a specific concern with these three.
Read our full Petrolatum profile →
We don't have a cited rule for these — that is not a verdict of safe. They may simply be unstudied for this purpose.
We match each ingredient on your label against a hand-curated rule set drawn from pediatric-authority guidance (American Academy of Pediatrics / HealthyChildren.org, the U.S. FDA, EU SCCS opinions and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review) and peer-reviewed pediatric-dermatology and toxicology papers — every flag links its source. The grading reflects how a baby differs from an adult: an immature skin barrier absorbs more, and a high skin-surface-to-body-weight ratio magnifies systemic dose. 'Avoid' is for acute toxins and things guidance says to keep off infants; 'caution' is for allergens and dose- or age-dependent ingredients; 'generally fine' is for the emollients and mineral filters pediatric guidance actually recommends. Matching is literal substring matching on ingredient names.
This is a conservative screen, not a clearance. It can't see concentration, whether a product is rinse-off or leave-on, or where on the body it goes — all of which change the answer (a trace pH-adjusting acid in a wash is not a leave-on acid treatment). Newborns and preterm infants have far more permeable skin than older babies, so 'caution' items matter most in the first weeks and on broken or eczematous skin. An ingredient we don't have a rule for is NOT a guarantee of safety — it may just be unstudied for infants. And this tool knows nothing about your baby's history, allergies, or a doctor's specific instructions.
Last verified July 2026. Citations and regulatory status (FDA rulings, EU bans, retracted studies) can change over time — every source link on this page is checked weekly for dead or moved URLs, and this lens is re-audited on its underlying evidence at least once a year. See our full bibliography →