Guideline gap

There is no data to provide guidelines on good ingredients for newborn skin, according to Dr. Kirkorian.

“Since we don’t have definitive data, I would recommend bland emollients, such as petrolatum ointment and cleansers that are fragrance- and dye-free,” she says.

There are more studies on what might be bad ingredients for newborn skin, according to Dr. Kirkorian.

“…there are multiple studies in mice,⁶ adults⁷ and now infants¹ that suggest that the use of some topical oils may actually disrupt the skin barrier. Specifically, olive oil, mustard oil and soybean oil have been demonstrated to disrupt the lipid barrier and increase epidermal inflammation and should probably be avoided,” Dr. Kirkorian says.

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There is data supporting the use of sunflower seed oil or safflower oil as an emollient in neonates, in particular in the prevention of nosocomial infections in preterm children in developing countries, according to Dr. Kirkorian. ⁸

“However, the Oil in Baby SkincaRE [ObSeRvE] Study demonstrated increased skin barrier disruption with both [sunflower seed oil] and olive oil,” 1 she says. “Other popular oils, such as tea tree oil, can cause allergic contact dermatitis. Since definitive evidence is currently lacking, it might be sensible to avoid the use of all oils on newborn skin at this time or to use sunflower seed oil, which has better evidence of safety and efficacy compared to other oils.”

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