Baby Soup Recipe

Today I will tell you how to make Baby Soup. This recipe has been helping McConnor with his skin troubles.

First, you need a nice-sized pot that will hold a lot of water. They don't make many baby-sized pots that are available in local stores, so I settled for this wonderful thing from IKEA.

Fill the pot with warm water- not scalding! This step is important, because water that is too hot will either 1) burn your baby or 2) dry out his skin. Water that is too cold will contribute to your baby's dislike of bath time. Once they're wary of bath time, life can be difficult. If you're unsure about temperature, dunk your elbow straight in.

Now, sprinkle half a pack of colloidal oatmeal in the bath. Sprinkle slowly, to prevent clumps from accumulating. Stir it around for even distribution.

Add the baby. Don't mind if water spills over the edge. Now grab your bath oil and dump about a teaspoon's worth in your palm. After a quick rub between your hands, spread it first over the areas of he baby above water (shoulders, chest, back, arms), then the areas below water (bum, legs, little feeties).
After the oil application, keep ladling water over your baby's shoulders and keep massaging the oil into the baby's skin. Do this for 10 minutes.

Now, because Connor's skin is in such a delicate condition, I was advised NOT to wash him with soap. Unlike other suggestions from our Pediatrician, I agree with this one. So most of the time, I do not use soap on him. Occasionally, I will shampoo his hair with a pea-sized bit of soap. The only "soap" I EVER use on his body is Weleda Bath Cream. I buy it at New Seasons, and one bottle lasts a long time. Instead of leaving that dry "squeaky-clean" feeling, it leaves a nice "clean-but-not-stripped-of-moisture" feeling.

There's been something I've been thinking about from yesterday. I walked in behind Jess and Erin as we arrived at his friend's house. The friend's name was Eli. Greetings were exchanged and then Eli turned his gaze to me. "Nice to meet you," he said. Then his skinny face transformed into a snicker, "How was your... knitting group?" As the word "knitting" was spoken, he glanced to Jesse, as if looking for justification of the hilarity. I turned my head slightly as my gaze narrowed. He was making fun of me. I took it in stride. Enthusiastically, I said "It was great!" Then went into all the glorious detail. He didn't say anything else to me after that.

:)