For several weeks Sasha has had a slight redness to her face and dry skin on her head. Carla and I didn’t think much of it because we were told her skin would dry out and begin peeling in the next few weeks.
A couple of nights ago while giving Sasha a bath, she began screaming. Carla looked at the top of her head and the rash had turned into small open sores and were actually bleeding a little bit around the scabs. She then realized she had just washed Sasha’s hair with Johnson’s No More Tears “Gentle as Water” Baby Shampoo, and assumed the soap was burning the rash. We had another bottle of Baby Shampoo, Aveeno, so Carla decided to finish the bath with Aveeno (see update below) rather than Johnson’s. Miraculously, Sasha stopped screaming immediately.
After a quick Google search I found the problem: Quaternium-15.
Quaternium-15 is a chemical used by Johnson’s (and several other brands) as an antibacterial. It kills bacteria by releasing formaldehyde. Apparently, many people get allergic contact dermatitis when exposed to the chemical, especially small children. Why does Johnson’s use a chemical known to cause allergic reactions in baby products?
After a few days of using the Aveeno shampoo instead of the Johnson’s the rash is completely gone. Sasha is now sleeping better and is far less cranky during the day. As a parent I wish we would have discovered this sooner. While some have major reactions to the chemical, luckily Sasha had a mild, slow progressing allergic reaction.
Hopefully this will help others experiencing the same problem.
More information on Quaternium-15 in Johnson’s products causing allergic contact dermatitis:
http://mommygoesgreen.com/tag/johnsons-baby-shampoo/
http://www.momsrising.org/blog/rub-a-dub-dub-watch-out-for-chemical-induced-rashes-in-the-tub/
http://www.safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=426
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/browse.php?category=baby%20shampoo&ingred06=705478
UPDATE: 2/19/2010:
Sasha is now having an allergic reaction to Aveeno as well.
She was fine with our original bottle, but when we ran out and bought the 2nd bottle she began to have a reaction to it as well.
There were no listed ingredient differences between the 2 bottles, so we have determined Sasha just has fairly sensitive skin.
We have now switched again to Burt Bee’s Baby Bees Shampoo & Wash.
So far, so good.