In the UK cosmetic laws require all cosmetics to be tested, the testing companies refuse to test of a product with an ingredient of human origin… meaning you can’t legally sell breast milk soap in the UK. This is disappointing as the soap is the best thing since sliced bread!

At 2 weeks old my baby had awful cradle cap and that is when I decided to try making breastmilk soap. I used only this in his bath, no bubbles or baby shampoo, just the bar of soap as a hair and body wash… within 24 hours his cradle cap had halved and within 48 hours his baby ache had gone! After a second bath using just the soap, the cradle cap too had gone! Ever since, I’ve bathed him like this, occasionally putting 1-2oz of expressed milk in the water also and he has perfect skin and no cradle cap.

As if it’s just this good for baby… I made myself a bar too. I hadn’t realised I had stretch marks on my bottom so these are still a deep dark purple but the rest of my stretch marks that I have used the soap on are a light peachy-pink. It’s crazy how fast and how good the soap works!

Cold pressed soap is the original way to make soap, but this method is not recommended if you are making with a baby around. It uses an ingredient called “lye” which becomes toxic once mixed with breastmilk, if you choose to make it this way then you can guarantee that you know exactly what is in the soap but you will need to do so in a well ventilated area that is far away from the baby!

The most common way to make breastmilk soap is to buy “melt and pour” soap, where someone else has done the cold pressed mixing for you. You’ll need one cup of breast milk (8oz/236.5ml) to every lb (453.5g) of melt and pour that you use. I have made smaller amounts of this by halving these amounts.

It is recommended to use some vitamin e oil, it only requires a few drops of you choose to use this but the bottle it come in is reasonable large considering the amount required.

When making the soap, I will add Doterra essential oils. I use Doterra as they are food grade, meaning they can be consumed. Essential oils are very potent so be mindful what how much and how many you use. Essential oils do different things; fennel, basil and geranium can increase milk supply; peppermint can lower milk supply; Roman Camomile is calming for mind and skin, melaleuca (tea tree) is antibacterial, frankincense is healing for mind and skin. The cheapest way to buy these is to buy “1ml samples” off eBay as most sellers do 4 for the price of 3 but you can also buy bigger 5 or 15ml bottles online if you plan to use these around the house also, I defuse lavender and eucalyptus at night, lavender encourages sleep and eucalyptus helps aid breathing.

In soap I use 2 drops of; frankincense, Roman camomile, geranium, lavender and melaleuca I use these for the benefits of these particular oils. Cradle cap is helped with lavender and geranium, lavender and roman camomile are good for dry skin, frankincense and melaleuca are good for baby ache. I also use these for their benefits to me in stretch mark repair. You can easily find information on what and how much to use on Pinterest by typing in “Doterra” and an ailment. There are oils that are good for teething but my baby is currently too young for this and although he is starting to now, we have grown confident in the blend we are already using.

I personally prefer a larger bar for me in the shower but a smaller bar for baby in the bath. It’s easier to hold a larger bar when your quickly trying to wash yourself but easier to hold a smaller bar and hold the baby at the same time as you can use a finger or 2 to support or lather baby whilst the soap is in your hand

If only I had discovered this in pregnancy…! I tried these recently and could do with them creating a band a size or two bigger as nursing has swollen my nipple.

Previously known as Nipplebands, essentially they are bands that go around the nipple to hold it in an erect position. They come in various sizes that are colour coded. They can be a bit difficult to fit but if you cut the end off of a syringe you could pull the syringe out to get the nipple into a position it can be banded to stay out. As I have been feeding for a while I have mastered the art of pressing into the breast to grab the back of the nipple and wiggling it to stay out momentarily. I stretched the band over 2 fingers and did this to fit.

I wish I had discovered these before as I believe these would be interesting to try under a nipple shield to hold it in place as during the first few weeks the shield would slide when the baby searched as there was no nipple to hold it in place. I tested this and I was able to fit it like this, unfortunately I’m unable to test feeding like this as my baby has rejected the use of nipple shields. I’m curious for feedback of anyone willing to try this though. But please be careful… the rings are small and should the shield move or baby latch directly to the nipple with these fitted it will pose a choking hazard!!