ShoppiMama

This no-fuss, DIY oatmeal bath ball is easy to make, with one simple ingredient to help soothe eczema. Also, this method is less messy and easier on your drains than pouring open oats into the bath.

When it comes to eczema especially in babies, simple and natural ingredients have the benefits of being non-irritating and soothing for inflammation. Oats have natural anti-inflammatory properties. Applying oats to the skin is an old-time remedy for eczema relief.

Along with this oatmeal bath ball recipe, we go over other simple remedies and methods of controlling eczema in my post How I Controlled My Babies’ Eczema.

what you’ll need

1. oats – any type of oats such as instant oats, rolled oats, or steel cut oats.
2. thin stockings’
3. measuring cup
4. scisors

instructions

1. cut your stocking, near the foot of the stocking, to make a small/medium pouch

2. pour 1 cup of oats into the stocking pouch

3. tie off the open end (try to tie it tight) then cut off any excess stocking fabric.

using the oatmeal in the bath

1. use one oatmeal ball for a low level of water in the tub.
2. let the oatmeal soak in the water, squeeze it out to release the run-off of the oatmeal into the bath water.
3. let your baby sit in this for at least 5 minutes.
4. the run-off from the oatmeal ball should have a slippery consistency by now. squeeze it out again and rub the runoff on the affected areas.
5. let your baby sit with this for at least another 5 minutes
6. rub the oatmal ball all over your baby’s skin, as if it were a sponge.
7. rinse!

Using baby soap along with the oatmeal bath is optional. I skip using the baby soap on the nights I’m using the oats, just to make sure I’m sticking to the one-ingredient method for this bath.

You can do this every other bath, or more or less frequently as you’d like.