Every parent of an infant has had that moment where they look at the baby’s snacks and wonder…”What does this taste like?” Then they take a nibble and find out that it tastes great!
Babies, after all, are just extremely young and tiny humans, and products that work for humans tend to work for all humans. The next time you go shopping for your baby, pick up two of everything. You’re going to want to get in on this stuff.
Here are baby products that are great for adults, too, just with a little variation on the uses.
1. Boudreaux’s Butt Paste isn’t just for butts.
This stuff is a goldmine of DIY hacks. It’s full of zinc oxide, which is a great remedy for irritated skin.
Try a dab of paste on your next horrible mosquito bite, or slather it on a healing sunburn for a bit of immediate relief.
Get a 16-ounce tub here.
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2. Baby shampoo is a super-gentle cleanser.
That means it’s ideal for people with sensitive skin. If you’re prone to eyelid irritation, you can even use a drop of the stuff on a washcloth to scrub those lids in the shower.
Even if you don’t need baby shampoo yourself, it’s the ideal cleanser for dog and cat baths, assuming you can get your pet into the tub in the first place. It’s also useful for cleaning your combs and brushes when they start to get a little greasy or dirty.
In short, baby shampoo is the ultimate soap. Why do we even bother with anything else?
Get a 20-ounce bottle of the OG Johnson’s baby shampoo here.
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3. Baby wipes seem tailor made for makeup removal.
At the end of a long day, use a nice cool baby wipe to scrub away makeup. Pack a few with you when you go out of town to use as a quick, hassle-free face wash.
Baby wipes can even shine your shoes. Everyone should have these.
Get a 5-pack box of Pampers Baby Wipes (that’s 360 wipes!) here.
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4. Diapers are a key ingredient in a super-effective ice pack.
As the video below demonstrates, you can use diapers for something way beyond their intended purpose. With some specific liquids and an absorbent diaper, you can freeze up a reliable and reusable ice pack.
Get 208 Huggies Snug and Dry size 1 diapers here.
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5. Baby powder has all kinds of uses.
It’s a decent stand-in for dry shampoo or deodorant, and it can help prevent stinky feet. You can also bring it to the beach to help remove sand from your feet. Watch the video to see a few of our favorite baby powder hacks:
While the link between modern talcum powder (which no longer contains asbestos) and ovarian cancer is unclear, you might want to find a talc-free baby powder just in case. There are plenty of them on the market.
Get three 7.5-ounce bottles of Burt’s Bees Baby 100% Natural Talc-Free Dusting Powder here.
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6. Pedialyte can help to quickly hydrate adults.
After a night of overindulgence, try sipping Pedialyte. It’s packed with electrolytes and it has less sugar than most sports drinks.
It was designed to rehydrate sick children, but it can do the same thing for adults.
Get 24 powder packs of Pedialyte here—just add water!
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7. People with sensitive skin should try switching to baby detergent.
Soaps for babies are super gentle, and the same is true about laundry detergent made for the pre-K set.
Lots of adults with allergies or skin sensitivities find that baby detergents bother them less than typical adult detergents, which are packed with harsh chemicals and fragrances.
Get a 150-ounce bottle of Dreft Baby Laundry Detergent here.
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8. Baby sunscreen is powerful enough to work for adults, too.
No matter how old you are, SPF is SPF. Try pilfering a little of your infant’s sunscreen the next time you head to the beach.
Pick the highest SPF level you can find and enjoy not getting a sunburn.
Get two 6-ounce bottles of Babyganics Mineral-Based SPF 50 Sunscreen here.
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9. Baby oil helps you remove mascara.
Waterproof mascara is great. You can even cry without rocking a total goth look. When the night is over, though, it can be a nightmare to get your eyelashes clean.
That’s when you should reach for a bottle of baby oil. Waterproof mascara is, well, waterproof, so trying to wash it off in the sink won’t do much. But oil and water hate each other, so oil helps to break down tough cosmetics. Just dip a cotton swab in baby oil and gently apply to your eyelashes with side-to-side swipes. Then rinse.
Get two 16.9-ounce bottles of Johnson and Johnson’s original baby oil for kids here.
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10. Diaper cream is one of the best moisturizing lotions out there.
You can spend $100 on a tub of super-fancy, age-defying face cream, or you can just reach for the nearest tube of diaper cream. It locks in moisture and helps your skin stay hydrated
Diaper cream is also good for dry skin wherever it shows up, and it can soothe the sting of razor burn.
Get a 2-ounce tub of Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm here.
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11. Nipple cream is designed for nursing mothers, but it has other uses, too.
Dry, chapped lips love a good slathering of nipple cream.
It’s also helpful for dry skin anywhere on the body, especially when the skin gets so dry that it starts cracking. Ouch.
Get a 1.1-ounce bottle of Palmers Cocoa Butter Nursing Cream here.
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12. Gripe water has been keeping colicky babies comfortable for generations.
It can ease adults’ upset stomachs, too. The best brands use real ginger and fennel, which are known to sooth painful bellies.
Next time you get a little gassy or come down with some nausea, reach for your infant’s bottle of gripe water for quick relief.
Get a 4-ounce bottle of Wellements Organic Gripe Water here.
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13. Baby shampoo doubles as a perfect detergent for delicate fabrics.
You can’t throw your cashmere sweater in the wash with everything else. Fragile, high-quality fabrics require a little babying, and we mean that literally.
Baby shampoo will keep your nicest clothes clean without damaging or discoloring them.
Not into Johnson’s? Get two 8-ounce bottles of Aveeno Baby Wash & Shampoo for Hair & Body here.
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14. Baby oil is the perfect substance for polishing stainless steel appliances.
Nothing looks classier than a kitchen full of stainless steel. Unfortunately, nothing collects grease and grime like this chic metal does, either.
The solution is to rinse down your stainless steel appliances with a bit of dish soap. Once you’ve got the gunk removed, though, they could still use a polish. That’s where the baby oil comes in.
Rub down steel surfaces with an oiled cloth to create a clean, bright shine. This works on faucets too, by the way.
Baby oil is also an effective polish for wooden surfaces. Wooden tables tend to collect water rings no matter how many times you tell your guests to use a coaster. Polish a table with baby oil, though, and those rings will disappear. Even better, the baby oil forms a barrier against moisture, so it’ll make new water rings less likely to show up.
Get three 4-ounce bottles of Burt’s Bees Baby 100% Natural Baby Nourishing Oil here.
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15. Baby wipes can get rid of deodorant stains.
We’ve yet to meet a dark shirt that doesn’t show deodorant streaks. Deodorant is a tough thing to get out of your clothes.
The only surefire remedy we know of for deodorant stains is, of all things, baby wipes. Just wipe down the white residue on your dark clothing with a baby wipe and watch it disappear!
Get a nine-pack of Huggies Simply Clean baby wipes (648 total!) here.
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16. There’s one last use for baby wipes that you might not have thought of: Use them to clean your cat!
There’s no way you’re coaxing Fluffy into the bath, and you can’t take her to the grooming place every time she gets a little dirty. Baby wipes are a great way to take care of a feline’s messy face (or behind!) without infuriating them.
Baby wipes aren’t wet enough to irritate your cat, and you might even be able to convince them that you’re just petting them. Try it!
Get a six-pack of Amazon Elements Baby Wipes (640 total) here.
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