How to Make Your Own Oatmeal Bath

Making a Colloidal Oatmeal Bath at Home

If your doctor or other health provider recommends you give your child an oatmeal bath, you have the option to buy the commercially-prepared product at around $6 for eight single-use packets, or you can make your own at home for around $1.

Here's how:

You'll need a blender, food processor or coffee grinder and 1 cup of oatmeal. You can use instant oatmeal (unflavored), quick oats or slow cooking oats- all work equally as well. For babies, you'll only need about 1/3 cup per bath.

Blend or process the oats on the highest setting until you have a very fine, consistent powder. To test the colloid property of the oatmeal, stir 1 tablespoon of the ground oats into a glass of warm water. If the oats readily absorb the water and give it a milky look and a silky feel, you've blended long enough.

Giving the bath:

Sprinkle the oatmeal into a tub of running water and stir the water with your hand several times to ensure even distribution. Feel along the bottom of the tub for clumps and break up any you find.

Take care assisting your child into the tub as the oatmeal will make the tub even more slippery than usual. Allow your child to soak in the tub for 15-20 minutes and pat dry with a soft towel rather than rubbing.

You can use this bath once or twice a day or more frequently as your doctor advises.

Common uses for Oatmeal Baths:

• Chicken pox
• Poison ivy, oak and sumac
• Dry skin
• Insect bites
• Eczema
• Diaper rash
• Anal itching (often from pinworms)
• Windburn
• Sunburn
• Shingles