Best Baby Shampoo
Baby shampoo is one of those products many parents buy before the baby even arrives — and often don’t actually need straight away.
In the newborn weeks, plain water is often enough. Babies aren’t exactly coming home from Pilates sweaty and unless there’s cradle cap, visible build-up, or more substantial hair, shampoo usually isn’t essential from day one. That changes over time.
As babies grow, you’re dealing with: thicker hair, sunscreen, food in hair, sweat and general toddler grime.
And if your baby has sensitive, eczema-prone or reactive skin, this is often one of the categories parents scrutinize more closely.
- • Uses milder plant-based cleansers + clear ingredient disclosure
- • No sulfates (no SLS/SLES)
- • Uses preservatives like sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate instead of parabens or phenoxyethanol
- • Tear-free and widely tolerated by sensitive skin
- • Our pick from the MooGoo shampoo range - simpler and more baby-appropriate than the Milk Shampoo which includes scalp actives most babies won't need
- • Better fit where skin reactivity is the bigger concern than ultra-minimal ingredient purity
- • Contains added synthetic fragrance (phthalate-free, low-allergen fragrance)
- • More complex formula than Mustela and Wotnot
- • Extremely short ingredient list with a single plant-based cleanser
- • Fragrance-free
- • No sulfates (no SLS/SLES)
- • Uses standard low-irritation preservatives while avoiding parabens and phenoxyethanol
- • Tear-free foam format makes targeted scalp use easy
- • Specifically designed for delicate newborn scalps and cradle cap-prone skin
- • More treatment-style than everyday family shampoo
- • Smaller bottle / pricier per use than general shampoos
- • Aloe vera-based formula with a single plant-derived cleanser, colloidal oatmeal and simple oils
- • No sulfates (no SLS/SLES)
- • Uses simple preservatives (like potassium sorbate/sodium levulinate) instead of parabens or phenoxyethanol
- • One of the shortest ingredient lists in the category
- • Not fragrance-free — contains essential oils (chamomile + orange peel)
- • Essential oils may be less ideal for highly reactive or eczema-prone skin
- • No explicit tear-free claim
- • Clear ingredient disclosure
- • Fragrance-free
- • Tear-free and widely tolerated by sensitive skin
- • Easy supermarket/pharmacy availability
- • Trusted by many sensitive-skin and eczema-prone families as a practical fragrance-free fallback
- • Uses sulfate cleansers
- • Uses parabens as part of its preservative system
- • Does not meet the Clear Bar
We actually started with Mustela when baby had a bit of cradle cap — it’s targeted, fragrance-free and does that specific job well.
For everyday washing, our lean is different.
If your baby has very sensitive, reactive or eczema-prone skin, MooGoo is the more practical middle ground: sulfate-free, tear-free and generally well tolerated - though it does still include added fragrance, so it's not a perfect minimalist formula.
If your baby doesn’t tend to react, Wotnot is arguably the cleanest ingredients play: an ultra-short formula, a single gentle cleanser and simple preservative system. The trade-off is that its scent comes from essential oils rather than being truly fragrance-free, which is why we’d be a little more cautious with highly reactive skin.
That’s why our split is simple: MooGoo for practical sensitive skin washing, Wotnot for the cleanest minimalist formula, Mustela for cradle cap.
