Best Baby Washes UK 2026: The Two Cheapest Are Scented, the Fragrance-Free Picks Start at £6.50

COMPARISON · SPLISH SPLASH

Baby wash looks like the easiest thing on the registry. Grab whatever is on offer in the supermarket aisle, done. Then the first patch of dry, flaky skin turns up behind the knees at eight weeks, and suddenly every bottle in the bathroom is under suspicion.

The thing nobody tells you is that the label on the front and the ingredient list on the back can say quite different things. "Gentle", "for sensitive skin" and "suitable for eczema-prone skin" are all marketing phrases, not a promise that a bottle is fragrance-free. Two of the five washes in this roundup carry added scent, and they happen to be the two cheapest. The three that skip fragrance entirely start at £6.50 a bottle.

That does not make the scented ones bad. Plenty of babies are perfectly happy with a lightly fragranced wash, and a familiar bedtime smell is a lovely cue for a wind-down routine. But if your baby has dry, reactive or eczema-prone skin, scent is the first variable most parents are told to remove, so it is worth knowing which side of the line each bottle sits on before you buy.

We compared five washes from five different brands that are in stock right now, read every ingredient list, worked out the real price per millilitre, and pulled together what parents tell us about each one. Here is how they stack up.

Lil' Bubba's verdicts

• Best for Dry and Eczema-Prone Skin: La Roche-Posay Baby Lipikar Syndet AP+ · 8.5/10 - a soap-substitute cream wash with niacinamide and 10% glycerin, made for itchy skin
• Best Value Fragrance-Free: ATTITUDE Baby 2-in-1 Shampoo & Body Wash (Unscented) · 8.0/10 - unscented, 473ml, and cheaper per 100ml than the Dr Organic
• Best Certified Organic: Dr Organic Calendula Baby Wash · 7.5/10 - Soil Association certified, unfragranced, and the cheapest fragrance-free bottle at £6.50
• Best for Bedtime Routines: Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Bedtime Bath & Wash · 7.5/10 - a soft lavender and oat wash that turns bath time into a wind-down cue
• Best Budget: Childs Farm Baby Shampoo & Wash · 7.0/10 - the cheapest bottle and cheapest per 100ml, but this version is scented

Quick comparison

Wash	Price	Size	Per 100ml	Added fragrance?	Rating
La Roche-Posay Baby Lipikar Syndet AP+	£21.90	400ml	£5.48	No
ATTITUDE Baby 2-in-1 Shampoo & Body Wash (Unscented)	£10.80	473ml	£2.28	No
Dr Organic Calendula Baby Wash	£6.50	250ml	£2.60	No
Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Bedtime Bath & Wash	£4.65	250ml	£1.86	Yes (lavender scent)
Childs Farm Baby Shampoo & Wash	£4.00	250ml	£1.60	Yes (baby soft scent)

How we picked the 5

We started with every baby wash and shampoo in our catalogue that is currently in stock with a UK retailer, then dropped multipacks, gift sets and bundles so we could compare like with like on a single bottle. We only kept washes that are labelled as suitable from birth and that come from brands with a genuine UK high-street presence.

For each one we read the full ingredient list (not just the front-of-pack claims), checked the bottle size and calculated the price per 100ml, and gathered feedback from the parents we hear from about lather, scent, how long a bottle lasts and how skin reacted. Ratings reflect gentleness, value, ease of use and how consistent parent feedback was. No brand paid to be included.

What to look for in a baby wash

You may not need one at all for the first few weeks. UK health advice is to use plain water for a newborn for roughly the first month, because brand-new skin is still settling its own protective barrier. A wash earns its place once your baby is weaning, crawling or sitting in their own dinner.

Fragrance is the big one. Look for "Parfum" or "Fragrance" on the ingredient list, plus named essential oils such as lavender. "Unscented" and "fragrance-free" usually mean nothing was added for smell. "Baby soft scent", "calming scent" or "bedtime" almost always mean something was.

Soap-free and pH-balanced matters more than "natural". Traditional soap is alkaline and can strip the skin. All five washes here are soap-free cleansers, but the type and strength of surfactant varies, which is why some foam generously and others barely lather.

Low lather is not a fault. The richest bubbles usually come from the strongest surfactants. Cream-style washes for very dry skin foam far less, and that is by design.

Head-to-toe saves a bottle. All five can be used on hair and body, so you do not need a separate baby shampoo.

Price per 100ml beats price per bottle. A bigger bottle at a higher sticker price can work out cheaper over a year of baths, as you will see with the ATTITUDE.

1. La Roche-Posay Baby Lipikar Syndet AP+ / 10 · Best for eczema-prone skin

This is the one to reach for when "gentle" is not enough. Lipikar Syndet AP+ is designed as a soap substitute for dry, itchy, eczema-prone skin, and the baby version is suitable from the first day of life. Instead of a runny gel it is a gel-cream, enriched with 10% glycerin, shea butter and niacinamide, which is there to calm the itch as well as clean.

It is also by far the most expensive wash here, at about £5.48 per 100ml, roughly three times the price of the next most expensive bottle. For a baby with healthy skin that is hard to justify. For a baby who scratches after every bath, a lot of parents tell us it is the first wash that did not make things worse.

What parents love

• Built for itchy skin. Niacinamide, shea butter and a high glycerin level make this more of a cleansing cream than a wash. One parent told us: "After baby's bath last night, her rash and eczema are almost entirely gone."
• Fragrance-free. No added scent at all, which removes the most common trigger for reactive skin.
• Manageable lather. A parent shared: "It doesn't lather too much, which is nice and manageable for an infant." Less foam means less rinsing on a wriggly baby.
• Big bottle. 400ml goes a long way because you only need a small amount per bath.

What to know before you buy

• The priciest by a distance. At £21.90 it costs more than the Childs Farm and Aveeno combined, twice over.
• Not a cure-all. Most feedback is very positive, but a small number of parents report skin feeling drier after a few uses. Every eczema-prone baby is different, so try it for a week before you stock up.
• Low foam can feel odd. If you are used to bubbly washes it can feel as though it is not doing anything. It is.

Best for

• Babies with diagnosed or suspected eczema
• Dry, flaky patches that flare after bath time
• Parents who want the most clinical, fragrance-free option
• Families happy to pay more for a targeted formula

2. ATTITUDE Baby 2-in-1 Shampoo & Body Wash (Unscented) / 10 · Best value fragrance-free

The ATTITUDE bottle looks expensive on the shelf at £10.80, but it is nearly twice the size of most baby washes. Per 100ml it works out at about £2.28, which makes it the cheapest fragrance-free wash in this roundup and only a little more than the scented Aveeno.

It is an unscented two-in-one for hair and body, made with naturally derived ingredients and blueberry leaf extract, EWG Verified and vegan. It rinses clean without the squeaky feel some cheaper washes leave behind.

What parents love

• Genuinely no smell. We hear repeatedly from parents that: "it doesn't have a smell, which we love."
• Best fragrance-free value. 473ml at £10.80 is cheaper per 100ml than the Dr Organic and less than half the price of the La Roche-Posay.
• Lasts. One parent put it best: a single bottle lasted them more than a month of daily baths.
• Whole-family wash. Gentle enough that many parents end up using it themselves.

What to know before you buy

• Not much lather on hair. A parent shared: "it doesn't sud as much as a shampoo", though it works well as a body wash.
• Check the ingredient list, not the listing. Some listings say sulfate-free, but the ingredients include sodium coco-sulfate, a milder coconut-derived surfactant. Fine for most babies, but worth knowing if you are avoiding sulfates entirely.
• Not specifically for eczema. It is a gentle everyday wash, not a soap substitute for very dry skin.

Best for

• Parents who want fragrance-free without paying La Roche-Posay prices
• Daily bathers who get through a lot of wash
• Families who want one bottle for everyone
• Eco-minded buyers who want a recyclable HDPE bottle

3. Dr Organic Calendula Baby Wash / 10 · Best certified organic

If you want the reassurance of a third-party organic certification, the Dr Organic Calendula wash is the only one in this roundup certified by the Soil Association to the COSMOS standard. It is unfragranced and combines organic calendula with meadowfoam oil and aloe vera.

At £6.50 for 250ml it is the cheapest fragrance-free bottle you can pick up here, which makes it a good first purchase if you just want to try a fragrance-free wash without committing to a big bottle.

What parents love

• Certified organic. COSMOS certification by the Soil Association, rather than a brand simply calling itself "natural".
• Unfragranced. No perfume, colour or alcohol added.
• Clean free-from list. No parabens, SLS, mineral oil, DEA, BHT or isothiazolinones.
• Low entry price. Parents we hear from like that it is a cheap way to test whether removing fragrance helps.

What to know before you buy

• Smaller bottle. 250ml at £2.60 per 100ml, so it costs a little more per bath than the ATTITUDE.
• Less parent feedback. It has far fewer reviews than the big-name washes here, and stock can be patchy at some retailers.
• Batch variation. The brand notes colour and consistency can vary slightly between batches, which is normal for this kind of formula but can surprise you.

Best for

• Parents who want certified organic ingredients
• A low-cost first try at fragrance-free
• Newborns moving on from plain water
• Vegan and cruelty-free households

4. Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Bedtime Bath & Wash / 10 · Best for bedtime routine

Not every baby needs a fragrance-free wash, and the Aveeno Bedtime Bath & Wash is the best of the scented options here. It blends natural oat extract with a light lavender scent, and it is soap-free, sulfate-free, dye-free, tear-free and pH-balanced.

Plenty of parents use it purely as a routine signal. The same smell every evening becomes part of the bath, milk, story, bed sequence, and that consistency is what helps, more than the lavender itself. This edition comes in a Gruffalo bottle, though the wash is the same.

What parents love

• A scent parents actually like. One parent told us: "light, calming and not overpowering."
• Goes further than you think. A parent shared that "a little goes a long way", which helps a 250ml bottle last.
• Soap-free and tear-free. Gentle cleansing with oat extract, and no stinging eyes at hair-wash time.
• Cheap. Under £5, and widely stocked when you run out.

What to know before you buy

• It is scented. If your baby has reactive or eczema-prone skin, start with a fragrance-free wash instead.
• Lavender is not a sleep aid. The calming effect is mostly about routine. Do not expect a bottle to fix a sleep regression.
• Smallish bottle. 250ml, so you will rebuy more often than with the ATTITUDE.

Best for

• Building a consistent bedtime routine
• Babies with healthy, non-reactive skin
• Parents who love a soft, clean bath smell
• A budget bottle for nursery or grandparents' houses

5. Childs Farm Baby Shampoo & Wash / 10 · Best budget

Childs Farm is the name most UK parents know, and at £4 for 250ml this is the cheapest wash here both by bottle and by millilitre. It is tear-free, sulfate-free, made with 96% natural-origin ingredients, enriched with aloe vera and cucumber, vegan and in a bottle made from recycled ocean-bound plastic.

The catch is in the name: this is the baby soft scent version, and "Parfum" sits on the ingredient list. The brand says it is suitable for skin prone to eczema, and many babies are absolutely fine with it. But it is easy to assume every Childs Farm baby product is unfragranced, and this one is not.

What parents love

• Lowest price here. £1.60 per 100ml, and on the shelf almost everywhere.
• Tear-free and sulfate-free. Comfortable for hair washes from birth upwards.
• Nice to use. Lathers more than the fragrance-free options and rinses easily.
• Ethical credentials. Vegan Society certified, Leaping Bunny approved, recycled ocean-bound plastic bottle.

What to know before you buy

• Contains fragrance. Some reviewers find the scent slightly heavy for a newborn and prefer the fragrance-free version.
• Mixed feedback on this exact bottle. Reviews of the scented baby version are fewer and more split than for the brand's fragrance-free range.
• Easy to buy the wrong one. Check the label for "baby soft scent" vs "fragrance free" before you put it in the basket.

Best for

• Families on a tight budget
• Babies with robust, non-reactive skin
• Parents who like a light, clean smell after bath
• Spare bottles for the changing bag or holidays

What about the fragrance-free Childs Farm or Nala's?

Childs Farm also makes a separate fragrance-free baby wash, and Nala's sells a fragrance-free baby body wash and shampoo. Both are popular with parents of eczema-prone babies. Right now we do not have either single bottle in stock through our retail partners (we only carry Nala's in multipacks, which we left out to keep this a fair single-bottle comparison), so we have not given them a card. If you love the Childs Farm price but want to avoid fragrance, the fragrance-free version is worth looking for in store, and the Dr Organic below is the closest like-for-like we can link to today.

How to choose

Choose La Roche-Posay Lipikar Syndet AP+ if your baby already has dry, itchy or eczema-prone skin. It is the only wash here designed specifically as a soap substitute for that skin type, and it is fragrance-free. Patch test first and give it a week.

Choose ATTITUDE 2-in-1 if you want a fragrance-free wash for everyday use and care about cost per bath. It is the best value unscented bottle here and lasts the longest.

Choose Dr Organic Calendula if you want a certified organic, fragrance-free wash at the lowest bottle price. It is the easy, low-risk way to see whether removing scent helps your baby's skin.

Choose Aveeno Bedtime Bath & Wash if your baby's skin is happy and you want a gentle, lightly scented wash to anchor the bedtime routine.

Choose Childs Farm Baby Shampoo & Wash if price is the priority and your baby's skin copes well with a light scent. If you see any redness or dryness, switch to one of the fragrance-free picks above.

Add it to your Nest

Bath time essentials are some of the easiest things for family and friends to gift. Add your favourite wash, along with the towels, bath and thermometer you have picked, to your free BubsNest registry so nobody doubles up and you get the bottle you actually want. You can browse more bath and skincare comparisons in our community hub.