Home
Baby Creams for Fairness in Nigeria: Don’t Harm Your Baby!

Baby Creams for Fairness in Nigeria: Don’t Harm Your Baby!

April 14, 2021 Kids' Health

If you’re looking to buy one of the “best” baby creams for fairness in Nigeria, this page is for you. Please read to the end.

While there are many creams on the Nigerian market that promise to make your baby’s skin lighter, you might want to think twice before exposing your precious baby to the potential health risks of these creams.

To start with, skin-lightening creams for babies contain about the same ingredients as the same creams made for adults. And as such, they have the same dangerous side effects. In fact, the effects are usually more pronounced in babies because their skins are thinner and more receptive to the potentially harmful agents in these creams.


best baby cream for fairness in nigeria

Now, let’s talk more about the dangerous aspects of these creams.

Baby Creams for Fairness in Nigeria: What Makes Them Dangerous?

Most creams that whiten the skin contain a steroid as their active ingredient. And baby creams are no exception. Basically, steroid-containing creams are applied to the skin only for the purpose of treating certain skin diseases. And even at that, doctors do recommend strongly that these creams be taken for only a few days to one week at most and applied only to the affected spot, not the whole body — because these creams can cause a good number of health problems when used for too too long.

Unfortunately, however, steroid-containing creams are often abused. In Nigeria, they are widely used for skin bleaching — a process that causes thinning of the skin and destruction of its natural defense mechanisms as well as other health complications.


Mercury is another potentially harmful ingredient found in many skin-lightening creams, including those made for babies. Exposure of babies to mercury can interfere with brain development as well as cause irreparable damage to the skin, kidneys, and nervous system.

So, if you think your baby’s skin isn’t “fair” enough, then leave it as it is. Skin color depends on genetics. So it is just normal to have a dark-skinned baby, and that’s nothing to worry about or be dissatisfied with.

Baby Cream for Fair Skin in Nigeria: Health Risks

Here is a list of potential side effects and health complications that your baby could come down with if you use a skin-lightening cream for them:

  • Skin thinning
  • Increased risk of skin infections
  • Abnormally increased hair growth
  • Stretch marks (yes, kids can have them)
  • Skin irritation
  • Hard-to-treat rashes or acne
  • Abnormal blood pressure
  • Abnormal blood sugar levels
  • Abnormal weight gain (childhood obesity)
  • Growth abnormalities
  • Allergic reactions
  • Slow wound healing
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle pain
  • Kidney damage
  • Liver damage
  • Heart failure
  • Brain damage
  • Cushing’s syndrome

In case you’re wondering how a cream applied only to the skin can cause damage to internal body organs, here’s the simple explanation: Our skin absorbs substances into our bloodstream. And once in the bloodstream, these substances can produce various effects — beneficial or harmful, depending on the substance.

Because your baby’s skin is still thin and tender and has a larger surface area relative to body weight, it can absorb steroid-containing creams faster than adult skin, making these creams more dangerous for your baby. Note that skin-whitening soaps aren’t any safer, either.

Baby Creams for Fairness: Recommended Safer Alternatives

When it comes to your baby’s skin, your priority as a mother should be to keep it fresh and healthy — NOT whitened! You’ll find a good number of baby moisturizing creams in reputable local stores and supermarkets. If you don’t know which one to trust or you just prefer something natural, the shea butter is your best bet.

Original shea butter is absolutely safe for your baby’s skin and helps to keep the skin moist, smooth, and well protected against eczema and skin infections.

Wrap-up

Baby skin lightening creams contain steroids, which can cause serious health problems for your baby if used for weeks to several months. You sure don’t want to do anything that can jeopardize your child’s health now or later in life. So, it’s strongly advised that you steer clear of such creams. Rather, use safe moisturizing creams or shea butter to maintain your baby’s natural skin color and overall skin health.

Sources: