Help! Vaseline and a Toddler, Lol

Updated on February 01, 2008
A.M. asks from La Crosse, WI
11 answers

Well, today my 16 mo. old son got into a jar of vaseline. Isn't it amazing how quickly they can reach things? lol. It got EVERYWHERE in his hair. It's covered. We got some of it out... used some dish soap (palmolive) and that helped a bit. Any other ideas? We think we're gonna have to shave his head (omg my mother will DIE lol!) but.... thought I'd try here first. BTW his hair was pretty long, almost in his eyes, so it's LONG and stiff with vaseline. Yikes kids are fun.
Thanks!
A.

1 mom found this helpful

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

Thank you! After 5 shampoos with palmolive, it looks a LOT better. I think we'll just keep on washing him and let it wear out. What an adventure!

And just for the record... we DID call poison control, they laughed at the situation too. Told us vaseline isn't poisonous but he might get the runs if he ate some (hasn't been a problem). I think it's surprising how fast toddlers can get into things. Yes, it was our fault that it got left out (we use it on his face and it didn't get properly put away) but to accuse me of not childproofing? wow. That's pretty low.

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.N.

answers from Duluth on

hi A. I had the same problem 17 years ago with my oldest daughter who is now 17 yrs pld and she got vaseline in her hair and every where she was 11 months old at that time lol but I took and washed her hair out with regualar shampoo twice a day and it eventually washed out .
good luck .C. N

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.L.

answers from Grand Rapids on

I got this from googling, maybe it will work! Good luck! Thankfully, I don't have any personal experience with this. ;)

If you apply a little cornstarch to the hair and carefully pat it into the hair, it will absorb some, if not all the vaseline. After you apply the cornstarch you can shampoo it out with a good clarifying shampoo and it should be removed. If the vaseline is not completely removed in the first treatment, it will be removed to the point where one more treatment will remove all of it. Be sure to use warm to hot water in the shampoo. Cold water makes the vaseline worse.

Or you can try putting about 1 teaspoon of baking soda and mixing it with a regular baby shampoo and this should help. Unfortunately Vaseline is petroleum based and can be almost impossible to remove. If the clarifying or baking soda does not work, try using soft tissue to blot the hair and see if that removes some of it.

A.W.

answers from Kalamazoo on

I think that vaseline would be very dangerous if injested. I don't think this is a laughing matter and maybe you should consider child proofing things better to protect your son. Not trying to be mean, just concerned for safety. If he had enough time alone with it to get that much on his hair, then he would have had plenty of time to eat some too. Thank goodness you found out that it was not poisonous after the fact. I know moms who have accidentaly left out seemingly innocent items like baby powder and baby oil and have had to make trips to the E.R. I was just trying to be a voice of concern and apoligize if it was taken like an accusation.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

C.M.

answers from Bismarck on

A.--I grabbed this off of a hair emergency website--hope one of them helps:

If you apply a little cornstarch to the hair and carefully pat it into the hair, it will absorb some, if not all the vaseline. After you apply the cornstarch you can shampoo it out with a good clarifying shampoo and it should be removed. If the vaseline is not completely removed in the first treatment, it will be removed to the point where one more treatment will remove all of it. Be sure to use warm to hot water in the shampoo. Cold water makes the vaseline worse.

Or you can try putting about 1 teaspoon of baking soda and mixing it with a regular baby shampoo and this should help. Unfortunately Vaseline is petroleum based and can be almost impossible to remove. If the clarifying or baking soda does not work, try using soft tissue to blot the hair and see if that removes some of it.

Otherwise his hair will probably grow back by this summer LOL!! Just wait until he decides to barber himself (that was my house last summer with 2 year old)

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.O.

answers from Boise on

OMG I laughed so I hard I have no new advice but a little story that I though people might get a kick out of...

My oldest friend and I are only days apart in age, our moms are BF, anyways when we were around three or four we decided to vasoline her baby sister who was probably 6 months at the time, Her mom thought we were being way to quite walks in the room and see her infant, me and Renee covered in vasoline, her moms 1at instict was to grab the baby, but she couldn't the baby was slipping out of her hands, finally she gets her and it is on to us, at the time we had hair down to our backs and our hair was very thick, the only thing that worked on getting the vasoline off of all of us was palmolive repeatedly, when she asked us why we did that, we replied with "it seemed like fun!" We were hellions, cut each other hair...on a regular bases and was always finding things to get into, We say it was a good thing they moved across town before we became teens because our parents didn't think the world was ready for what our brains might of come up with!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.M.

answers from Milwaukee on

We had that happen too!! :) We used Dawn Dish soap and Tide on clothing and futon cover, and just Dawn on the hair. Luckily it all came out. Good Luck!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.N.

answers from Wausau on

Try Dawn dish soap. Have seen news articles where trucks carrying cooking oil, etc., have been in accidents, spilled on the highway, and SC Johnson usually rides to the rescue with a tank of Dawn Dish Soap and a pressure washer...if it can clean cooking oil off a highway, it should be able to handle the vaseline in a toddler's hair!!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.P.

answers from Provo on

I'm not sure if baby oil is any easier than Vasoline but I just tried to get rid of cradle cap using baby oil & it left it really greasy too. I finally ended up using MY shampoo to get it out. It worked but it did take 2 applications. If you try this, just make sure you don't get it in his eyes.
Kids are great!
T.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

T.W.

answers from Lansing on

I have no idea! Kids are funny, huh? I sure would take him to a salon and see if they could get it out before I'd cut it!

GL:) Let us know what you had to do!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.M.

answers from Wausau on

Too funny.....it will take a few days of washing (extra washes those days!)- but it will eventually come out. It will be greasy and look wet - but it will come out! You don't have to shave his head and you'll save your mother from heart attack! :)
Sorry - I don't have any tips or tricks to help get it out sooner - but rest assured it will come out soon!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.G.

answers from Omaha on

wow that's actually one my boys never did! I've never tried it but maybe if you "soak" his hair with baby powder it will help absorb some of the slime. Vinager works on slime from water in pet dishes, maybe that might work also.
Good Luck!

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions

Related Searches