Forget the Sephora Haul. My Holy Grail For Sensitive Skin Came From the Baby Aisle.

‍Disclosure: We've partnered with Tubby Todd to bring you this review. Rest assured, we only collaborate with brands that pass our strict testing standards, and we'd never recommend something we wouldn't buy ourselves.

My son has my nose, his dad's chin and, it turns out, my skin. Which is a nice way of saying the poor guy inherited the dry, angry patches I've been fighting since middle school.

The first time I saw one on his cheek, I felt it in my stomach. I know that patch. I know the itch, the tight feeling after a shower, the creams that sting. I spent my whole pregnancy researching car seats, swaddles and bottle nipples, and somehow never prepared for the idea that I'd pass my skin down along with my nose.

Then came the mom guilt, and the 2 a.m. googling. Am I bathing him too much? Not enough? Is his lotion helping or making it worse? Did I do this?

What I didn’t expect was to end up using baby skincare on myself. The jar I bought for his cheeks is now the first thing I reach for on my own dry patches, and his routine has quietly become mine.

Every mom I texted gave me the same answer

I did what every mom does and asked the group chat. My sister-in-law answered first: "Tubby Todd. The ointment." My college roommate, a mom of two with zero patience for products that don't work, said the same thing. So did my neighborhood moms group. Three for three.

That's how the brand got big in the first place. Tubby Todd was built without celebrity endorsements or paid ads, just moms telling other moms, and it now has more than 40,000 five-star reviews on its site.

The backstory sealed it for me. "Tubby Todd" was co-founder Brian Todd Williams's nickname from the day he was born, because he weighed 11 pounds (11!). He and his wife, Andrea, started the company when nothing they tried worked on their son Walker's severe eczema. After hundreds of products and a lot of wasted money, they made their own. A sensitive-skin family making skincare for sensitive-skin families sounded a lot like us.

So when Tubby Todd sent our team its bestseller and a few favorites to try, I called dibs before anyone else could.

The quick details

All Over Ointment Eczema Relief: $36 for 8 oz, with smaller jars and minis too. 1% colloidal oatmeal. Pediatrician and dermatologist tested, hypoallergenic, steroid-free and petrolatum-free. Fragrance-free. A fingertip covers his cheek and my knuckles, and three weeks in, our jar has barely moved.

Hair + Body Wash: The brand's very first product, and Tubby Todd says one 8.5 oz bottle lasts about 100 baths.  It really lathers, and one pump is all I need for his whole bath.

Dream Cream: $20 for 4 oz. An ultra-rich body butter in Shea Butter + Mint (mine, all mine) or fragrance-free. It sinks in without leaving me greasy, and the Shea Butter + Mint smells like the spa day I keep meaning to book.

Barrier Balm: $12 for a twist-up stick with the same 1% colloidal oatmeal. It lives in my purse, and it even kept his one stubborn curl down for his eight-month photos.

Never in the formulas: parabens, phthalates, sulfates, silicones, artificial dyes or artificial fragrances.

Good to know: All these products are backed by the Tubby Todd Worry-free Guarantee. Try it, love it or get a refund—no questions asked.

Why I trusted it on his skin

I'm a label reader, and this one passed. The hero ingredient in the All Over Ointment Eczema Relief is 1% colloidal oatmeal, which helps soothe itchy, irritated skin and strengthen the skin barrier, in a plant-based formula that seals moisture in and keeps irritants out. It carries the National Eczema Association's Seal of Acceptance. It's pediatrician and dermatologist tested, hypoallergenic, and made without steroids or petrolatum.

The numbers help too. In a third-party study of 107 moms, 97%* said they feel good about using it on their baby’s skin, 94%* reported soothing of itchy, dry skin, and 84%* saw visible improvement in red, bumpy skin after one use. And my group chat isn’t the only one buying it: the brand says one jar sells roughly every 29 seconds.**

*Results derived from a national consumer study of 107 mothers of children ages 0-6 years old, conducted by a third-party independent testing firm.

**Based on data between 8/1/2025–5/31/2026 for All Over Ointment Eczema Treatment sales across Amazon and DTC channels.

How it stacks up against the stuff under my sink

Before Tubby Todd, I'd tried what everyone tries. The giant tub of petroleum jelly sealed things in, but it sat on his skin like frosting and ended up on every onesie we own. The cult healing ointment in the tube was the same idea with nicer packaging. The drugstore "sensitive skin" lotions felt nice for about five minutes, then vanished, and a couple were scented enough to make me nervous. And the steroid cream from the pharmacy is a different thing entirely, something you use when your pediatrician says so, for a short stretch, not every night just in case. Tubby Todd does what the heavy stuff does and seals moisture in, but the soothing comes from colloidal oatmeal, and there's no petrolatum, steroids or synthetic fragrance, so I'm comfortable using it every night.

All Over Ointment vs. Aquaphor, side by side

Of course I did my research on this one too. Once the All Over Ointment had become part of our nightly routine, I wanted to know if it was actually the best option or just the first thing that worked. So I treated it like every car seat and swaddle before it: I compared it with the other ointments on the market, read the ingredient lists and looked at what each one is made for. Aquaphor’s Healing Ointment was the tube already under my sink, so that’s the one I went through line by line.

The big difference is what’s doing the work. Aquaphor is 41% petrolatum, and it does what petrolatum does: it sits on top of the skin and seals. For his eczema-prone patches, I wanted more than a seal. The All Over Ointment seals moisture in too, without petrolatum, mineral oil or lanolin, and its active ingredient is 1% colloidal oatmeal, which helps soothe eczema and relieve irritation. It carries the National Eczema Association’s Seal of Acceptance, and it’s gentle enough for newborns. That’s why it lives on his changing table, and why it’s the jar I reach for on my own knuckles and elbow every night.

Our bath-night routine (and the bottle that never runs out)

Tubby Todd calls its routine baby's first skincare routine: cleanse, hydrate, soothe. Here's ours.

Bath first, short and warm, with Hair + Body Wash from head to toe. A little goes a long way. It was the first product Tubby Todd ever made, the formula hasn't changed since, and the brand says one 8.5 oz bottle lasts about 100 baths. At three baths a week, that's basically until he's walking. (If your family goes through it faster, the brand recently lowered prices on its bigger sizes, including the 25oz., refill pouch and, yes, a gallon.)

Then the towel burrito. Then Dream Cream everywhere. Then a fingertip of All Over Ointment on the spots that need extra love: his cheeks, behind his knees, and the creases of his chunky little wrists. Pajamas, bottle, book, bed.

The first night, I dabbed it on his cheek straight out of the bath and checked on him twice (fine, four times). No fussing. By morning, the patch felt softer and looked a lot calmer. A week in, the backs of his knees were soft again, and I put my phone down at 2 a.m. without googling anything.

Tubby Todd says it makes its products to help new parents feel confident from day one, and for the first time in weeks, I did.

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The part where his skincare became my skincare

The funny thing about him inheriting my skin is that I still have it too. Between washing bottles and sanitizing everything in sight, my knuckles were cracked by month two, and the patch on my elbow I've had since middle school had flared up again.

So one night, I rubbed the leftover dab from his cheek into my own knuckles. Then my elbow. That was that. Tubby Todd says its products are made for everyone "from newborn to ninety," and the ointment works for anyone in the family with sensitive or eczema-prone skin. Now we share the jar. He gets his cheeks, I get my hands, and nobody has to know.

My logic now is simple: if it’s gentle enough for my eight-month-old’s cheeks, it’s gentle enough for my hands. I spent years buying “sensitive skin” products for myself that still stung. His had everything I was looking for all along: no artificial fragrances, no parabens or sulfates, and the National Eczema Association’s Seal of Acceptance on the ointment and balm.

Then there's the Dream Cream, which I do not share. Not with him, and definitely not with my husband, who has started calling it "your fancy lotion" with a little too much interest. The brand calls it an ultra-rich, hydrating body butter, and that's exactly what it is: thick, soft, and it sinks in without leaving me greasy. The Shea Butter + Mint version smells like the spa day I haven't had since before he was born, creamy and cool at the same time. Putting it on after my shower is the one minute of my day that's just mine. (For his skin, I'd pick the fragrance-free version.)

And the Barrier Balm lives in my purse. It's the same 1% colloidal oatmeal in a twist-up stick, made as a petrolatum-free alternative to the classic healing balms. It's my fix for windburned cheeks at the park and my own knuckles in the pediatrician's waiting room. Tubby Todd fans also swear it's the secret to a perfect slicked-back hairstyle, so I tried it on the one curl that sticks straight up on his head before his eight-month photos. It stayed put through the whole shoot. Obsessed.

I didn’t have a real skincare routine until my son got one. Now mine is basically his: Dream Cream after my shower, a fingertip of All Over Ointment on my knuckles and elbow before bed, and the Barrier Balm in my purse for everything in between. Two minutes, tops, which is exactly how much time I have.

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The honest part

It's an ointment, so it acts like one. It's thick and takes a minute to sink in, so give it that minute before the pajamas go on, or some of it ends up on the sleeper. Same goes for my own hands: I put it on at night, not right before I need to answer texts. It's a spot treatment, not an all-over body lotion, so a fingertip is plenty. Use it like lotion and you'll go through a jar fast.

It's also not a magic eraser. What worked for us was doing it every night, as part of the routine. And if your little one has broken skin or a flare that worries you, call your pediatrician first. Tubby Todd says the same.

The scented products are lovely, but for a baby with sensitive skin, I'd start with fragrance-free and keep the scents for yourself.

Let's talk about the price

$36 for a jar made me pause too, especially for something you use a fingertip at a time. But that's kind of the point. Tubby Todd packs its formulas with high concentrations of good ingredients, so a little goes a long way. Three weeks of nightly spot treatment for two people, and our 8 oz jar has barely moved.

If you want to start smaller, there's a 3.5 oz jar for $22 and minis for the diaper bag. Bundles and gift sets come with a built-in discount, you earn Club Tub Rewards points on every order, and the Worry-free Guarantee means that if you don't love it, they'll refund you, no questions asked. First-time customers also get free shipping, no code needed.

Who it's for, and who should skip it

Get it if sensitive skin runs in your family, if your baby (or you) gets dry, itchy or eczema-prone patches, and if you want a steroid-free, petrolatum-free formula from a brand that's upfront about what's in it. Get it for your registry, your diaper bag, or the pregnant friend who doesn't know about 2 a.m. yet. And get one for yourself. If your own skincare routine disappeared somewhere around the third trimester, the ointment and the Dream Cream are an easy way to start again.

Skip the ointment if you want a featherlight lotion that disappears in a second, because that's a different job. Skip it if you shop purely by price per ounce. And a few Tubby Todd products, like the chest rub, SPF and Kids Line, are made for specific ages, so check those labels before you buy for a newborn.

What I tell every pregnant friend now

I'm that friend now. The second someone tells me she's expecting, I start talking about baby skincare, especially if she has sensitive skin, because I know where her baby's cheeks might be headed.

My whole speech: put the Newborn Gift Set ($107) or the Baby Bundle on your registry. Tubby Todd recommends those for first-time parents, and both include the All Over Ointment. Keep a mini in every bag. Start fragrance-free. Buy a second jar for yourself, because you’ll end up stealing the baby’s. And if you're shopping for a mom-to-be this season, check out tubbytodd.com for their seasonal scents.

And I always add this: you can't research your way out of every worry, and a dry patch on your baby's cheek doesn't mean you did something wrong.

The bottom line

He got my nose. He got my skin. And now he's got my favorite jar, which I'm happy to share, as long as he keeps his hands off my Dream Cream.

Am I doing this right? I still ask myself that most nights. But his cheeks are soft, my knuckles have stopped cracking, I have a skincare routine again (his), and bath night is the calmest part of our day. I couldn't pass down better skin. I can pass down a better routine, and this one's a keeper. 💙

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