For many of us, winter brings gray skies, white snow and pink cheeks and hands. Add to that forced, dry heat, bundling and unbundling and most moms agree that everyone’s skin is at its driest. And during the winter months, regardless of your climate, it’s important to take extra care of Baby’s skin. It doesn’t hurt to give yours a little help, too. Here are a few suggestions for a little relief:

For Baby
For babies, winter cold also tends to affect the cheeks in the form of chapping and flaking. Babies have extra-sensitive skin, so why not use baby-specific products that are hypoallergenic and made just for them?

Kiehl’s Diaper-Area Ointment works great on bottoms, but it also heals chapped cheeks. Part of the Kiehl’s Baby Care line, this thick ointment is mineral oil-free, fragrance-free, pediatrician tested and contains avocado oil and vitamin D.

Mustela baby care products, made in France, include a hydrating line of skin lotions for dry baby skin, including one just for baby faces. Mustela’s Hydra-Bebe Face is a daily moisturizer for newborns and babies with normal skin and is formulated to hydrate, nourish and protect fragile skin with plant oils and vitamin E. The Hydra Bebe Body lotion is great for all over and is also hypoallergenic. Both have a great, fresh smell.

Aveeno offers a line of fragrance-free, hypoallergenic baby skin products that uses natural colloidal oatmeal, and is available in grocery and drug stores. The Aveeno Daily Baby Lotion is non-greasy and according to the company, it moisturizes for a full 24 hours. For over-dry, irritated skin, Aveeno also has a fragrance-free Soothing Baby Bath that combines colloidal oatmeal and moisturizers to help clean and moisturize tender skin. A 10-minute soak is suggested for infants, and the Soothing Baby Bath is also recommended for easing the itching due to diaper rash, eczema, chicken pox and insect bites.

Avon’s new skin care line, beComing, is available at J.C. Penney stores and offers Baby Day Care lotion with vitamin E and aloe as well as Lullaby Baby Bath and Massage Oil, which works wonders on chapped skin.

Little Forest offers a line of natural skin care solutions that uses no artificial colors or animal by-products. It’s also hypoallergenic and biodegradable. The Little Forest Daily Botanicals line includes a variety of baby cleansing and moisturizing products. The Daily Baby Lotion is light and fast absorbing and contains aloe vera, chamomile, evening primrose oil and vitamins A, D, and E. For infants with minor skincare ailments, Little Forest developed three specific body care treatments as part of the company’s Therapeutic Botanicals line. Using Australian Tea Tree Oil, the line contains treatments for cradle cap, minor skin irritations (such as eczema and sunburn) and diaper rash.

For Mom
During the winter months, when the threat of colds and the flu are heightened, it’s important to wash your hands frequently. While this reduces the chance of picking up and spreading germs, it promotes dry, cracked hands.

For dry hands, many people swear by Neutrogena’s Norwegian Hand Cream, found in drugstores, which was designed to be strong enough to keep Norwegian fishermen’s hands from getting chapped. This formula uses concentrated levels of glycerin to keep hands soft in the dead of winter and it goes a long way, because you only need to use a tiny dab each time.

Another great option is Kiehl’s Vitamin A, D& E Ointment, which contains avocado, sesame, sweet almond and wheat germ oils. It’s thick, long lasting and great for soothing chapped, cracked hands and other extra-dry body parts, such as elbows and feet.

Neal’s Yard Remedies, a natural skin care company started as an apothecary in Covent Garden, London, produces an Elderflower Hand Softener that works great. Containing almond oil, sunflower oil and cocoa butter, this thick cream absorbs right away and has a deep woodsy elderflower scent.

Crabtree & Evelyn sells a Gardeners Hand Therapy that has been written up in various magazines as an “Editor’s Pick” for best hand cream. This cream comes in a handy metal tube and uses shea butter as well as extracts of yarrow, clover and calendula to help soothe and condition work-roughened hands.

Lastly is the Hand and Nail Cream from the H20 Plus Spa Series, which also has been highly ranked by various beauty editors. This lightweight hand cream isn’t as thick as the others and uses marine, extracts, silk protein, vitamin E, aloe vera and panthenol.