Dabur Lal Tail Natural Care for Babies
What is the Dabur Lal Tail?
The Dabur Lal Tail is an Ayurvedic (traditional Indian herbal medicine) formulation that is specially made for babies. Giving babies an oil massage is believed to be highly beneficial (in Ayurvedic medicine); it is thought to improve appetite, weight gain, height gain, activity and development. As a parenting practice, it is mostly popular in South Asia as well as in some African and former USSR bloc countries.
A lot of studies have been done to showcase the benefits or drawbacks of baby massage but the evidence is inconclusive with regards to an improvement in physical characteristics or rapidity of development. That is not to say that these benefits do not exist, just that the currently available medical research seems to be inconclusive or have biased results or methodology.
The confirmed benefits of infant or neonatal baby massage include an improvement in the parent-infant interaction and response (to the parent that performs the massage) and has been found to ameliorate postnatal depression among mothers who massage their babies.
Further benefits or drawbacks may also depend on the oil used for massage. While natural oils such as coconut, sunflower and sesame do have benefits in keeping the skin healthy, others such as mustard or olive oil have been found in one study to possibly adversely affect skin permeability and integrity.
Contents:
As noted in the ingredients list, the key ingredients in Dabur Lal Tail are sesame oil, camphor (Dryobalanops aromatica or Cinnamomum camphora), ratanjyot (Jatropha curcas), shankhpushpi (Evolvulus alsinoides) and urad (black gram).
The only component of any concern that we can identify is Ratanjyot, which is known to be toxic. However, by roasting the seeds or kernels, the toxic content can be easily removed and presumably this is what is done prior to extraction for use in the Dabur Lal Tail as it is very commonly and regularly used in the subcontinent without any reports of damage done.
Why use Dabur Lal Tail?
As an oil that is primarily made for neonatal use for babies, it is perfectly safe as it has been in use for a very long time. While rare, allergies to various kinds of vegetable oils do exist; before using any new product, one should always do a test patch to ensure there are no allergies.
The Dabur Lal Tail is primarily made of sesame oil and enriched with several herbs such as the Evolvulus alsinoides, which a number of studies have shown improves learning and enhances memory in mice and rats. Using pure oil of any form or utilizing formulations such as Dabur Lal Tail is purely up to the parents and largely depends on their preferences and the baby’s sensitivity and response to different oils.
Dabur claims that babies massaged with Lal Tail experience two times faster physical growth as compared to babies that are not massaged at all and their claim is based on a clinical study done at a medical college in India. While we do believe that baby massage is beneficial, we recommend you to take such claims with a pinch of salt.
Benefits
The Dabur Lal Tail is a herbal formulation based on Ayurvedic medicine and has a pleasant viscosity and scent. It is safe to use unless your baby has a sensitivity to sesame oil. Known benefits of using Dabur Lal Tail or any other oil for baby massage include improve parent-infant interaction and response while also decreasing postnatal depression among mothers that massage their infants.
Drawbacks
There are no known ill effects to using Dabur Lal Tail. If your child is sensitive to sesame oil, you should avoid this product. Please keep in mind that this product is for external use only.
Final thoughts
Baby massage has no known disadvantages and gives parents a chance to interact with their child in a positive manner, reinforcing their relationship. According to research and reviews, Dabur Lal Tail is one of the more popular baby oils used for massage in the subcontinent (the region where this practice is largely observed). We certainly recommend trying out the Dabur Lal Tail which is quite reasonably priced and certainly safe to use.
Manufactured By: Dabur India Ltd.
Country of Origin: Product of India
Ingredients: Sesamum Indicum Oil, Evolvulus Alsinoides, Phaseolus Radiates, Pinus Longifolia, Onosma Echioides, Dryobalanops Camphora
Product Weight: 3.38 FL OZ (100 ML)
Storage Instructions: Keep in Cool & Dry Place
Package: Box
