clinical safety testing & user trials

clinical safety testing

At Childs Farm we go the extra mile to give parents and caregivers the very best products for young skin.

All of our products undergo extensive clinical safety testing and controlled, independent home user trials on newborns and children with medically diagnosed infantile eczema to ensure they can be used safely on babies and children with all skin types.

Childs Farm is one of the very few baby and child ranges to do this. In fact, we go above and beyond the rigorous EU guidelines and regulations for the cosmetics and toiletries industry. Undertaking these tests costs a lot of money, but as parents ourselves, we want to be sure that the products we make can be 100% trusted.

what is a clinical safety test?

This is a managed and controlled test procedure carried out by an international research company so that all results are universally recognised. We use testing experts who follow a standard, industry-approved, scientific protocol. The test takes the form of a 96 hour patch test on a selection of healthy men and women of varying ages, all of whom have eczema-prone skin. Every product has been tested on four different parts of each participant’s body and any adverse reactions recorded.

The results of the test are then analysed by a dermatologist and a paediatrician. If both these doctors believe the results satisfy their strict criteria, they confirm their approval and we are able to claim the products are:

✓ dermatologically approved

✓ dermatologically tested

✓ paediatrician approved

✓ clinically tested

✓ suitable for eczema-prone skin

✓ suitable for newborns

✓ kind to skin

✓ mild for skin

✓ safe for skin

If a product doesn’t pass a clinical safety test, we won't sell it!

what is a home user trial?

This is a 2 week test with at least 100 participants.  We conduct two types of home user trials, one on newborns aged 0-3 months and another on babies aged 3-18 months who have medically diagnosed eczema. The tests are controlled and managed by the same international research team as our clinical safety tests. Parents are given a bottle of one of our products and asked to use it for 2 weeks as part of their baby or child’s normal bathing routine. They are then asked to thoroughly review the product with the research team and the results are analysed. This allows us to gather responses from likely users of our brand and means we can give you, our customers, the reassurance of feedback from real parents that our products are safe to use on your little ones.

home user trial results:

Our whole range was tested on 100 newborns aged 0-3 months and 100 babies aged 3-18 months with medically diagnosed infantile eczema.

• 96% of parents said they would recommend the baby range to other parents of young children (aged 3-18 months).

• 100% of parents said they would recommend the baby moisturiser, baby wash and baby oil to parents whose baby or child has eczema.

• 86% of parents would recommend the Childs Farm range to other parents whose baby or child has eczema.

• 100% of parents said the products in the baby range caused no irritation to their baby’s skin.

• 88% of parents preferred Childs Farm fragrances to their usual brand.

• 83% of parents would buy Childs Farm instead of their usual brand.

Childs Farm products are dermatologist and paediatrician approved as suitable for use on babies and children with sensitive and also eczema-prone skin. Childs Farm products are not a treatment for eczema and other medical skin conditions

patch testing

All of our products are formulated to be extremely gentle. They are dermatologist and paediatrician approved for use on children and newborn babies, including those with sensitive and also eczema-prone skin. However, as a common sense precaution, we always recommend a patch test be carried out at least 24 hours prior to first use of any new product. The best places to test are inside the upper arm and behind the ear – don’t patch test on skin that’s already irritated.

Take a look at our video on the best way to patch test!