How to bathe a newborn baby at home? This question is asked by all young parents who are terribly worried about doing everything right. After all, the baby is still so small, he is only a few days old, and his health completely depends on the competent actions of the adults around him. So, here we will analyze in detail how to properly bathe a newborn baby for the first time.
What day after birth can I bathe my baby?
This issue needs to be addressed with a pediatrician or a patronage nurse. Sometimes an instruction to conduct or prohibit water procedures is given along with an extract by a pediatrician in the hospital. As a rule, a baby is allowed to bathe on the 5-10th day of life, as soon as the umbilical wound heals.
If full-fledged water procedures are temporarily prohibited, you need to carry out other hygiene measures. These include washing the child, cleaning the nose (with cotton towels) and ears (cotton buds with restraints), and rinsing the eyes with boiled water (each eye with a separate sterile disk). Every 3-4 hours or after a bowel movement, you need to change the diaper - the delicate skin under it is treated with a baby and special cream, the diapers need to be fastened not tight so that the baby does not feel discomfort.
Procedures to maintain the necessary level of hygiene are mandatory and should be carried out daily - morning and evening. In case of improper care, the skin of the baby is covered with diaper rash and rashes. In the case of regular hygienic procedures, the appearance of diaper rash indicates that the baby's body does not like something in the environment: maybe the room is too hot or you need to change the cream.
As soon as the doctor or the patronage nurse allows, you should immediately proceed to a full bath.
The benefits of regular water treatments
Bathing is a useful and enjoyable activity. And pleasant for all parties: the baby likes to bask in a warm little water, remembering a cozy house in his mother’s stomach, in which he was just as comfortable, and adults experience a flurry of emotions, watching how their baby first reacts to contact with water.
There are also several reasons why regular bathing is extremely beneficial:
- maintaining body hygiene in the baby;
- washing all folds in which sweat and spools of clothing accumulate, which can lead to diaper rash;
- body hardening;
- development of the child’s nervous system - during bathing, he comes in contact with water and with his mother’s hands skin to skin, which has a positive effect on the development of the baby;
- the procedure calms the newborn (not all, some of them become more active), he falls asleep easier and sleeps better;
- emotional contact with parents provides the child with positive emotions.
Be sure to regularly bathe the baby. Water procedures should be removed only for the duration of the disease, accompanied by rashes or high fever, and also within 2-3 days after vaccination (on the recommendation of a pediatrician).
Bath time
How to bathe a newborn baby for the first time at home - in the morning, afternoon or evening? The time of water procedures must be selected individually, taking into account your capabilities and characteristics of the child. For example, if there is an opportunity to bathe a child together in the daytime, while in the evening there is someone alone with the baby, then the choice is obvious.
But traditionally, babies are bathed in the evening, before the last feeding. However, the child should not be too hungry (so he will be nervous, instead of having fun), and not too full (the baby is bathed when he is lying on his back, and when the baby has eaten tightly, he may want to burp). So we choose the middle between the last and penultimate feeding, usually 7-8 hours in the evening.
It is customary for babies to bathe in the evening, as in most cases after the bath they quickly calm down and fall asleep well. But some babies get excited from water procedures - they become peppy, mobile, more emotional. It’s better to bathe them at another time.
There are also newborns who cry and act up during water procedures. This can happen for many reasons: overwork, hunger, low or high water temperature, etc. Therefore, we will tell you later how to bathe a newborn baby for the first time.
What you need to buy
Let's start with what you need to buy in the store. The first thing that comes to mind is a special baby bath. Some parents probably watched videos where babies swim in a large bathtub with an inflatable ring around their neck. But if we talk about how to bathe newborns for the first time, then this should be done in the baby bath. And in the big one it will be possible to swim when the child is at least 1-1.5 months old.
Baby baths today are mostly plastic, of different models and colors. You can choose the color at will, but you need to think about the form. There are “bath to bath” models, when the nursery is installed in a large one, there are bathtubs that are attached on the sides of the adult by special holders - so the mother does not need to bend over to the child, which is difficult to do in the postpartum period, and anatomically inclined containers are also on sale bottom, which simplifies bathing the child alone. If there is no special slide in the bath, then you can additionally purchase a hammock.
Also, before bathing newborns , you need to prepare:
- thermometer - in order to accurately know the temperature of the water;
- soft large towel;
- thin diaper;
- ladle (mug, pan) with rinse water;
- baby soap.
Soap is best to take liquid with a dispenser, especially if one adult bathes a child - this is more convenient.
In addition, you need to prepare: a diaper, baby things, skin care products.
Temperature in the room and in the bath
Before bathing newborns, you need to find out the ambient temperature. The air in the room should not be lower than 24 ° C, otherwise the child will freeze after warm water. In addition, with a lower rate, the bath will cool much faster, and bathing time will have to be reduced. But there should not be a “pair” effect - heat is also contraindicated in the baby’s body. It is also necessary to completely eliminate the possibility of drafts.
At what temperature do newborn babies bathe? Kids wash in water as close to body temperature as possible - this is 37 ° C. They start with this figure, but gradually can be reduced by 1-2 ° C for hardening. When immersing a child, you need to monitor his reaction - if his skin is covered with goosebumps, then the child is cold, if he is frightened and crying, then perhaps the water is too hot.
The temperature in the bath must be measured with a thermometer, and it can be controlled by adding hot or, conversely, cold water. At the same time, you need to remember that the device needs some time to warm up or cool down and show the correct parameters. Experienced parents can determine a comfortable temperature without a thermometer - they lower their elbow into the water, while he should not feel any heat or cold. But it’s better to use the device.
Important information: Do not add hot or even cold water when a baby is in the bath. It can be burned or scared.
Water preparation
Often young parents do not know whether to boil water or not. Many more are interested in whether to add anything to it.
So, before bathing a newborn baby at home in the bath, you need to prepare the water: boil it and cool to the desired temperature. Boiling is used until the umbilical wound heals.
As for additives such as potassium permanganate or infusion of herbs, they are not required. Moreover, they can cause allergic reactions, and with frequent use cause dry skin.
But optionally additives can be used.
Potassium permanganate must first be dissolved in a separate container, and then pour the right amount into the bath so that the water becomes slightly pinkish. A more intense color is not recommended - such a liquid will greatly dry the skin. You also need to make sure that insoluble crystals do not get into the water - they can cause a burn.
Herbal decoctions of a string and chamomiles are often used for bathing babies. Their concentration should be sufficiently low - no more than 500 ml of filtered broth is added to the bath until a subtle shade of the liquid appears.
And potassium permanganate, and a series with chamomile can be used no more than 1-2 times a week.
How to bathe a newborn baby
- Rinse the bath with boiling water, pour water.
- Check the temperature, cook all the necessary things.
- Undress the baby. If the room is warm, then you can take air baths for hardening for some time.
- The child’s head should be placed on the wrist, and with the same hand you need to grab the child in the armpit area. The second hand holds the legs.
- Immerse the baby in the bath - gradually, so as not to scare him.
- With one hand, you still need to fix the head so that the child does not drop it into the water, you can wash it with the other.
- Start washing: wash your face, neck folds, behind the ears, tummy, back, genitals, ass, knee folds and the space between the fingers on the arms and legs. Lathering your free hand is most convenient with soap and a dispenser.
- The head needs to be washed carefully: in no case should you press on the fontanel.
- After the hygienic part of the procedure is over, you can play with the child: move the body of the crumbs from one side to the other or shake up and down.
- In the end, if you used detergents, you can rinse the baby with clean, warm water.
- Pull the baby out of the water, wrap it in a diaper and in a thick towel.
- Dry the baby well - all folds must be dry, otherwise diaper rash may appear in them.
- Lubricate the folds and genital area with a special cream.
- Treat the umbilical wound. The instructions will be given by a pediatrician or a foster sister, but usually the navel is treated with 3% hydrogen peroxide to remove dirt and then brilliant green.
- To clothe.
All these tips will be useful to those who bathe the baby alone. If there are two adults, then everything is simplified: one parent controls the head, the second - washes.
What else do you need to know before bathing a newborn baby in the bath for the first time? Soap is not necessary, babies are washed with it once a week. A washcloth is also not needed - you do not need to rub the crumbs, as you can damage its delicate skin. Mom or dad's hands are enough.
Often, newborns are bathed in a diaper so that they are not afraid of their hands. But it is so difficult for one to wash a child, and not necessarily - many parents wash their babies without wrapping up from the first days of life, and they have no negative reactions. But you can bathe in the diaper, especially if grandmothers insist on it.
How often to bathe a newborn baby
We listen to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, which specifically outlined the position on this issue. So, children are washed:
- daily up to six months;
- up to 1 year - at least 3 times a week;
- older than 1 year - at least 2-3 times a week.
These recommendations are limiting, that is, you can not bathe children less than indicated. And more is possible. For example, babies can be washed 2 times a day during the hot season in order to wash off sweat, which causes irritation. And most children in developed countries are used to washing daily or twice a day (most often in the morning and evening), regardless of their age.
Duration
How to bathe newborn children is already known. But how long should this procedure take? They recommend starting with 5-7 minutes, then, gradually adding, increase the duration to 30-40 minutes.
But in fact, the duration of bathing is strictly tied to the temperature of the water. There is very little water in the baby bath, therefore, it will cool down quickly, and the child will soon become uncomfortable. So you need to either finish or get the baby, add boiling water, adjust the temperature to 37 ° C and lower the crumbs again.
That is why everyone wants to quickly move to a large bath - there is more water in it, it cools more slowly, and you can swim longer.
Useful Tips
- Before bathing a newborn baby in the bath, be sure to wash it. The kid should splash in clean water.
- Try to take a bath at the same time - this accustoms the baby to a certain regime of the day. Especially important for those who wash their baby in the evening, before going to bed at night.
- Before bathing a newborn baby at home, carefully examine his head. If there are yellowish crusts on it, then they should be removed only in a soaked state - at the end of bathing, very carefully. Most likely, several procedures will be required.
- Washcloths for babies do exist, although they are optional. These are special soft rags that need to be rinsed and dried each time dry after washing.
- Which baby soap is better? This can only be determined empirically, as individual intolerance can occur even when using the best and most expensive means. But, as a rule, it is recommended to choose a hypoallergenic baby soap without color and odor.
- Never leave your child alone while swimming, even if it seems that he is firmly fixed and his head cannot slip. You always need to monitor the baby and not leave it for a second.