The newborn's morning toilet provides health and comfort. Pediatricians have established a list of hygiene procedures that parents should carry out every morning. Regular child care will help to avoid skin diseases and other problems in the future.
Why hold a morning toilet?
The skin of the baby is delicate and thin, therefore it is exposed to negative effects. The newborn does not fully develop local immunity, and pathogenic microorganisms can affect the baby if it is improperly looked after. The mucous membranes of the mouth and nose are one of the main barriers to protection against infection. In the early days of life, they are vulnerable and require additional care. In its absence, the development of conjunctivitis and rhinitis is possible.
Due to imperfect thermoregulation, babies constantly sweat. Subjected to this head and neck. Sweating contributes to the spread of pathological microflora. Therefore, unpleasant situations can be prevented if you carry out the morning toilet of the newborn every day. Simple procedures will allow the baby to remain healthy.
List of necessary things
For a daily morning routine, you need a lot of different items. They should be bought before the birth of the baby. The list includes:
- Ladle. Infants acquire their own dishes for water, used for washing. After each use, it is disinfected. The bucket is best used plastic and small in size.
- Oilcloth. Get her small size. Oilcloth should have a quilted structure. On an ordinary baby it will be cold.
- Cosmetic oil. For a baby, you can buy a regular baby remedy or with additives in the form of medicinal herbs. The main property of the product is to moisturize the skin.
- Nappy cream. The main property of the product is to prevent skin irritation.
- Gauze. It should not be bought in large quantities, it is best to use several packages of sterile bandages. They make gauze napkins.
- Vata. It is necessary for the manufacture of turunda. You can use cotton pads, which will make the flagella much faster.
- Hydrogen peroxide. Its concentration is 3%.
- Zelenka. You can buy the product at any pharmacy. For babies, the concentration is 1%.
- "Furacilin". The drug is best used in tablets, which allows it to be dissolved for external use.
- Disposable diapers. They should also be prepared for the morning procedure.
- Manicure scissors. It is not recommended to take them for the procedure from the set of mom. Scissors must be purchased with rounded tips.
- Comb. For a newborn, you need to choose it with non-sharp teeth. Such combs are sold in children's stores.
- Thermometer. Parents can choose a mercury or electronic thermometer for their child. The differences are in the speed of temperature measurement.
When all the components for the toilet of the newborn baby are ready, then parents can begin to carry it out.
The right care algorithm
Having a morning toilet is best at a specific time. This is done so that the baby gets used to the procedure. The algorithm of the morning toilet of the newborn should be strictly defined. After washing the genitals, parents should not touch their eyes.
The procedure must be carried out from top to bottom. Mom needs to wash her hands with baby soap. They should not be treated with antiseptics. Mom's nails cut short. There should be no fungal diseases on the hands.
Manipulations are best done on a solid surface. It can be a changing table, sofa or regular table. Cover the surface with oilcloth and diaper.
The most convenient option for carrying out procedures is a changing table. In this case, the mother does not need to bend over, which is rather painful after childbirth. It is not recommended to turn away from a child lying on a table. After all, a fall can lead to serious consequences in the form of traumatic brain injuries. To think that the child is small and does not fall is not worth it. Due to the fact that the kids swing their arms and legs, they can lose their balance and fall from a height.
First steps
The algorithm of the morning toilet of the newborn includes examination for the presence of inflammation, rash and diaper rash. Be sure to measure the temperature. Pediatricians recommend this in the first 3 weeks after birth.
Next, wash the face of the newborn. To do this, use a cotton pad. Water temperature should be 36-37 degrees. After the face, wipe the neck and arms. The remaining water is gently patted with a towel, because children's skin is very delicate.
Brush the hair of the newborn, trying not to injure the scalp. If the curls are tangled, it is best to cut them. Crusts on the scalp do not strip off. While bathing, soak them and comb them before bedtime.
Eye care
Washing a newborn baby begins with a facial. The most crucial moment is the processing of the eye of the newborn. To wash the organs of vision, prepare a special solution of Furacilin. 1/2 tablet of the drug is dissolved in a glass of warm water. The eyes are not treated with a cotton pad so that small fibers do not get into them. This can cause inflammation.
For processing, it is best to use gauze. Small pieces of tissue are used for the eyes. She is dipped in a solution of "Furacilin". Squeeze the gauze. Carefully carried out over the centuries, starting processing from the temple to the bridge of the nose. Exactly the same manipulations are carried out with the other eye.
If there are crusts in the corners of the organs of vision, then they are soaked and only then carefully removed. Used wipes are discarded immediately, because they can not be used further.
Pus in the corners of the eyes is not peculiar to a healthy baby. With his constant presence for several days, the baby should be shown to the pediatrician. This is done in order to exclude the occurrence of conjunctivitis or dacryocystitis.
Ear Processing
To conduct a morning toilet, a newborn should not use cotton buds that injure the eardrum, and pieces of cotton wool can cause the development of an inflammatory process. Turundas are best used.
The procedure should not be carried out daily, because this is not necessary. This is done 1-2 times a week.
The movements are careful, it is enough to clean the outer ear without getting into the middle section of the organ of hearing. A cotton tourniquet is moistened in a warm solution of Furacilin, squeezed and cleaned the auricle and ear canal. If pus is released from the ears, then you need to urgently call a pediatrician. This can be a symptom of otitis media, which is especially common in infants due to the physiological structure of the auditory tube.
How to keep your nose clean
The newborn’s morning toilet includes several treatments. Among them, the cleansing of the nose in the baby. This must be done every day. For manipulation, cotton turundas are used, separately for each nostril. They are lubricated with a small amount of liquid paraffin. If it is absent, you can use vegetable.
Dry crusts in the nose are soaked. Their education is an accurate sign that the baby is stuffy or indoors with dry air. In a normal state, the mucosa does not dry out. Therefore, parents need to adjust the temperature in the room and purchase a humidifier. The best indicators include: 18-20 degrees of heat. Humidity should be at least 50-70%.
Solid objects for cleaning the nose are not recommended.
How to care for the body of a child
To remove dirt from the skin, you can use a damp cloth, but this should be done in rare cases in the absence of water.
Such manipulations with the morning toilet of a newborn are carried out every day.
To do this, remove the diaper from the child and go to the bathroom. How to wash a newborn? The baby is washed with running water without any means, because baby soap and foam dry the skin.
How to wash a newborn depending on gender? The treatment procedures for girls and boys are different. If boys are washed from the buttocks to the genitals, then girls from the genitals to the pope. When washing, it is not recommended to rub and massage the body intensively, so as not to harm the skin.
Next, you need to put the baby on the changing table and drain the skin with a napkin or soft cloth.
How to handle creases
Hygiene of the newborn includes several procedures. Among them, care for the natural folds of the baby. Bathing alone is not enough. In the folds, various secretions constantly accumulate. This occurs when the baby spits up and milk enters the behind-the-ear and neck folds.
How to wash a newborn? To cleanse the skin, you can use several varieties of products. Sometimes it is enough to treat the folds with boiled water. Some mothers use vegetable oil or baby cream for these purposes. You should not get carried away with these funds if the baby's skin is absolutely healthy. There will be enough water for this.
For dry skin, oil is used, and for oily skin, powder is used.
Processing begins with the neck. It is followed by armpits, elbow folds, folds in the groin and under the knees, between the toes. Girls wiped the outer part of the genitals.
The procedure is carried out in the morning and in the evening. In the process, the skin should be considered for the presence of rash and diaper rash.
Umbilical wound disinfection
Hygiene of the newborn consists of several manipulations. It involves the treatment of the umbilical wound. Through it, a newborn can get an infection, so the procedure is carried out with caution. First of all, the wound is subjected to a preliminary examination in order to notice the inflammatory process in time.
Disinfection of the umbilical wound occurs with hydrogen peroxide, tincture of calendula or manganese.
In some cases, parents treat it with brilliant green, but pediatricians do not advise doing this unnecessarily. The algorithm of the morning toilet of the newborn includes the obligatory washing of the hands by the mother.
A cotton swab must be pre-treated with hydrogen peroxide. The edges of the umbilical wound are carefully pushed apart. It should be processed in a circular motion from the center to the edges. This prevents infection from entering the wound. After completing the manipulations, the residues are collected with a dry cotton swab.
How to cut the nails of a newborn?
The nail plate in babies is too soft to harm the skin, but slight scratches may appear. Nails grow quickly, so after a few days you need to check their length.
So that the child does not scratch himself, they are trimmed with scissors with rounded ends. After the procedure, wipe with a solution of "Furacilin".
How to cut the nails of a newborn? On the hands they make a rounded shape, and on the legs - a rectangular one. Before the procedure, the nails are treated with alcohol. During her period, the child must be held tight so that he does not grab onto the tools.
Sometimes parents trim the nails of the baby during his sleep.
What should parents remember?
The technique for holding the morning toilet of the newborn consists of the following rules:
- No need to deal with procedures when the child is hungry. It is best to perform them some time after feeding. However, the difficulty lies in the fact that the child falls asleep at this time. Alternatively, wake the baby half an hour before the next feeding.
- Morning procedures do not always give babies joy. This is especially true for washing the eye and nose. Various playing techniques and nurseries will help make mom’s actions pleasant for the child.
The morning toilet of a newborn is a necessary procedure aimed at improving his health.