Baby Skin Care
Baby skin care might not be the first thing on your mind when you come home from the hospital. After you get back home from the hospital with newborn, you will slowly start settling into a regular routine. When it comes to caring for your baby, you easily think about feeding and keeping them healthy in general. But, if there is one thing that’s equally important, it would be your little one’s skin care.
A baby’s skin is really fragile, sensitive, and gentle, and it requires time to cope with the new environment around them. While you would have imagined and want your baby’s skin to be smooth and soft, you would be surprised by their rather dry and flaky skin, along with different skin conditions, like cradle cap, diaper rash, etc., especially during the initial few months. This is because babies are highly prone to rashes and other skin conditions during their first few months. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to keep their skin as healthy as possible.
But first, one thing you should know about your baby’s skin is that, your newborn’s skin will be wrinkly soon after birth, and you will see their skin peeling off during the first few days. This is a natural process and the covering that peels off is called vernix. Let this happen on its own. Do not have the urge to rush the process by using creams or lotions, or rub the body.
Avoid Frequent Bathing For Baby Skin Care
Just because you take a bath or shower daily, doesn’t mean your baby needs to be bathed everyday as well. Giving your baby a sponge bath twice or thrice a week is more than sufficient, experts say. This is because bathing your newborn frequently will rid their skin off the oils and other substances in their skin. These oils protect them against various irritants and potential infections. After all, newborn babies do not really get dirty (except when they need a diaper change, drool, or regurgitate!).
Diapering
No baby can possibly escape a diaper rash. So, don’t get too alarmed if your baby gets one. Diaper rash is often caused when a soiled diaper’s wetness irritates your baby’s delicate skin. While this isn’t a serious condition and usually goes away in a few days when you apply some diaper rash cream, there are some steps you can follow to avoid it as well:
Use Only Gentle Skincare Products
This is something you would be aware of. At least until your baby is one year old, always use skincare products, like soap, shampoo, body wash, etc., that are exclusively made for babies in this age group. This is because, such baby products have no alcohol, deodorants, dyes, or other harmful substances that can impact your baby’s skin. Also, these products happen to be nontoxic. Most of them are tear-free as well, making them ideal for your little one.
Use Moisturizing Lotion A Great Skin Care Routine
Your baby’s skin can become dry easily; therefore, in order to keep it soft and supple, you need to start using moisturizing lotion formulated just for babies. After you give your baby a sponge bath, pat them dry and immediately apply moisturizer to the whole body. There is no specific rule or timeframe to moisturizing. You can do it whenever you feel is required, say after cleaning their mouth after a feed.
Avoid the Sun
Avoiding the sun doesn’t mean you and your baby need to stay under your roof forever. If you are comfortable taking your baby out for a walk, to a neighborhood park, or even to the beach, just make sure that their skin doesn’t get exposed to the sun’s rays directly. Use brimmed hats, cover their body with soft cloths, use the sun cover in their stroller, and sit under a tree or umbrella. Using sunscreen for babies under 6 months of age is not recommended; therefore, use other techniques, including those given above, to protect your baby’s skin from the sun.
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