Coming home with your newborn baby is exciting, and a little intimidating. Suddenly you go from having a nurse helping to take care of your baby to being completely on your own. Bath time can feel a little scary. Here are some important tips to properly bathe your baby and to take away your worries.
Your first decision will be to choose, when you bathe your baby, is whether you want to give a sponge bath, or give your baby a full bath in her infant tub. Many pediatricians recommend giving newborns sponge baths until the umbilical cord stump falls off. Other pediatricians will tell you it is up to you, a bath is perfectly fine. It really is a matter of your preference in starting off, but is a question you may wish to ask your pediatrician when they visit the baby in the hospital.
A sponge bath may be the least stressful for you. Lay out a clean warm blanket, on a nice safe flat surface. Bring a small container of warm water and one your baby wash cloths. Test the water with the skin of your forearm, not with your fingers. Your fingers are not as sensitive to heat. You can use a little baby body wash, they are very gentle to your baby’s skin and hair.
Make sure when you bathe your baby to start with their eyes. Use a clean corner of the cloth to clean one eye, and then another clean corner for the other eye. You can then proceed to gently wash their tiny face, and work downwards across their body. The critical thing is to always be gentle. Your baby’s hair can be washed using the same soap, or with baby shampoo, whichever you prefer. If your baby has very little hair, then gently cleaning with the wash cloth is fine. Otherwise you can use small amounts of water to rinse the hair out carefully.
The same basic rules apply is your choose to bathe your baby in their infant tub. Make sure you are using an infant tub and not putting your baby in an adult bathtub or sink. There is more bacteria, and potential for hot water from the faucets in sinks or tubs.
When drying your baby just pat dry. You do not want to rub their skin since it is very sensitive. There is no need to use baby lotions on a newborn, their skin will stay soft and smooth without the lotion.
In both methods to bathe your baby, you must always keep one hand on your infant. Make sure you have accumulated all of your supplies ahead of time, and have everything within easy reach.
How often should you bathe your baby? Usually a newborn only needs to have a bath a couple times per week. They are not getting into anything dirty, except what they produce in their own diaper, which you clean immediately. Giving too many baths can actually lead to dry skin.
The most important tip when you bathe your baby, have fun. This is a time to explore your baby, and to enjoy their little fingers, toes, arms, legs, and all the other cute little parts.