When and how often do you bathe your baby?
Bathing not only ensures cleanliness of the child's skin, but also promotes hardening. It is recommended to start swimming immediately after discharge from the maternity hospital. This should be done daily.
Attention! If the umbilical wound has not yet healed, it is necessary to use boiled water.
Babies under the age of six months are bathed once a day in winter and autumn, and twice a day in summer (morning and evening). It is recommended to bathe children after 6 months of age every other day in autumn and winter. In spring and summer, this procedure is carried out for such children every day, in hot weather - 2 times a day. Babies need to be washed at approximately the same time so that they develop a routine.
Positive effects of water
- The warmth of the water relaxes the muscles, so they go away colic
and hypertonicity
- Reducing weight in water facilitates movement based on innate reflexes - crawling, swimming, etc.
- Swinging in water is an excellent vestibular gymnastics
- Splashing water on the face causes a reflexive holding of breath - excellent breathing exercises
- Streams of water massage the baby's body
Preparing a newborn for bathing
Pediatricians do not recommend boiling water for bathing a baby whose umbilical wound has healed. Place a diaper at the bottom of the baby bath to make washing more convenient. Diapers are convenient because they do not leave marks on the baby's skin. You need to prepare:
- towel with hood;
- soft sponge or towel for washing;
- cotton balls;
- baby soap or any other hypoallergenic product;
- baby comb or brush.
How to bathe a newborn baby for the first time at home
Then warm water is poured into the container until it just covers the shoulders (the baby should be in a half-sitting position).
Note! It is necessary to measure the water temperature with a thermometer. It should be at 36-37 degrees. Some mothers determine the temperature with their elbow. The sensations during measurement should be neutral.
How to hold your baby while bathing
To make it convenient to swaddle your baby, you should lay out all the necessary items in a row in advance. To treat the wound, you should prepare a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Absolutely not necessary:
- turn on the electric fireplace in the bathroom;
- close the door tightly;
- Constantly add hot water during bathing.
Capacity requirements
How to choose a bath? A baby bath must meet the following criteria :
- suitable for the child's height;
- have an anatomical bottom shape;
- be stable, without sharp bends;
- have a neutral, not too bright color;
- have sufficient width to accommodate bathing equipment;
- be hygienic and environmentally friendly.
The bath can be made of plastic, metal, inflatable rubber - the main thing is that the material is hypoallergenic and non-toxic for the baby.
We invite you to watch a video about what requirements a bathtub for bathing a baby must meet:
Basic rules when swimming
How often to bathe a newborn baby up to a month old
Parents should not only know how to properly hold their newborn when bathing in the bathtub, but also follow important rules. Necessary:
- gently lower the child into the bath;
- lather the body with a gentle washcloth;
- monitor the baby's reaction;
- For safety, use a sun lounger;
- interest him in toys;
- never leave a baby unattended.
To avoid burns, check the temperature before immersing your newborn in water. If you need to answer the phone or leave the bathroom, wrap your child in a towel and take it with you.
Gymnastics in water
Up to 3 months, gymnastics is performed in a regular large bathtub, when the child grows up - in a swimming pool. Gymnastics uses innate reflexes
newborn – reflex of holding the breath, crawling, etc. The duration of water gymnastics is determined by the baby’s mood, usually 10-20 minutes.
The main goal is to develop a child’s love for water
and help the child feel confident in the aquatic environment.
Warm water reminds the newborn of the time spent in his mother's womb, restoring the feeling of weightlessness and comfort
.
In addition, bathing a child is a special type of communication
between parents and a newborn, which brings great pleasure to both the baby, mother and father.
Watch the video
.
How to properly hold a newborn while bathing
How to hold a newborn correctly
After making sure that the water is at a normal temperature, you can start washing. The child is lowered into the water smoothly and slowly.
Attention! In the first days after the maternity hospital, it is best to lower the newborn in a diaper. This makes it easier to hold a slippery body.
The baby should be immersed in water, holding the head and back of the head with his left hand, and his butt with his right hand. The newborn's head and neck should not be completely submerged in water. The baby should calm down a little.
Child immersion
Then they start washing. During this procedure, the head should lie on the left forearm, the back should be on the palm. The right hand is used for soaping. Particular care should be taken to wash the thigh folds, ears, armpits and groin. The face should be washed from a separate cup. Water from the tap should flow under medium pressure.
Another holding option is to place the head on your hand so that the part of it with the little finger supports the baby's neck. At the same time, a small folded diaper is placed underneath. It provides stability to the newborn.
Holding the baby's head
When washing, you can use a washcloth, but it is best to perform all actions using your hands. When bathing comes to an end, the child is turned over on his stomach and doused with clean water. It should be poured on the shoulders, not on the head.
After immersing the baby in the bath, you can support the head with your left hand. This way he will feel a little freedom in the bath. It will be pleasant and interesting for him to move his arms and legs in the water.
Features of the procedure
In water procedures, it is better to prepare thoroughly and in advance, so that during the session you will not be distracted by searching for the necessary things and devices.
What will you need?
Before the procedure, you will need to prepare the room where bathing will take place, prepare the water, bath and prepare clothes for the baby. List of what you need:
- baby bath;
- water thermometer;
- a special bed in the water for the baby or an inflatable pillow under the head;
- cosmetics for treating the skin during and after bathing;
- several cotton pads the size of tennis balls for washing a newborn;
- if necessary, herbal decoctions, salts or potassium permanganate solution;
- a ladle of hot water - add more if the bath cools down;
- three diapers - place one on the bottom of the bath, wipe the baby with the second, and cover the changing table with the third;
- soft-lined towel;
- means for treating the umbilical wound (hydrogen peroxide, brilliant green, cotton swabs);
- clothes and diapers.
If a child is bathed in a medicinal composition, there is no need to use children's cosmetics.
How to hold your baby while bathing?
You can bathe the baby alone, but it is better that the procedure takes place in the presence of both parents , or that someone helps the mother.
You need to hold the baby in such a way that your left hand is placed parallel to the body, holding the head and back.
The head should rest against the bend of the elbow - this way the baby will be securely fixed.
Hold the legs and buttocks with your right hand, carefully immersing the child in the water, while the liquid should reach the baby only to the upper third of the chest.
How to wash properly?
Start washing from top to bottom:
- head (excluding the face, eyes, mouth and nose);
- areas behind the ears where regurgitated milk often accumulates;
- folds on the neck;
- breast;
- hands, paying special attention to the armpits and folds between the fingers;
- stomach;
- genitals;
- hips and legs, folds between the toes.
At the end of bathing, the baby is carefully turned over in weight with his back up and washed. All manipulations are performed with cotton balls prepared at the beginning. It is not recommended to use a sponge for newborns, since the skin is still very delicate.
Girls should wash their genitals from front to back; there are no strict rules for boys.
Water temperature
The optimal temperature of the water in the bath is about 36-37 °C . It is better to measure it with a thermometer, but you can estimate it by immersing your elbow in water. High temperatures can cause overheating and lethargy, while lower temperatures can cause a cold.
We invite you to watch a video about what temperature you should bathe your baby at:
Other actions
At the end of bathing, the child is quickly taken out of the bath and wrapped in a diaper, which will absorb most of the water. Then the body is dried with a towel with light movements, as if getting wet. Do not rub the baby's delicate sensitive skin.
If the little one bathed in a decoction of herbs, there is no additional need to treat the skin with hygiene products.
If clean water was used, the skin is lubricated with baby cream, oil or sprinkled with powder. All products are applied only to dry skin .
Features of bathing in a bath
For bathing, it is recommended to choose a bath that would be comfortable for the baby and his parents. It should be light. The ideal solution for baby washing is a compact and lightweight plastic bathtub. Enameled and ceramic products are not so convenient.
Bathing a child in a bathtub
It is best to place the bath on a table or other stable furniture. This will make bathing the baby easier. Since it can be quite difficult for beginners to hold newborns while bathing, it is necessary to choose the appropriate shape of the bath. Modern models have an elevation at head level. This will make it convenient for parents to control the position of the newborn.
Some parents find it difficult to hold a soapy baby. To protect against slipping, a diaper is used. It is recommended to place it in the bath as a comfortable and non-slip headrest, which will minimize the risk of injury.
Important! The duration of washing newborn babies should not exceed 5 minutes.
What herbal decoctions should I bathe my child in?
In the previous paragraph, we deliberately did not write about herbal decoctions for bathing children. Many sources on the Internet say that after the umbilical wound has healed, you can bathe the child in a decoction of herbs. Herbs can have calming, restorative, antiallergic and antiseptic effects. Often, decoctions are prepared from calendula, chamomile, string, sage, plantain, bay leaf and many other herbs.
But today doctors do not recommend bathing children in herbal decoctions. The modern pharmaceutical industry is ready to offer healthier, non-allergenic emulsions for bathing newborn babies.
What to do after swimming
After water procedures, put a cap on the child’s head and very gently blot all wet parts of the body with a towel. Particular attention is paid to folds on the skin. Do not rub the cloth over the skin. Next, comb your hair carefully.
Combing baby
For newborns, there is no need to use moisturizing cosmetics, because the epidermis should exfoliate naturally. It is not recommended to disrupt this process by exposure to artificial cosmetics. After the baby's skin is completely dry, he needs to be wrapped in a diaper, before putting on a clean diaper, rompers and a shirt.
Often young parents do not know how to properly hold their baby while bathing. Once you are familiar with simple washing techniques, you can safely carry out this procedure at home. The little one will always be clean, which means healthy. Any mother or father can quickly and happily learn simple techniques for bathing a baby.
