Newborn Care Tips

Newborn babies have skin that has just been exposed to a new environment outside of the womb. Newborn baby skin care is essential for the baby to be kept healthy and safe. There are a lot of newborn baby skin care tips which may not seem to make sense but these may also have a relevance to the child's well being and future.

Keeping Baby's Skin Clean

Babies are usually very clean for the first few months. This is because they do not consume any solid foods as of yet and may just be drinking breast milk (the best for newborns!) or formula. Babies usually get dirty only when they urinate or move their bowels. These activities usually happen several times a day and newborn baby skin care tips for these occurrences focus on cleaning that particular are.

Cleaning methods for newborn baby boys and girls differ especially when it comes to cleaning the male and female genitalia. Newborn baby skin care tips advise parents that girls should be properly but gently cleaned because any dirt left in the genitals may cause an infection. Other newborn baby skin care advices are to keep the cleaning materials as natural as possible. Cotton dipped in water may be used for cleaning the baby's bottom or genitals. Natural skin care means that the baby is safe from harsh ingredients which may clean effectively but may also trigger skin rashes or allergies.

For about three to five weeks, the newborn baby just wiped clean and not immersed in a tubful of water. Newborn baby skin care in this stage states that two small bath cloths are needed; one with very mild soap and the other dipped occasionally in water. Water should be warm enough to be comfortable for the newborn but not enough to scald him or her. Many newborn baby skin care suggestions also suggest that the parent actually hold the baby while nothing assisted by another person. This newborn baby skin care tip ensures that the parent is always holding the baby ad the chances of submersion in water or water getting to the nose or mouth is nil. Other newborn baby skin care suggestions are to wash any clothes that the baby may use before wearing with a mild detergent, to use a mild fabric softener to lessen the possibility of rashes due to stiff clothing and to make sure that the tags are cut with scissors instead of pulled out because pulling tags out may leave behind some plastic which can scratch the baby's sensitive skin.