Nothing
is sweeter than the soft, smooth skin of a newborn. Your baby’s skin is a
protective barrier, too. It will continue to change through her first year of
life.
Here’s
how to keep it pampered and feeling good.
1. Rethink Bath Time
Even if you enjoy
it as a nightly ritual, know that you don’t have to fully bathe your baby more
than twice a week -- at least until he’s crawling around and rubbing sweet
potatoes in his hair. The rest of the time, sponge baths around the diaper
area, mouth, and any skin folds (around armpits, thighs, and double chins),
will do the trick.
You don’t even
need to lather him up. “As a mom and dermatologist, I used soap only where
needed in the areas with folds,” says Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, MD. She's a
clinical instructor at the University of California, San Francisco. “Water
everywhere else was fine.”
Choose a mild
liquid cleanser that won’t dry out your baby’s skin or sting her eyes.
“Soap-free liquid cleansers that are both fragrance- and dye-free are
preferred,” says pediatric dermatologist Amy Theos, MD, of Birmingham, AL.
“Some of these do not lather much but are still effective cleansers.”
Avoid bar soap
and bubble baths. Also, follow basic safety guidelines -- support your baby’s
head, and test the temperature of the water on the inside of your wrist, for
example. Gather your supplies beforehand, because a baby should never, ever be
left alone in a bath. Not even for a second.
2. Block the Sun
Keep your baby
out of the sun as much as possible. When she goes out in the daytime, use these
items to cover and protect her tender skin:
·
A
hat
·
Tightly
woven clothing with long sleeves and pants
·
Sunglasses
with ultraviolet (UV) protection
·
A
broad-spectrum sunscreen (that blocks out both UVA and UVB rays) with a sun
protection factor (SPF) of at least 15
For babies
younger than 6 months, apply sunscreen only to small areas that might be hard
to cover with clothes, such as the face and hands. Rub it in well. You can
apply sunscreen to all skin areas of an older baby’s body, but be careful
around his eyes. Also, try not to take him out between the hours of 10 a.m. and
4 p.m. That's when the sun is the strongest and can do the most harm.
Sunscreen sticks
or blocks with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide might be gentler on skin. Reapply
sunscreen every 2 hours or after your baby sweats or gets wet.
-Thanks to webmd.com
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