On the hygiene of newborns

Excellent well-being, lack of skin problems, good immunity in a newborn depends on whether mom can properly carry out hygiene procedures.

Newborn hygiene - This is a necessary, daily stage of care for the baby, which includes several mandatory procedures.

If you do not maintain the cleanliness of the body of the newborn, then there will certainly be problems with health and skin, which will have to be solved with the help of a doctor and medications. It is necessary to take care of the skin of the baby constantly, some procedures need to be carried out in the morning, others throughout the day.

Daily newborn toilet after waking up

After the baby woke up in the morning, he needs to rinse his eyes, clean the nose of mucus, remove dirt from the auricles, and wash. The most prerequisite is the cleanliness of the mother’s hands - they must be thoroughly washed with soap, preferably with short nails, otherwise you risk injuring the baby’s delicate skin. Hygiene items for daily care need to be selected in advance, choosing the highest quality, safe and convenient.

• Look after the eyes. It is necessary to prepare warm boiled water in a small container and cotton swabs, it is not recommended to use cotton wool in its pure form, since fibers remain after it. Wet the swab in water, slightly wring out and wipe the eye, moving from the outer corner to the inner one. For each eye, you need to use a separate swab. If you see that the baby wakes up with copious secretions, then you can use a decoction of chamomile, calendula, or strained tea leaves of light color for washing the eyes.
• Care for the nasal passages. During the night, mucus accumulates in the newborn’s nose, which prevents him from breathing normally. If the discharge is liquid, then cotton turunds dipped in sterile vegetable oil are used to remove them. With rotational movements, the turunduch is inserted into the nasal passage and it is also removed from the nose. Rotation helps to collect all the mucus, but it should not be injected into a deep turund. The nasal passages are cleaned with separate flagella. If the mucus is dry, then first you need to soften it, using droplets with a base of sea water. They are completely harmless and do not cause allergies. Learn more about how to brush a baby’s nose
• Ear Care. It is only necessary to clean the external auricle, the ear canal is too delicate and any careless movement can turn into painful sensations for the baby. The auricle is safer to clean with a cotton pad moistened with water, and you can use soft ear sticks with special clips. Detailed article how to clean ears
• Baby face wipe with cotton swabs dipped in warm boiled water. Be sure to wipe your forehead, cheeks, chin.
• Daily Newborn Hygiene after waking up, it consists in washing the buttocks and genitals. Washing is carried out with warm water, after which the skin and folds must be thoroughly dried and treated with baby powder or special nappy cream. Talc contained in such products absorbs excess moisture and prevents diaper rash.
• In the first days after the baby is born, regular care for the umbilical wound should be carried out. It will take 3% hydrogen peroxide, a solution of brilliant green and cotton buds. In a peroxide, a cotton swab or tampon is moistened and moisten the navel area well, it is advisable to wait one to two minutes for the crusts to soften. Then carefully remove the lagged dry crusts. Again, clean the navel with a clean cotton swab with peroxide. Dry with a clean swab and process with brilliant green. It is not necessary to lubricate the skin around the umbilical wound with an antiseptic, firstly, it is not advisable, and secondly, it will not allow you to notice changes in skin color. And the appearance of redness and an increase in temperature in this place indicates inflammation, when fixing such phenomena, you must definitely call your pediatrician. Usually, the umbilical wound heals in less than 10 days, slight bleeding during this period is also a normal option. Umbilical Wound Care Article

Detailed article: newborn baby skin care

Video: Morning routines

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All-day hygiene

Caring for a baby is not limited only to the morning hours, personal hygiene of the newborn should be observed throughout the day.

After each act of defecation, it is necessary to wash the baby, dry his skin and treat the folds with talcum powder or baby cream.

After feeding, you need to make sure that the area near the mouth is clean, food debris quickly leads to the appearance of small dot pink rashes.

Diaper change. Washings

Nail care

Many parents are panicky afraid to cut the nails on the arms and legs of the baby, fearing to hurt him. You can safely and quickly cope with overgrown nails using the advice of pediatricians.

1. Secure scissors with thin blades and rounded tips with protective caps must be purchased. It is more convenient for some mothers to use special tweezers, such devices are also available specially for babies - they have a conveniently mounted magnifier that enlarges the area of ​​the nail edge several times. Using such knipsers, you can not be afraid to cut the nails.
2. Cutting off nails is best when the baby is sleeping - newborns have a good sleep and they do not feel careful manipulations at all.
3. You need to cut your nails regularly - with a long nail the child can scratch his face, because the baby still does not know how to control movements.

Detailed article:How to trim the nails of a newborn baby

During the day, you need to monitor the condition of the skin folds on the neck and interdigital spaces. In these places, small fibers from clothes quickly accumulate, you can remove them with a wet swab or special baby wipes.

Bathing

When conducting hygiene at home, the most important ritual in the evening hours is bathing the baby, this procedure should not be neglected and it is advisable to carry it out every day in the first weeks of life. Bathing in warm water not only cleans the baby’s skin from accumulated toxins, residual body fluids, sweat, but also soothes and relaxes, which ensures a good night's sleep.

How to bathe a baby:

1. The first thing you need to decide on a bathing room. If the bathroom is too small, you can bathe in the bedroom, but you need to warm up the room and check for drafts. For bathing you will need a bath, water with a temperature of up to 37 degrees, a thermometer for measuring it, a jug with warm water for rinsing, a diaper, a towel.
2. Gently dip the baby into the prepared water (in order to prevent the baby from being scared, you can first wrap it in a thin diaper, it allows the baby to adapt more gently to changing conditions). First, the legs are immersed, then gradually the whole body. It is necessary to ensure that the head and ears are not under water, special slides and rollers are sold that hold the baby's body. We remove the diaper.
3. For washing, you need to use a special baby shampoo that does not cause irritation and baby soap. Bathing for the first time lasts 5-7 minutes, then the time gradually increases. After bathing, the head and body are rinsed with prepared water, pouring in a thin stream.
4. The baby is taken from the bath, wrapped in a towel and put on a changing table or bed. Now you need to thoroughly dry all the folds and treat them with special creams.

Bathing Articles:

• In which water to bathe a newborn baby
• Baby bathing in the grass
• The baby is afraid to swim

Hygiene products for the smallest

Hygiene products for the newborn should be especially carefully selected, they should be designed for body care in the first months after birth. It will take some of the most popular in the first weeks:

1. Fragrance-free baby soap.
2. Talc. Special children's talcum powder is available in liquid form. When applied to the skin, it neutralizes moisture well and does not collect into lumps.
3. Shampoo should be marked “no tears”.
4. Wet wipes.
5. Cream for irritation Bepanten or D - Panthenol. For skin care without irritation choose a simple moisturizer.

On this topic: TOP 10 baby care products.

When buying baby hygiene products for a newborn, be sure to pay attention to the expiration date and quality. You can determine the reliability of the manufacturer by clear labels without errors, detailed instructions, clearly visible expiration dates.

More links on the topic of care:

• 3 hygiene rules for girls
• Intimate hygiene of a newborn baby girl;
• Intimate hygiene of newborn boys;
• Daily and weekly baby care.

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Video: Hygiene and Newborn Care