General Care in Newborn Babies
Temperature Maintenance
- Newborns find it very difficult to maintain their body temperature
- Hence, baby should be covered very well with socks, caps, and mittens
- If possible always use cotton clothes for babies especially clothes coming in direct contact with the baby’s skin
- Avoid keeping them under direct air currents like directly under the AC vent or fan
- Room temperature should be preferably maintained between 26-28°C
Skin Care
- Oil can be used for gently massaging the baby
- Best possible oil available is coconut oil which can be used for gentle massage
- Bathing can be started once umbilical cord falls off but make sure that babies achieved 2.5kg weight before starting bathing
- To clean anal area avoid wiping vigorously and minimize using fragrant wipes
- Try to clean anal area under running water and mop with soft cotton cloth
- Mild cleansers with neutral PH can be used for cleaning the baby
- Fragrance-free shampoo can be used as they are chemical-free
- Make sure that cleansers are not causing irritation to your newborn eyes
- One misconception is that water enters umbilicus and keeps umbilical area without touching, by doing so chances of umbilical infection are high
- Recommendation is to clean the umbilical area as well while giving bath to the baby
- Avoid powder application with puff, as there is a possibility of inhalation of powder by the newborn and causing infection
- Just smear the powder on your hands and gently apply it on the body of the newborn
- Newborn skin is so sensitive and easily gets dried
- It is very important to keep baby warm especially during winters by covering the baby well
- Emollients can be used to keep the baby’s skin moisturized
- Avoid using lotion as it contains more water content and gets easily evaporated
- It is advisable to use cream rather than lotion for moisturizing the baby as it forms a thick layer over the skin and stays long
- To keep the newborn’s skin moisturized and healthy emollients can be used once in 2-4 hours especially during winters
- Keeping the newborn’s skin moisturized is the key feature to prevent most of the skin allergies
How to Make Our Newborn Always a Happy Baby
- When a newborn is fussy or irritable, most of the times it is due to a wet diaper, so always change the wet diaper immediately to prevent diaper rash
- Diapers need to be changed often in newborns
- We can expect to change diapers every 2nd or 3rd hourly round the clock
- Minimize the use of synthetic diapers and fragrant wipes as they tend to cause diaper rash
- When the baby is at home just keep a soft cloth or soft pads under the baby
- If at all using diapers apply cream which contains zinc oxide so that rashes are minimized
Eye Care
- Cleaning eyes is also important for the first few weeks after birth
- Soak soft cotton cloth in water and wipe inwards to outwards so that whatever pus formed is cleaned
- Use separate swabs for both the eyes to prevent cross-infection between the eyes
Nail Care
- One more thing which bothers mothers is cutting the newborn nail
- Very often mothers complain that my newborn keeps scratching his face and nose and keeps bleeding from those sites
- Newborn nails grow very fast, they need to be cut twice a week
- Best way to cut nails in newborns is to cut with special nail cutters designed for newborn babies
- Remember they need to be cut a little away from the skin
- Do not go very close to the skin because you might cut the skin and cause infection
Sleeping Position
- Finally, it is very important to know the sleeping position in newborn
- While putting the baby to sleep always put baby back to sleep and not in prone position
- Once the baby turns himself or herself that is absolutely normal but otherwise baby should be put back to sleep
0
