Arriving home with the newborn raises many questions for parents. In the hospital there was not much to do because the baby slept almost all hours, and at most a quick wash was done because of the fact that the cord has not yet fallen, so when you see yourself alone with the baby the first question appears.
The most common are those related to care: when they cut their nails, if they need to have their hair cut, when to put moisturizing cream, how often to bathe them, how to do it, etc. With the intention of grouping all the advice on this in a single entry, today we offer you the best advice for newborn care.
1. Clothes in the early days
Warm it? Don’t wrap it up? During the first days it is interesting to have the baby relatively warm, since it comes from the womb where it was at a high temperature compared to the outside. Do not overdo it, but do not put it exactly as we do, or if it goes the same, be clear that we are in an environment where it cannot be cold. Once the first days are over, it is often said that you have to dress them with a sleeve more than us.
It is a way of explaining that they should go the same as adults, but with a thinner capita more, since they do not regulate the temperature as we do and, in addition, they do not have the amount of fat that we do have and that in some way protects us (And I’m not talking about being overweight or anything like that, but that they have very thin skin and we, even thin, not so much).
The ideal in this sense is to touch the neck and back area . That way we will know if they are comfortable or if they are hot or cold.
2. The bathroom
For a long time, babies bathed every day both for hygiene and for things to stay relaxed before going to sleep. The reality is that not everyone relaxes (many have a pipe and leave the bath more awake than they entered) and bathing them every day can be too much . And it is that the bathroom dries the skin , eliminates the natural bacteria that we have and many babies later suffer the consequences, in the form of eczema and skin infections. Come on, it is advisable to bathe the baby every two or three days , and on days that you do not bathe make a diaper change with soap and water.
How to bathe the baby? With the water at the right temperature (about 36 degrees), in a place where it is not cold and with everything prepared for later. Now comes summer and there is not much problem, but in cold weather it is interesting to dry the baby well, especially in the folds, and then dry and dress quickly.
3. The cream after the bath
In the same way that the bath is usually done every day, or was done every day, putting cream after the bath also seems to be something that should be done yes or yes. The reality is that during the first days it is interesting, because in many cases babies “peel”, but after the first days a baby usually does not need creams, oils or butt prevention . According to the AAP (American Association of Pediatrics) “a baby does not need to be regularly given creams, oils or powders. ”
This does not mean that it is bad, but only a practical and economic question. If the baby’s skin is fine, nothing needs to be put on. If it is a little dry in some areas, well, you put baby cream (cream better than oil, which hydrates less) in those areas, or if you want throughout the body until there are no dry areas.
As a tip, if you take advantage of the time to put the cream to massage the baby , I would do it every day, but not for the cream, but for the massage. It is a moment of love for him and those moments are very important to both of us.
4. Nail care
There is nothing special to do in the nails beyond cutting them when necessary. Many parents believe that they cannot be cut until babies are one month, or a specific age. The truth is that there is no minimum age to cut a baby’s nails . It is rather a matter of logic. If the baby has long nails, they will be cut, no matter how old they are.
It can be done with a file or it can be done with round-nose scissors and it is best to do it at a time when you are relatively calm. Anyway, we have to hold his hand well, lest a movement lead us to cut what we shouldn’t.
5. The eyes, ears and nose
There is nothing to do with the eyes, ears and nose, but in case it is necessary, it is worth knowing how to do it. If there are blemishes, which at first may be common because the tear ducts do not always work well and do not clean the eye as they should, they are cleaned with a little serum and with a gauze that wipes from the inside out and then throwing it away (just one pass by gauze).
If we see wax, only clean the part of wax that we see, the one on the outside, and better not to use sticks. As we told you a few months ago, the best way to clean the ears is with the elbow . That is, do not put anything inside.
In the case of the nose, if we notice that you have runny nose and do not breathe well, since they do not remove the snot voluntarily, it is recommended to use saline . The least aggressive way to do it is to drop it little by little, drop by drop, through the nostrils, so that the mucus is diluted and leaves the nose more easily or swallows it.
6. How to clean the diaper area
As I have already mentioned before, the ideal is to make at least one change a day with soap and water. If there can be more, well more, it always cleans better than the wipes. The direction we use to clean is important, because depending on how we do it, we will take the remains to the place where we remove the hand. It is important, then, to do it from the genitals to the anus . From top to bottom, so that the feces do not go to the genitals, but quite the opposite.
7. When the ass is stinging
If after cleaning you are not irritated you do not need to put anything. If it irritates, we put paste to the water in the diaper changes until the perianal area is again pink and healthy. One way to make homemade baby cream is to use a mixture of cornstarch and olive oil, which also works.
8. The cure of the birth cord
The birth cord, when it stops receiving blood supply, mummifies and ends up falling after a few days. How to cure it depends a little on the hospital where the baby is born, since there are those who recommend using 70ºC alcohol, there are those who say that only soap and water are used, and some say that nothing is necessary.
All the solutions are correct, because in a review of studies carried out by the WHO in 2004, in which 22 studies with 8,959 babies were included, they found that it was irrelevant how the navel was healed when comparing the use of antiseptic with the care of the cord in dry . So basically it does not matter how to cure it (as long as povidone iodine is not used). In case it smells bad or oozes , it is necessary to take it to the pediatrician.
9. Washing baby clothes
Babies’ skin is quite delicate and tends to respond easily to any “assault”. Surely you have noticed that if you take them naked our fingers are marked for a while. To avoid possible reactions, it is advisable to wash baby’s clothes separately, make sure that it is rinsed well and, if possible, not use fabric softener , as it causes many allergic skin reactions (pimples, redness, etc.). It is convenient to do the same with their sheets and blankets and with ours if the child ends up in our bed or takes a nap in it.
10. To cut or not to cut hair
The baby’s haircut is also done for aesthetics. In the first months, much of the baby’s hair usually falls out and many of them become practically bald. Then, around six months, the definitive hair begins to emerge. Cutting it will not make the hair come out stronger , so it is only done if parents feel that the baby will be better off with short hair. For this, scissors with a round tip must be used (the blade is totally inadvisable and the hair clipper can harm it) and the baby must be calm so as not to harm him.