Baby body care

Having a newborn can be fun and exciting, but if it is your first child, it can also be somewhat scary. The reason for this is that you cannot care for your newborns body the same way that you can care for yours. You cannot use the same items on your newborn baby because their skin is a lot more sensitive than yours is, and a newborn in general requires different care. You have things like umbilical cords, baby acne, circumcisions, and other issues that are usually present with newborns.

Here is some information on things you can do to take care of your baby's body.

Baby acne:
Baby acne is very common in newborns, and while it can be present at birth, it is more likely to show up after a couple of weeks. Baby acne can appear on your child's forehead, chin, and even their back, but it is most often found on their cheeks. If you notice some other kind of rash, one that does not look like pimples, or a rash that appears elsewhere on your baby's body, it could be either cradle cap or eczema.

Just like other forms of acne, there is no real answer to what causes it. Hormones that babies receive from their mothers at the end of the pregnancy can cause baby acne, but it can also be linked to certain medications that your baby is taken or certain medications that you are taking if you are nursing can cause it. When nursing some of the medications you take can be passed into your breast milk, which in turn is passed onto your baby.

The good news about baby acne is that it usually clears up within a few weeks, but it can linger for a few months. If your baby's acne concerns you or does not go away on its own in a few months you will want to talk to your doctor about what you can do. In the meantime, here are some things that you should avoid doing to treat your baby's acne:

• Do not put creams and oils on your baby's skin because it can make the acne worse
• Do not scrub at the acne or use over the counter acne medications because baby acne is not caused by dirt
• Avoid over washing your baby's face because this can further irate your baby's skin. All you need to do is wash your baby's face with mild baby soap and water once a day.

Umbilical cord stump:
During your pregnancy, your baby received their nourishment and oxygen through the placenta, which was connected to your baby through the umbilical cord. Since this nourishment is no longer needed after birth, the umbilical cord is clamped off and cut close to the body, which leaves your baby with an umbilical cord stump. This stump will fall off in about 10 to 21 days. After it falls off it will leave a small wound that can take a few days to heal. How it falls off is that it dries up and then simply drops off.

When it comes to taking care of your baby's umbilical cord stump the most important thing to remember is that it must be kept clean and dry. Since it must be kept dry, you want to avoid giving your newborn a tub bath until the umbilical stump has fallen off. In order to keep the umbilical cord stump dry you are going to need to ensure there is proper ventilation. Buy diapers that have a cutout space for the umbilical cord or fold down the front of the diaper. If your baby was born in warm weather, you can have them wear a diaper and a loose shirt to allow more airflow, which will speed up the drying process.

In order to clean, the baby's umbilical cord stump you can leave it alone and let it dry naturally or you can use rubbing alcohol. When using rubbing alcohol you will need to gently swab the base of the umbilical cord stump with a cotton swab once or twice a day. After your baby is born your doctor or midwife will swab the baby's umbilical cord with dye or another antiseptic to prevent infection, regardless of which method you choose to use. A study was done in 1998 on 1800 newborns to determine if you should alcohol or not. The study shows us that if left to dry naturally the umbilical cord will dry and fall off in about eights days, whereas if alcohol is used it generally takes up to ten days for it to dry and fall off.

Fingernails:
Even though your baby's nails are softer and more flexible than yours that does not mean that they are still not sharp. With how sharp their nails are newborns are at a great risk for scratching themselves or you because they have no control over their limbs. The best way to prevent this is to time their nails, which might need to be done several times a week because of how fast their nails grow.

One of the easiest ways to trim your newborn's nails is to peel them off with your fingers or you can even bite them off. Their nails are so soft that they will easily rip right along the tops of their fingers, and you do not need to worry about tearing off the whole nail. Another easy method is filing the nails down with an emery board, but this can take a bit of time, so you must be patient.

You can also invest in a pair of baby scissors or clippers. If using clippers or scissors you might want to ask somebody for help. Having somebody hold the baby while you clip the nails will help prevent your baby from moving too much. When clipping the nails you will want to press the finger pads away from the nail so that you do not nick the skin, you also want to make sure you have a firm grip on your baby's hand and then clip.

Genitals:
Whether you have a boy or a girl, you might notice that your newborn baby's genitals are swollen and red. If you have a girl, you might even notice that she has a clear, white, or slightly bloody discharge. Both of these situations are completely normal for the first few weeks of your baby's life. The reason that the genitals can be swollen or showing discharge is because of all of the hormones that your baby was exposed to during your pregnancy. If the symptoms do not clear up within six weeks you will want to consult with your doctor at your next checkup.

If you have a little girl, cleaning the vaginal area is very simple. All you will need to do is wipe her vaginal area with a moist clean cloth when you change her diaper and when you give her a bath. When wiping her vaginal area make sure that you are wiping her from front to back. This will prevent you from transferring bacteria from her anus to her vagina.

For circumcised baby boys all you need to do is keep the skin clean with soap and water as a part of normal bathing. However, for the first few days after the circumcision the penis will appear red and you might even notice a yellowish secretion. This is nothing to be alarmed about, it is actually normal; it means that the penis is healing properly. Although circumcision sites hardly ever become infected, there is still a chance that an infection can occur. The signs to watch for that show an infection is present are redness that does not go away after a few days, a swollen penis tip, and crusted yellow sores that contain fluid that are located on the end of the penis. If you notice any signs of an infection, be sure to call your doctor right away.

If your little boy is uncircumcised, you do not want to try to retract the foreskin, during bathing or diaper changes. The reason for this is that the foreskin is still connected to the penis; it can take several months or even several years for the foreskin to separate from the penis. Once your doctor tells you that the foreskin has separated from the penis you will be able to safely retract the foreskin. This will need to be done on occasion so that you can clean the end of the penis underneath the foreskin. Once you have retracted the foreskin you need to gently wipe off the white, waxy substance that appears on the head of the penis, you also want to do this as quickly as possible.

Teeth:
You should start brushing your baby's teeth as soon as their first tooth appears. Make sure that you use toothpaste that is fluoride free, since your baby will swallow the toothpaste rather than spit it out. When picking out a toothbrush you are going to want to choose a soft toothbrush so that you do not damage your baby's gums.

Taking care of your newborn baby is not very difficult; you just need to know what areas are going to require special care. As your baby gets older taking care of them is the same as taking care of yourself, you just need to follow good hygiene habits.