Taking care of your baby's skin can feel intimidating and complicated
, especially if you are a new parent.
For many new parents, the new task of parenting itself (even just keeping the baby alive) can be incredibly overwhelming.
The good news is that baby skin care is a lot easier than most new parents think it is. Clean and clear baby skin does not depend on expensive or complicated skin care routines. You only need a few products. This article contains the information you need to put together a reliable baby skin care routine.
Believe it or not, your newborn and young infant does not need to have a bath every night. Most of the time young infants and newborns stay pretty clean. This is mostly because babies can't get around on their own and depend on their parents to get them from place to place. This means that parents can keep an eye out for things that will get the baby dirty or that could harm the baby's skin. While your baby is still considered a "newborn" he or she only needs to be given a bath twice a week or so (as long as you keep his or her face free of dirt). When babies learn to crawl and walk, however, you need to give them baths more frequent.
Be careful around your baby's umbilical cord stump. Rubbing it, pulling on it and playing with it are bad ideas. Swab the stump with rubbing alcohol a few times a day. Leave it alone the rest of the time. Your level of care should be so high that you don't even give the baby a real bath until after the stump has fallen off. Folding down the top edge of your baby's diaper is the best way to keep the diaper from accidentally irritating the umbilical cord stump. This area is very sensitive and prone to infection so being very careful around it is very important. Ask your pediatrician how to care for the sensitive skin that is left behind after the stump falls off.