While keeping your baby clean is not complicated, it is also not as simple as placing him in the tub from time to time. But, as long as you follow some basic guidelines, you can be assured that your little one will safely stay well groomed and cleaned.
Age Specific Bathing and Grooming Guidelines
The first bathing rule to know is that newborns need to be treated with special care. This means that they should not be given tub baths for at least the first week of their lives. Instead, clean newborns with warmed baby wipes, damp washcloths, and/or sponges. When sponge bathing your infant, make sure you clean his genital area thoroughly and then dry him off before dressing him again.
Moving to the Tub
The time to start giving your baby tub baths is once her belly button has healed. Since at this age, your infant will still be very small, you should not use a normal baby bathing tub. Instead, wash your little gal in a cleaned kitchen sink or a very small baby tub.
Baby Bathing Tips
No matter what size and age your baby is, you need to make sure you bathe her safely and correctly. Make sure you test the water temperature, it should NEVER be above 120 degrees F, before placing your small one in the tub. Also, do not place her in until the water has been turned off since the new water’s temperature can change without you being aware of it. You must never leave your baby unattended in her bath. Moreover, baths do not need to go on and on; unless she enjoys her bath, there is no reason for her bath to last much longer than five minutes or so.
Bathing Schedule
Until your baby is able to crawl around and get dirty on his own, he only needs to be bathed every other day. However, the cleaning of the genital region needs to take place with every diaper change, just as do face cleanings need to happen after each feeding.
Your Baby’s Nails
Your baby’s fingernails and toenails will grow faster than you can imagine, and you will need to trim these nails to keep your baby from scratching himself. The best time to clip his nails is right after his bath since his nails will have been softened by the warm water. Of course, you must not use adult nail trimmers. Instead go with trimmers or clippers that have been made for babies.
Dental Care
The time to start brushing your baby’s teeth is before she has a single tooth. Of course, at that point, you’ll simply be brushing and cleaning her gums. That said, the brushing at this stage is actually more of a rubbing of the gums with a washcloth or damp gauze that has been wrapped around one of your fingers. You ought to do this gentle rubbing of your baby’s gums twice a day.
This is the only way you will need to provide dental care to your baby until he has at least two or three teeth. At this point, introduce a baby toothbrush to your child by letting him chew on it before you use it to brush his few teeth and his gums.