How To Care For Your New Baby’s Hair, Nails And Skin

Taking care of a newborn baby’s highly sensitive hair, nails, as well as skin, can seem intimidating for a parent. However, following a simple easy to apply five-step baby care routine recommended by an expert dermatologist from the American Academy of Dermatology can go a long way in easing the process of looking after a newborn baby’s delicate skin, nails, and hair.

American dermatologist Dr. Kachiu Lee says that even though a newborn infant’s super tiny feet and hands can seem so vulnerable and fragile; the actual fact is that babies are far stronger and resilient than most of us might assume.

How To Care For Your New Baby’s Hair, Nails And Skin

He further added that all parents are required to do in order to take care of their newborn baby’s delicate skin, nails and hair is to ensure they maintain good hygiene standards for their newborn by simply following a few basic general guidelines.

Guidelines for caring for newborn baby’s Hair, Nails, and Skin:

Care to be taken during giving a Bath

• Ensure you keep your new born baby clean by giving them a gentle bath two to three times in one week.
• For the Initial few weeks, until your new born infant’s umbilical cord stump falls away and that area completely heals, ensure to give them only gentle sponge baths.
• Once the umbilical cord area is fully healed, you can start giving your baby traditional soap baths.
• Ensure you only stick to using fragrance free and mild soaps and shampoos and lukewarm water.
• Start with application of soap only to the dirty areas of the baby’s body such as the diaper area and the creases of the neck portion.
• Finish off by thoroughly rinsing with water after cleaning with soap and shampoo.

Care to be taken while wearing Diapering

• In order to prevent a diaper rash on your baby’s delicate skin, make sure you change dirty diapers as soon as you can, even if they may be just wet.
• In case a diaper rash does develop even after taking all the necessary precautions, be very gentle in cleansing the diaper area and make sure you immediately apply a diaper rash cream containing zinc oxide as the active ingredient.

Care to be taken for the baby’s nails

• Whenever you find your new born baby’s nails getting too long or sharp, make sure you immediately trim them in order to prevent accidental scratches on the baby’s delicate skin.
• You can either use a emery board or a nail filer to round off the baby’s nails to ensure they are not jagged shaped.

Caring for the baby’s Laundering

• Always make sure you regularly wash your new born infant’s bed sheets, blankets as well as clothes and undergarments thoroughly before and after use to avoid any chances of infection.
• Also ensure you only use mild and fragrance free detergents for washing the baby’s laundry.

  Sun Protection

• Make sure you keep your baby under shade. In absence of natural shade, use a stroller hood, canopy or an umbrella.
• Dress the baby in sun protected clothes like long sleeved and lightweight shirt, pants, UV protected sunglasses and wide-brimmed hats.
• For children under six months, minimal sunscreen should be applied only to areas that are not covered with clothes, in absence of any shade.
• Only water-resistance sunscreens containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide that have broad-spectrum protection and an SPF higher than 30 should be used every couple of hours or soon after swimming.

Dr. Lee further added that maintaining good skin habits will go a long way in maintaining your child’s health.