Without exception, all mothers are worried about whether they will be able to provide their child with the care necessary for his healthy growth: properly bathe the baby, cut off his nails, treat the umbilical wound.

Therefore, before mothers cross the threshold of their home, they have many questions about caring for a child: is it worth washing the baby after each urination, what is the best way to treat the navel: brilliant green or calendula tincture?

Today we will try to find answers to the main questions about the hygiene of the child and talk about the basic procedures for daily care of the baby.
Newborn's morning toilet

Like every person, a baby should wash his face in the morning, of course, his mother should help him in this.

After the newborn wakes up, strip him naked, let him lie naked for a while - this is good for the baby's skin. Then carefully examine the baby, check for redness on the skin, prickly heat. If there is, then prepare a baby cream to lubricate problem areas after washing the baby.

The baby is washed with cotton pads soaked in warm boiled water. Washing the newborn is carried out from top to bottom.
Wipe your baby's eyes from the outer edge to the inner. For the hygiene of each eye, it is recommended to take a new cotton pad.
Gently wipe the baby's face with a damp cotton pad, the outside of the ears, the skin behind the ears, and the neck.
Listen to the baby's breathing, it should be free. If breathing is difficult, clear your baby's nose. To do this, you can use a special saline solution for children under one year old and an aspirator (a device that helps suck out mucus).
You can also use two small cotton swabs soaked in baby oil to remove scabs from your nose. The flagella must be carefully inserted alternately into each nostril of the child's nose and scrolled several times. If the baby's nose breathes well, then it does not need to be cleaned.
Then it is necessary to wipe all the folds of the baby's skin with a damp cotton pad, change the child's dirty diaper to a clean one, washing the baby or using baby wipes to cleanse the skin.

Caring for the umbilical wound

During the newborn period, the umbilical wound is a special place on the body of a child, it requires careful care.
As a rule, the umbilical wound is treated once a day, this can be done after bathing, when all the crusts are soaked from the water and the mucus is washed out.

How to treat the navel of a newborn? There are several ways to treat the umbilical wound, each of them is quite effective: dry the navel for a few minutes;

treatment of the navel with hydrogen peroxide and antiseptic (chlorhexidine, baneocin, levomekol, iodine, brilliant green, alcohol-based chlorophyllipt) - to treat the navel, take two cotton swabs, dip one in peroxide, the other in antiseptic, first treat the navel with peroxide , with which we wash all the crusts from the navel, and then with an antiseptic.

Advice on which navel cleaning method to use is usually given by the nurses at the maternity hospital, as well as by the health visitor who will visit your baby during the first month of life.

Important! If you notice that the skin around the umbilical wound is inflamed, be sure to consult a doctor.
If you see that the umbilical wound does not heal within a month, it is better to take the child to the doctor. Usually, up to 14 days of life, the umbilical residue disappears and the wound heals.

Washing the newborn

Wash your baby under running water after each bowel movement.

It is convenient to wash your newborn like this:
Place the baby on your stomach on your left palm facing you or with his back on your forearm with his head towards you.
Place the child's lower body under running water.
Lather baby's buttocks and genitals with baby soap (liquid soap for babies is better, it's easier to use).
Then rinse the soap thoroughly with water, pat the baby's skin dry with a towel or diaper.
If the baby has just urinated into the diaper, then you can not wash it, but use wet wipes when changing the diaper. Choose special baby wipes that are fragrance- and alcohol-free.
Changing diapers

Most often, mothers use disposable diapers for baby care. There are a few simple rules that are important to follow in this case:

When using them, remember that the child should not be in one disposable diaper for more than 4 hours.
Putting a diaper on a newborn should be done in such a way that the umbilical cord is not covered. This is necessary for the fastest healing of the umbilical wound.

It is desirable that a few hours a day the baby just lie on the diaper without a diaper, so that the skin can breathe.

It is also important to ensure that diaper rash does not form on the skin under the diaper. To prevent diaper rash, it is necessary to dress the baby according to the weather, that is, do not overheat it, and you can also use a special diaper cream.

If diaper rash has already formed, you need to see a doctor, he will recommend a remedy for their healing, most likely it will be a cream containing dexpanthenol, an effective healing medicine.

Of course, it is better to prevent diaper rash, as they can be very painful and disturb the baby.
Bathing a newborn

All mothers are interested in the question: when can you start bathing a child after discharge from the hospital?

“You can bathe the child immediately after discharge, but if you have been vaccinated with BCG, but within a day or two after the vaccination, it is better not to bathe the child so as not to wet the injection site.”

After the umbilical wound has healed, you can already bathe your child in a regular bath in tap water, gradually increasing the bathing time from 5 minutes to 30-40.

Every day while bathing the child, it is necessary to wash his genitals and buttocks, 1-2 times a week you need to wash the whole baby with soap, and also wash the child's head with a special baby shampoo.

Important! Always bathe your child with the bathroom door open, thanks to this the child will not be so cold after you take him out of the water, since the temperature difference will not be too big.

Each time the baby should be lowered into the water slowly, starting from the legs. In the water it is necessary to support the entire body of the child. If water gets into the baby's ears or eyes while bathing, it's not scary, it's quite natural!

From the first days of life, you can start easy hardening of the child. To do this, before you start bathing the baby, prepare and place a vessel with water in the bathroom, the temperature of which will be 0.5-1 degrees lower than the temperature of the water in the bath. At the end of the bath, pour water over the child from this vessel.

After bathing the baby, blot with a diaper or towel, but do not dry it, as this procedure can damage the delicate baby skin.

You also need to prepare two small cotton buds and gently twist them into the baby's ears so that the cotton absorbs the water that got into the ears during the bath. After the baby's skin is dry, it is advisable to treat the folds with baby oil.
Newborn nail care

Baby's nails should be cared for 1-2 times a week, as children's nails grow very quickly. To cut nails, you need to purchase special scissors with rounded ends. On the legs, the nails should be cut evenly, and on the hands - rounding the edges.
Walking with the baby

In summer, you can walk with your baby the day after discharge from the maternity hospital. It is advisable to protect the child from direct sunlight. It is better to go for a walk in the summer either in the morning (before 10 am) or in the evening (after 6 pm), at this time it is not so hot.

In winter, walks are recommended to start 2-3 days after discharge from the hospital. If the temperature outside is below 10 degrees, it is better not to go for a walk with the baby.

The first walk should be very short - 10-15 minutes. Then every day it is worth walking for 10 minutes longer.

When preparing for a walk with the baby, mothers usually doubt whether they have dressed the baby correctly. In order not to miscalculate with clothes, you should always follow a simple rule - there should be as many clothes on the baby as on you, plus one more layer. So the baby will be comfortable.

Of course, during a walk it is worth checking the condition of the child. In the summer, it is important not to overheat the baby: if the child turns red, then it is worth taking something off him, he is hot.

In winter, there is a high risk of freezing. If the baby is cold, he will have cold hands, feet and nose, in which case an extra blanket will not hurt.

A.H. Abzalova,
neonatologist

What a mother should know about caring for a newborn

, advantage breastfeeding. The nurse teaches how to wash and wash the baby, teaches how to perform thermometry, care for the umbilical cord and umbilical wound.

Before and after caring for a child, a woman should wash her hands thoroughly.

Cord Remnant Care

The umbilical cord first dries out on exposure to air and then falls off within the first week of life.

According to international recommendations, sterile conditions are not required for the care of the umbilical cord.

It is not recommended to treat the umbilical cord residue with any antiseptics, it is enough to keep it dry and clean, protect it from contamination with urine, feces, and also from injury from tight swaddling or using disposable diapers with tight fixation. It has been proven that the local use of antiseptics not only does not reduce the frequency of infections, but also helps to delay the fall of the umbilical cord. In case of contamination, the umbilical cord residue and the skin around the umbilical ring can be washed with water and dried with clean cotton or gauze. The umbilical cord should fall off on its own. It is not recommended to use bandages and additional tying of the umbilical cord to speed up the mummification process. In the maternity hospital, early discharge is practiced (3-4 days after birth), including before the umbilical cord falls off.

Newborn skin care

When caring for healthy newborn skin, you should avoid any actions that can break the epidermal barrier (exposure to high humidity, friction, irritants, injuries). ), cooling, skin irritation with urine and feces. It is recommended to bathe the child in warm water without adding any disinfectants; daily use of shampoos, bubble baths and other cleansers is not indicated.

Many powders contain particles that cause skin irritation, as well as fragrances that provoke allergic reactions. Talc-free powders can be used to treat neck, underarm and groin folds in diaper rash due to inappropriate use of diapers. It is necessary to avoid the widespread use of petroleum jelly (vegetable oil), which retains moisture and is an active allergen.

Improper skin care causes diaper dermatitis, which is skin irritation in the area in contact with the diaper. The main reason for the development of diaper dermatitis is care defects (rare diaper changes, tight swaddling). Diaper dermatitis does not pose a serious threat to the health of the child, but

skin irritation is very painful, causes suffering and anxiety of the child, which is reflected in his well-being.

Regardless of the type of diapers (disposable or reusable), you must follow the rules for caring for the child:

- change the diaper when it is full;

- immediately change the diaper if there was a chair;

- use breathable diapers;

- organize air baths as often as possible during the day.

Skin care is different when using disposable and reusable diapers.

Skin must be dry when using disposable diapers; it is not recommended to use fatty ointments, creams that create the effect of a compress, which provokes the development of dermatitis.

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