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Newborns in public


When Can Newborns Go Outside? Safety and More

Hello, fresh air and sunshine! Exiting the hospital with your new baby can be a magical moment. Unfortunately, it may also leave you with a sense of panic as you realize that your little one is now entering into the real world.

You may have heard from a friend or family member that newborns shouldn’t be outside for the first couple of months of their lives. Is this true? Should you really keep your baby inside for the first 6 to 8 weeks after birth?

If your anxiety is rising just thinking about this, don’t worry!

We understand that being a new parent can be overwhelming, so we’ve gone through the research to help answer all your questions about taking your newborn out and about for the first time.

Most pediatric health experts agree that babies can head outside right away, as long as you use basic safety precautions. (More on those to come, so keep calm and read on!)

Generally speaking, there’s no need to stay inside with your little one for the first 1 or 2 months of baby’s life if you both feel up to getting out. In fact, some fresh air and sunshine can benefit you both, thanks to vitamin D and mood-boosting benefits.

One exception to keep in mind, though, is that some doctors prefer you wait a bit before taking your little one into crowded spaces where they may be exposed to high levels of germs — especially during COVID-19 surges.

It is true that your newborn’s immune system is still developing and may struggle to fight off infections.

There are precautions you can take, though — like hand washing and physical distancing — to minimize the chance of your little one developing an illness.

For most infants, taking typical safety precautions while outside is sufficient to keep them safe.

In rare cases where your child has a health condition that makes their immune system particularly susceptible to germs, your doctor may advise you to take extra precautions. These can include staying at home during periods of specific concern.

If you’re ready to take your little one outside, you’ll want to make sure to follow appropriate safety measures. These include:

Dress them in weather-appropriate clothing

Double-check baby’s outfit to make sure it’s weather appropriate. You’ll probably also want to have a spare outfit or blanket packed, in case of an emergency change or if extra layers are needed.

A general rule of thumb is to dress your baby for the weather and then add one extra layer. You’ll want to check to make sure they’re comfortable throughout the outing as well.

Have a sun-protection plan

A little sunshine can be nice, but baby skin burns easier, so you’ll want to make sure that it’s covered with clothing and a sun hat or hidden in the shade.

Because infants are at a greater risk of sunscreen side effects, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend keeping infants in the shade and out of direct sunlight. However, in a pinch it may be OK to apply small amounts of sunscreen to exposed skin. Just consult with your pediatrician first if your baby is younger than 6 months old.

Avoid crowds

Crowded places like malls, airplanes, or pools mean that there’s more chances for germs to spread.

Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts encourage parents to avoid these places with their newborns.

If possible, it’s also best to avoid places like the grocery store and indoor restaurants where ventilation may be poor and you might have trouble physical distancing from other people.

Wash your hands — and make sure others do, too

Ensure that anyone who touches your baby has washed their hands. No one showing any symptoms of illness should come in contact with your newborn.

You may even wish to teach young siblings to touch only baby’s toes or back and not their hands or face. This may help reduce the risk of spreading germs.

Limit visitors

It might be hard to say no when well-meaning family and friends want to visit baby, but it’s good to limit who is allowed around your newborn.

Again, because of COVID-19, many experts are suggesting restricting visitors around you and your newborn until the pandemic improves.

Use a baby carrier

Babies can be irresistible! But wearing baby in a baby carrier rather than using a stroller can keep your little one close and help prevent other people from touching (or kissing!) them.

There are some times when you’ll want to think twice before loading baby into their car seat or stroller. You may wish to stay inside your home if:

  • Extreme weather conditions are occurring. Mail carriers may brave wind, snow, sleet, and hail, but your newborn should avoid extreme temperatures and being outside in bad air quality whenever possible.
  • Your child has a medical condition. If your newborn has special medical needs that leave them particularly susceptible to germs, you’ll want to consult with their doctor before taking them out and about.
  • It’s peak sunlight hours. The middle of the day can be an especially hard time to find shade and protect your baby’s skin. For this reason, you may wish to avoid excessive time outside when the sun is at its strongest.

If you do need to go outside with baby for any reason, especially in warmer weather and for longer periods of time, be sure to bring plenty of breast milk or formula to keep them hydrated.

Most doctors agree that there’s no need to wait until your baby is 1 or 2 months old to take them out and about. However, you also shouldn’t feel pressure to do it before you’re ready.

Newborn babies can seem so delicate, you might want to put them inside a bubble of protection (or at least never let them see sunlight).

The truth is some sun protection, weather-appropriate clothing, and distance from crowds will probably be enough to keep them safe.

If you have any questions about taking your newborn outside or if your infant has special medical circumstances to consider, you should never hesitate to speak with your child’s pediatrician.

When Can Newborns Go Outside? Safety and More

Hello, fresh air and sunshine! Exiting the hospital with your new baby can be a magical moment. Unfortunately, it may also leave you with a sense of panic as you realize that your little one is now entering into the real world.

You may have heard from a friend or family member that newborns shouldn’t be outside for the first couple of months of their lives. Is this true? Should you really keep your baby inside for the first 6 to 8 weeks after birth?

If your anxiety is rising just thinking about this, don’t worry!

We understand that being a new parent can be overwhelming, so we’ve gone through the research to help answer all your questions about taking your newborn out and about for the first time.

Most pediatric health experts agree that babies can head outside right away, as long as you use basic safety precautions. (More on those to come, so keep calm and read on!)

Generally speaking, there’s no need to stay inside with your little one for the first 1 or 2 months of baby’s life if you both feel up to getting out. In fact, some fresh air and sunshine can benefit you both, thanks to vitamin D and mood-boosting benefits.

One exception to keep in mind, though, is that some doctors prefer you wait a bit before taking your little one into crowded spaces where they may be exposed to high levels of germs — especially during COVID-19 surges.

It is true that your newborn’s immune system is still developing and may struggle to fight off infections.

There are precautions you can take, though — like hand washing and physical distancing — to minimize the chance of your little one developing an illness.

For most infants, taking typical safety precautions while outside is sufficient to keep them safe.

In rare cases where your child has a health condition that makes their immune system particularly susceptible to germs, your doctor may advise you to take extra precautions. These can include staying at home during periods of specific concern.

If you’re ready to take your little one outside, you’ll want to make sure to follow appropriate safety measures. These include:

Dress them in weather-appropriate clothing

Double-check baby’s outfit to make sure it’s weather appropriate. You’ll probably also want to have a spare outfit or blanket packed, in case of an emergency change or if extra layers are needed.

A general rule of thumb is to dress your baby for the weather and then add one extra layer. You’ll want to check to make sure they’re comfortable throughout the outing as well.

Have a sun-protection plan

A little sunshine can be nice, but baby skin burns easier, so you’ll want to make sure that it’s covered with clothing and a sun hat or hidden in the shade.

Because infants are at a greater risk of sunscreen side effects, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend keeping infants in the shade and out of direct sunlight. However, in a pinch it may be OK to apply small amounts of sunscreen to exposed skin. Just consult with your pediatrician first if your baby is younger than 6 months old.

Avoid crowds

Crowded places like malls, airplanes, or pools mean that there’s more chances for germs to spread.

Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts encourage parents to avoid these places with their newborns.

If possible, it’s also best to avoid places like the grocery store and indoor restaurants where ventilation may be poor and you might have trouble physical distancing from other people.

Wash your hands — and make sure others do, too

Ensure that anyone who touches your baby has washed their hands. No one showing any symptoms of illness should come in contact with your newborn.

You may even wish to teach young siblings to touch only baby’s toes or back and not their hands or face. This may help reduce the risk of spreading germs.

Limit visitors

It might be hard to say no when well-meaning family and friends want to visit baby, but it’s good to limit who is allowed around your newborn.

Again, because of COVID-19, many experts are suggesting restricting visitors around you and your newborn until the pandemic improves.

Use a baby carrier

Babies can be irresistible! But wearing baby in a baby carrier rather than using a stroller can keep your little one close and help prevent other people from touching (or kissing!) them.

There are some times when you’ll want to think twice before loading baby into their car seat or stroller. You may wish to stay inside your home if:

  • Extreme weather conditions are occurring. Mail carriers may brave wind, snow, sleet, and hail, but your newborn should avoid extreme temperatures and being outside in bad air quality whenever possible.
  • Your child has a medical condition. If your newborn has special medical needs that leave them particularly susceptible to germs, you’ll want to consult with their doctor before taking them out and about.
  • It’s peak sunlight hours. The middle of the day can be an especially hard time to find shade and protect your baby’s skin. For this reason, you may wish to avoid excessive time outside when the sun is at its strongest.

If you do need to go outside with baby for any reason, especially in warmer weather and for longer periods of time, be sure to bring plenty of breast milk or formula to keep them hydrated.

Most doctors agree that there’s no need to wait until your baby is 1 or 2 months old to take them out and about. However, you also shouldn’t feel pressure to do it before you’re ready.

Newborn babies can seem so delicate, you might want to put them inside a bubble of protection (or at least never let them see sunlight).

The truth is some sun protection, weather-appropriate clothing, and distance from crowds will probably be enough to keep them safe.

If you have any questions about taking your newborn outside or if your infant has special medical circumstances to consider, you should never hesitate to speak with your child’s pediatrician.

Diseases in the first year of life determine a child's susceptibility to diseases in the future

03 February 2022 11:45 Julia Rudy

Scientists have found that viruses interact with newborns' immune systems and their microbes in ways that affect the number and quality of subsequent respiratory infections.

Asymptomatic viral infections in newborns that they catch in the first days and weeks of their lives are associated with an increased risk of acquiring respiratory diseases later in life. This conclusion was made by scientists from Scotland and the Netherlands.

Researchers have found that viruses interact with newborns' immune systems and their microbiome - the body's community of micro-organisms - in ways that affect both the risks to the baby and the number of subsequent infections.

Experts believe that preventing such early diseases or boosting the immune system with specially formulated probiotics can prevent damage to children's bodies.

Grandmother's wisdom

Respiratory infections are a serious health problem. 15 percent of the deaths of children under the age of five worldwide are due to their fault (however, children born in poor countries with weak health systems still die more often). Diseases of the respiratory system are also one of the top three reasons for visits to doctors and hospitalizations in the first years of a child's life.

It is likely that previous generations of grandparents noticed this relationship, and therefore it used to be customary not to show the newborn to the "public" in the first weeks. Unless it was not that someone "jinxed the child."

The study revealed an interesting connection, but the true reasons for this connection, scientists have yet to understand.

Research on children's noses

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Utrecht University Medical Center in the Netherlands studied samples of the mucous membrane, the tissue that lines the nasal cavity. Samples were taken from the noses of 114 children at different stages of life, as part of the Utrecht Infant Microbiome Study. It has been running for six years now.

The team analyzed the gene activity of the infants' nasal mucosa, as well as the microorganisms present in the nasal mucosa and the viruses that infected the infants.

It turned out that when a viral infection was detected in a child in the first days after birth, which was mostly asymptomatic, specific genes were activated in the mucous membrane. At the same time, the composition of the microbiome was changing, which contributed to the growth of potentially harmful microbes for the body of infants.

Immune changes

Researchers have found that the invasion of viruses during the first year of a child's life causes, in particular, changes in the functioning of genes in cells of the immune system.

Particularly active changes were observed in the genes associated with interferons - proteins that are released by immune system cells to protect the body from viruses.

Experts believe that interferon-associated gene activity (caused by the first early viral infection) creates a pro-inflammatory environment. This makes children more susceptible to future infections.

Expert comments

"We were surprised to see that viral infections occur so early in life and go largely unnoticed. This is probably because the immune system of infants is in what is called a state of immunological tolerance after birth.

Despite this, these infections seem to interfere with the normal development of the immune system, which is important to know

The infant's microbiome does not begin to develop until after birth Limiting the amount of viral exposure in these first days to weeks of life can be important importance for the healthy development of the immune system and the microbiome, and therefore in the long term for health in terms of the development of respiratory diseases," says Professor Debbie Bogaert, Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Edinburgh.

By the way, the initial microbiome of a newborn can be influenced by many factors, including the method of delivery - vaginal or caesarean section, as well as breastfeeding, the use of antibiotics and being in the hospital (the nosocomial environment is richer in drug-resistant pathogens).

It's too early to talk about a causal relationship between infant infections and future illnesses, scientists say. Further work will be needed to confirm the current findings. However, the data from this study show that exposure to respiratory viruses early in life, especially in the first days of life, can determine how the body reacts to subsequent infections with non-friendly microorganisms, notes Dr. Wouter de Steenhuijsen, a researcher at the University of medical center Utrecht.

An article by the authors of the discovery was published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

We have previously written about how antibiotics increase the risk of pneumonia in newborns, how sugars in mothers' breast milk protect children from streptococci, and how microbes in the mother's placenta protect the health of the fetus.

More news from the world of science and medicine can be found in the "Science" and "Medicine" sections on the "Looking" media platform.

science the medicine child newborn/infant disease children viruses society

Newborn baby care and some special features of your little one.

Newborn baby care and some features of your little one.

DEAR MOMS!

You and your children are now in a very responsible period. The period of adaptation to new conditions in life. You and your children are now very weak and therefore very susceptible to many diseases. Even where there is no disease, but there is a high contamination with microbes, conditions for infection and disease arise. You should know that extra contacts in the first weeks after birth for the mother and child is an extra contamination, so visits from relatives and friends should not be abused. Hands must be washed after going to the toilet, making phone calls, etc. before taking your baby.

There are some physiological features of newborns that sometimes frighten mothers. For example, the skin: in the first few days of life they are red - due to dilated subcutaneous vessels, dry - because the top layer of cells exfoliates. Often on the third day of life, the baby's skin turns yellow.

  1. Jaundice, in the first days occurs in approximately 75-80% of newborns. Such jaundice is called "physiological", in other words, natural. It does not affect the general condition of the child, his appetite, and even more so does not pose a danger to the life of the newborn. It appears on the 2-3rd day after birth, reaches its peak by the 5-6th day of life and disappears without a trace by the 7-10th day. However, sometimes jaundice can be a manifestation of certain diseases. Therefore, the doctor observes the baby every day and, if necessary, prescribes treatment - phototherapy. After a session of such a “tan”, the skin of the baby noticeably brightens.
  2. Toxic erythema - occurs on the 2-5th day of life. The rashes are like mosquito bites. After 2-3 days after the appearance, the rash disappears without a trace. Treatment is usually not required. Errors in the nutrition of a nursing mother can provoke toxic erythema. Therefore, for a while, stop eating citrus fruits, chocolate, honey and other allergenic foods. Breastfeed - diet!
  3. When does the umbilical cord fall off? After birth, the umbilical cord is cut, leaving a small part - the umbilical cord residue (approximately 1.5 cm). It disappears on its own, usually on the 3-5th day of life. After the umbilical cord falls off, an umbilical wound forms, requiring careful care. The umbilical wound can become an "exit gate" for infection. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before handling the wound. Treat the umbilical wound 2 times a day, before morning feeding and after bathing the baby in the evening. 10-14 days after birth, the umbilical wound is normal - dry and clean. There should be no discharge from the wound, discoloration of the skin around the navel. If changes persist, be sure to consult a doctor.
  4. Weight loss Regardless of birth weight, a child develops weight loss in the first days of life. The maximum weight loss is usually observed on the 3-4th, less often the 5th day and should be no more than 10% of body weight at birth. Starting from the 4-5th day, the baby begins to gradually add and by the 10th day should restore its weight at birth.
  5. Muscle tone - the minimum muscle tension that is maintained at rest. Normally, the tone of the newborn is slightly increased. This helped him maintain the embryonic position in utero. During the first six months after birth, the tone gradually weakens until it becomes the same as in an adult.
  6. The child's digestive system is also adapting to new living conditions. The child's intestines, previously sterile, begin to be populated by microflora. Usually during the first or second day of life, the child has the first stool - meconium. It turns out everything that the baby has accumulated while being in his mother's tummy. Do not be alarmed, after 2-3 days the stool will change and take the form of overcooked milk - yellow in color with a specific sour-milk smell and the consistency of semolina. Although for 2-3 weeks it can still remain unstable. On the 1st-2nd day, the child can spit up light water or milk. But if you notice a green impurity or bloody streaks when spitting up, contact your pediatrician.
  7. Often by the end of the first week of life in children there are signs of a sexual crisis. In boys, the mammary glands swell, in girls, in addition, mucous and sometimes bloody discharges appear from the genital slit. This is due to the fact that mother's sexual hormones accumulate in the body of the crumbs. In no case do not apply any compresses to the mammary glands, and even more so do not try to squeeze something out of them. Girls need to be washed with boiled or running water, not trying to remove the entire mucous plug at once, but carefully removing the easily separated mucus. Usually, by the 10-14th day of a child's life, the problem is solved by itself.

Helpful Tips

This tip is about thermoregulation. All protective mechanisms of the baby are aimed at heating his tiny body. Therefore, if the child is cool, these mechanisms are activated. And the baby does not freeze for a long time. He moves, cries, attracts taking out and warms up at the same time. Mom will easily understand that the child should be dressed warmer or covered with a blanket. The situation is different with overheating. The mechanisms aimed at cooling the body in a newborn child do not yet function. He does not know how to sweat, and the muscles are physiologically in good shape - it is quite difficult for a baby to relax them. It is very easy for a heavily wrapped child to overheat. Therefore, it is better to dress the baby in the same way as you dress yourself. And in a dream, just cover it with a thin flannelette blanket or a warm diaper.

Skin care.

As a mother, you should be aware that long-term exposure to urine or feces affects the skin's pH balance and therefore its protective function. Wet skin, in turn, is easily damaged by even the slightest friction of clothes or diapers. In addition, when urine comes into contact with feces, as a result of a chemical reaction, ammonia can be formed, which also negatively affects the baby's skin. Here are some tips to help you prevent diaper rash from the start:

- put disposable diapers on the child only if there are no allergic reactions

- leave the child without a diaper more often during the day and give him air baths for 10-15 minutes 3-4 times a day. In addition, do not “steam” the baby in diapers in the summer, when it is more than + 25 degrees outside

- it is very important to purchase diapers by size: the packages indicate for which age categories they are suitable

- so that the diaper does not irritate the skin, use a cream under a diaper with zinc oxide, glycerin and panthenol or use powder, first apply it on your palms and only then on the baby's skin

- use only high-quality diapers that absorb moisture well

- change the diaper every 3-4 hours, but remember that there are no hard and fast rules and recommendations indicating the exact time

- clean the skin in the groin area after each bowel movement

- don't put the diaper on too tight to allow air to circulate

Following these tips will keep your baby's skin clean and healthy.

Inexperienced parents for some reason believe that the baby is terribly fragile. Of course, the baby is still quite vulnerable in many respects, but making a porcelain doll out of a newborn is at least stupid. Just like you, he is made of blood and flesh, which is quite reliable. Therefore, even a two-day-old child can be picked up quite calmly and not be afraid that something will fall off from him. Many young mothers are afraid of the instability of the newborn's head. What if, due to an awkward movement, the cervical vertebrae are damaged? Do not worry, it has been proven in practice, even if the head is thrown back, it will not cause any harm to the baby. Tilt your head forward and it's completely safe. When you are lying in a maternity hospital with a child, you must have noticed how “unceremoniously” doctors treat babies. They spin them in different directions. This is not because they are such monsters, they just know how “strong armor” a newborn has. And there really is nothing to fear. The child takes care of himself and his health. If he is cold, he will cry so that he will be heard in the next entrance, the lamp is shining brightly - he will start blinking and worry, he has not eaten enough - he will require additional food by crying. So for a person who is less than a month old, a baby can take good care of himself.

To swaddle or not to swaddle?

Modern mothers are sure that diapers are a relic of the past. And really, is it really necessary to restrict the baby in movement, to make an Egyptian mummy out of him? After all, sooner or later the child will still have to wear crawlers. What's wrong if the baby is already in the first month of life to get acquainted with their arms, legs, body.

- The baby wakes himself up with his hands at night! exclaim the adherents of the old traditions.

A person gets used to everything. This also applies to the newborn. Well, mom will suffer for three nights, and on the fourth - the problem with the handles will disappear: the baby will just get used to his limbs. You just need to wear baby's undershirts with closed sleeves to protect the baby's face from scratches. For a baby up to a month old who is not swaddled, two cold and two warm suits of size 18 are enough. If the mother’s love for diapers is still indestructible, then swaddle for health. It is very difficult to convey in words the technique of swaddling. Therefore, dear mothers, do not hesitate to ask the nurse caring for children in the maternity hospital to show you their trademark swaddling technique.

Newborn's toilet

There is nothing difficult and intricate in the hygiene of an infant in the first and subsequent months of his life. You just need to adapt and make it a rule to perform some procedures for the baby every morning:

1. Washing the baby's face is wiped with a cotton swab dipped in warm water. Wipe the eyes with a semi-dry cotton swab in the direction from the ear to the nose. A separate swab is used for each eye so as not to infect. Sometimes the eyes of a newborn fester a little, and this causes panic among parents. If after washing the eyes return to normal, then there is nothing to worry about. After a week, these secretions will disappear, and the eyes will stop "blooming". If the discharge does not stop, and the eyelids turn red, hurry to contact an ophthalmologist.

2. Nose A newborn does not yet understand that it is possible to breathe not only through the nose, but also through the mouth. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the nose especially carefully. Every morning, clean it with a cotton flagellum. If dry crusts have accumulated inside, soak a cotton swab in petroleum jelly. You can use the drug "Rinnolux". The first nozzles are sucked out of the nose with a special device. We will not specify its scientific name. Ask the pharmacy for a "sock pump" and you will be understood. Parents may be alarmed by the baby's constant sneezing, but this is not a cold. Among other things, the child's nose has a self-cleaning system. Invisible hairs on the inner walls of the nose constantly push mucus and dust out. In this case, a tickling sensation arises, which makes the newborn often sneeze.

3. Mouth is not specially treated with anything. But to ensure that white spots (thrush) do not appear on the mucous membrane of the mouth, it is simply necessary. How to cope with this disease, the pediatrician will tell you.

4. Ears Never go inside the ear. In the first month you have nothing to do there. Wax in the ear canal is formed to protect it. Treat only the outer part of the ear and behind it.

5. Nails they grow quite quickly in a newborn. You need to have remarkable courage to approach tiny fingers with a sharp object (manicure or children's scissors). And yet, you can’t start the growth of marigolds, otherwise your child will scratch himself no worse than a cat.

6. Skin on the body of a newborn for the first days after birth may be full of various purplish-bluish spots, white large dots that slightly protrude above the skin of the forehead, cheeks, and lips. This is not a disease. The spots will fade over time and disappear. And white dots are only harmless formations and indicate blockage of the sebaceous glands. However, the baby's skin is a screen that reflects the state of the whole organism of a small person. The doctor knows about this and at each examination pays attention to all suspicious spots. Normal baby skin is soft, velvety, covered with a gentle fluff.

7. Sweating young mothers do not immediately begin to understand how to dress a child at home and on the street. Most often they wrap up the baby, afraid of catching a cold. As a result, small pink pimples form on the baby's body, surrounded by patches of reddened skin. This is the notorious sweatshirt. Usually it starts around the neck, and if you continue to wrap the child, then the chest, back, face and even ears will be affected. Prickly heat does not require special treatment from a doctor, but the mother herself must resist this scourge. It is necessary to follow the rule: first of all, the skin should be clean (wash, buy), secondly - dry (dry + air baths) and only thirdly use creams, oils, etc. There is no universal "recipe"! It is your "art" how you will ensure that your baby's skin is clean, pink and velvety.

8. The fontanel is located at the top of the head. Where the four bones of the skull, not yet fused, meet. The size of the fontanel in all newborns is different. So don't let the big fontanel bother you. In good light, you can see how it pulsates. In vain, parents are afraid to touch the fontanel. It is covered with a strong film, and when stroking it, it cannot be damaged in any way.

9. Genital care Children's genitals do not require special care during the first month of life, and beyond. Routine hygiene, including daily washing. The genitals of a newborn should simply be washed after he has peed. However, this is quite problematic if the mother uses expensive disposable diapers. In this case, it is enough to wash the child after each diaper change. Girls may have vaginal discharge immediately after birth. Calm down, moms, it's quite normal. The mucus is usually white, thick and sticky. Allocations do not matter, they do not require treatment.

10. BATHING THE NEWBORN. The air temperature in the bathing room should be 24-26 degrees, and the water temperature should be 37 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, you can measure the temperature of the water with your elbow. At a temperature of 37 degrees, the skin on the elbow does not feel either heat or cold. The child is dipped into boiled water, not forgetting to add potassium permanganate there. Just do not pour the crystals directly into the bath. Make a solution of potassium permanganate in a half-liter jar and only add it to the water. Potassium permanganate can be alternated with a decoction of herbs (chamomile, succession, etc.). By doing this, you will not leave prickly heat the slightest chance. Washing a newborn with soap is enough twice a week. The rest of the time, the baby is simply washed with water with a strained decoction of herbs. Already in the first month of a child's life, a mother can begin to harden her baby. To do this, after bathing, pour water on the baby, the temperature of which is 1 degree colder than in the bath. The final stage of bathing is the procedure for the toilet of the newborn, which was mentioned above. And lastly, it is better to bathe the baby in the evening, before nightly feeding.

11. WALKS. After 2-3 weeks after birth (in the summer in the second week), the baby can be taken out for a walk. Usually in winter, the first 10-minute walk is done when it is not very cold and windy (frost is not more than 8-10 degrees). Gradually, the duration of the walks increases. You can also use the balcony for regular sleep of the child in the air. Sleep in the air is the strongest and deepest, the most useful. Therefore, try to maximize the sleep of children in the air. In summer, walking is not limited. You should only try to walk in the shade. The child should spend 5-6 hours daily in the fresh air. During the walk, the face should be open.

12. COLIC. Is the baby crying out short and piercingly? Pressing legs? How long does it take to calm down? Most likely, these are intestinal colic, which often bother babies. There are many reasons for this - gases in the intestines, features of the digestive system, a tendency to food allergies, increased excitability.

It is very harmful for a baby to wrap himself tightly in several blankets, when the upper corner of one of them covers his face. Under these conditions, blood circulation becomes difficult. Deep breathing is impossible. Exhaled air accumulates under the covers and does not have time to exchange. With any walk, the child must breathe through the nose. If the child has a runny nose, it is advisable to create a "street" in the room. The child can be dressed as for a walk and open the window. The duration of such a walk is normal, like on the street. After the end of such a walk, the child should be left dressed in the street until the air in the room warms up to 20-22 ° C. if after a walk you find wet undershirts in a baby, then he is overheated and it is necessary to lighten his clothes. Overheating is hazardous to health.