Unfortunately, after the birth of a child, parents are not given detailed instructions for him. Therefore, getting home and staying alone with him, parents ask a lot of questions and have many doubts about caring for him. In particular, regarding hygiene. However, bathing the baby often causes much more difficulties than ordinary washing.
The benefits of swimming
Parents do not need to be reminded that the child needs to be kept clean - they already know this very well. But bathing for a newborn is more than a normal washing procedure. Firstly, it takes much longer, and secondly, water procedures are of great benefit to the baby.
The benefits of bathing your baby:
- Stress relief. The child spends nine months surrounded by amniotic fluid. Therefore, having come to light, he experiences enormous stress due to a sharp change in situation. Getting into a warm bath, the baby finds himself in a familiar environment and calms down.
- Exercise stress. Movement in water requires less effort than on land. But at the same time, because of the pressure of the water, the load on the muscles is much greater.
- The development of new skills. Bathing takes about 20-30 minutes. During this time, the baby experiences close contact with his parents, learns new emotions and is surprised at unfamiliar tactile sensations.
- Improving appetite. As already mentioned, bathing for the baby is a physical activity, after which you always want to replenish the supply of energy expended.
- Hardening. If you approach the issue of bathing correctly, it can be turned into a hardening procedure.
In addition, water procedures are one of the best ways to prevent SARS. Therefore, bathing the baby should be an integral part of the daily schedule.
General instruction
For those parents who have a first-born in the family, bathing raises a lot of questions and concerns. Indeed, to create the most comfortable conditions for the baby, I want to do everything right. For this, an instruction is presented here, with the help of which parents can prepare everything necessary for bathing the baby in the bathroom.
Instruction:
- 2-3 hours before bathing, it is necessary to boil water so that it has time to cool to the desired temperature.
- Prepare bath accessories (towel, cotton buds, umbilical cord preparations).
- Start bathing before eating. If the baby is breast-fed, you need to prepare the mixture.
- Prepare a weak potassium permanganate solution for the bath (5-6 crystals per 1 glass of water). It must be remembered that in order to avoid chemical burns, the solution must be filtered through gauze.
- Make sure that the room where the bathtub is, has a comfortable temperature (+ 22-24 ° C).
The first bath of the newborn: recommendations
Usually, parents first bathe the baby directly on the day of discharge from the hospital. From the outside, this procedure looks both cute and awkward. Therefore, parents begin to prepare more thoroughly for the second bath of the baby.
Recommendations for washing a newborn (0-1 months):
- Until the umbilical wound has healed, water should be boiled and cooled to a temperature of 36-37 ° C.
- To disinfect water, you can add a weak solution of potassium permanganate to it. This is necessary so that the infection does not enter the umbilical wound.
- Bathing your baby in the first month of life is best done without special detergents (soaps, bath gels, etc.).
To measure the water temperature, you should purchase a special thermometer. The fact is that newborns are very sensitive even to the slightest fluctuations in the ambient temperature, and a thermometer will guarantee that the baby will feel comfortable in the bath.
Recommendations for bathing monthly children
Special requirements for bathing children of the first month of life are associated with the healing of the umbilical wound and the initial adaptation to the outside world. However, after the baby becomes a little older, the basic rules are slightly relaxed and parents have more freedom to make the baby’s bathing more interesting.
Key recommendations:
- If you have a large bathtub at home, you can think about sending your child in free swimming. Children under three months of age have a congenital reflex - they are excellent swimmers. Moreover, freely moving in the water, they experience great pleasure. Therefore, the child can safely let go of swimming, putting on him for safety a circle for bathing babies.
- To fill the baby bath, water is now optionally boiled. But at the same time, it should be clean, without obvious impurities of chlorine. If the quality of the water leaves much to be desired, it is better to purchase special filters for its purification.
- If the child is moody, you can add various herbal infusions to the water, such as chamomiles or succession. Coniferous extract, which can be purchased at the pharmacy, is especially popular among parents. It does not need to be cooked, just add a small amount directly to the baby’s bathtub.
- With the means for bathing babies still do not go too far. Soaps, foams and gels are best used no more than once a week.
When bathing a child, do not be afraid that water will get into the auricle and cause otitis media. These warnings came from the older generation, but frankly, they are unfounded. Since the structure of the auricle is such that water cannot penetrate so deep as to cause inflammation.
What time do you need to bathe your baby?
In the daily schedule, bathing should be attributed to the evening, just before feeding. Water procedures, and especially swimming, take away a lot of forces from the baby that need to be restored. Therefore, a snack will be very welcome.
Usually immediately after feeding the baby falls asleep. But if the newborn can still disturb parents during the night, then children 4 months and older after bathing can fall asleep until the very morning. Therefore, the time of water procedures must be calculated so that the baby has time to eat and safely go to bed.
Bathing equipment
In preparation for the appearance of the child in the house, parents try to get everything necessary for the child in advance. However, sometimes some things are completely useless. Therefore, we consider the devices that may be needed for bathing a child:
- The first and most necessary is the bath. These devices come in different types and modifications, but best of all - an ordinary bathtub without slides and other built-in parts. They can be bought separately, but the stand will be very useful for mothers who experience back pain after childbirth.
- Baby bathing chair. The stool is intended for children over the age of 6 months. Therefore, immediately it is unlikely to be useful. But when the child grows up and learns to sit, a baby high chair in the bathroom will be needed in the home arsenal.
- Slide or deck chair. These devices are just designed for newborn children, unlike a baby's bathing seat . The choice of one of them depends on individual preferences. However, judging by the reviews, a chaise lounge for newborns is more convenient than a plastic slide.
Bath Additives
The most common and effective bath supplement is a series of infusions. It has a relaxing and anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, it can easily replace the recommended potassium permanganate solution.
In addition to the series, infusions of chamomile, oak, valerian, etc. are used as additives. Special herbal preparations are also on sale, which are designed specifically for addition to the children's bath. However, as pediatricians note, there is no particular benefit from such fees after a child reaches 2-3 months.
Conclusion
Water treatments are an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, for the child they will be useful not only in terms of hygiene, but also in terms of physical and emotional stress.
In fact, this process does not require special skills and adaptations. A child can safely do without a seat for bathing babies in the bathroom, but without a good mood - certainly nowhere.