Is Your Baby Ready For Tub-Bathing
Is Your Baby Ready For Tub-Bathing
Bathing a newborn can be fun for parents and enjoyable for the baby, too. But lots of babies scream their heads off the first couple of times. If bath time continues to be an ordeal, bathe only when absolutely necessary until your baby is a little older.
A baby bath doesn't have to take hours or be very complicated, and there aren't a whole number of things parents can do wrong, except drop the baby. Perhaps the worst thing would be to leave the baby unattended on a table, sink, counter or whatever: "Slippery when wet" must have been invented by someone who bathed babies.
The Tub Bath
After the umbilical cord (and circumcised penis) have healed, tub baths may be permitted (ask your doctor or nurse). Bathing in the big bathroom tub, however, is difficult with a small baby. It's easier to be where mom or dad can bend over at waist height, rather than kneeling by the big tub. And it's easier at first if you have two adults to bathe one slippery baby. Or bathe baby in the tub with one parent, then have the other parent ready to take the baby when the bath is over.
Consider buying a special baby tub (one with a slanted and padded back-rest is handy) or use a scrubbed and rinsed bathroom or kitchen sink pre-filled with two or three inches of water. For bathing in a sink, newborns might appreciate lying on a giant sponge, as long as the baby is in a little water. (Then your baby can recline without slipping, but parents must still hold on with one hand.) A large towel folded two or three times and put on the bottom of the clean sink will work.
A couple of notes:
1. Soap or shampoo still isn't necessary (and make a newborn even slipperier) or should be used in very small amounts.
2. Swing the nozzle of the kitchen faucet out of the way so the baby won't get bumped or dripped on.
3. Never run water directly out of the faucet into the baby's tub or onto baby. Even if you have the temperature right, a sudden change (such as when someone else flushes the toilet or starts the dishwater) could be dangerous.
4. Don't be disappointed if your baby cries as though this is some new torture to which to subject him or her. After all, baby has been warmly and securely bundled. Then the cold air hits warm skin and baby is no longer swaddled and secure. It may take several baths before it becomes less scary. Or simply wait. There's no need to give tub baths, even for months - a sponge bath every couple days will do it.
5. Fill tub first (and place sponge in the bottom, if you're using one); work quickly so water doesn't cool off too much.
6. Eyes and face are cleaned as above (wash them before you put the baby into the tub to prevent eye contamination).
7. Undress your baby and calmly put her down in the tub or on the sponge feet first, leaning the baby back on your hand and arm, which support the neck. Wash with your free hand.
8. To wash the baby's back, lean her forward onto the arm that just did the washing. Now wash the back with the arm that formerly supported the neck.
9. Remove your clean baby to a dry towel and dry thoroughly (inside the folds of legs, neck, etc). Then diaper and clothe.