How to Bathe a BabyLearning how to bathe a baby is not as difficult as it may seem. Sure they are delicate and require some gentle care while being washed, but for the most part you can bathe a baby like you bathe yourself. I’ll also talk about the few rules that are constant no matter how old your baby is. So let’s get started. The most important rule when bathing a baby is to never leave the baby unattended while in the tub. It is said that babies can drown in as little as 1 inch of water so it’s always better to be safe than sorry. One thing you can do to ensure that you don’t need to leave your baby alone is to gather everything you need before you start the bath. You will need all of the following:
That is all you need to have to bathe a baby. The only other thing you may want to have is some type of device to test if the bath water is too hot. We have a rubber ducky that has an indicator on the bottom that changes color and reads “HOT” if the bath water is too hot for the baby. Baby’s skin is much more sensitive than your skin. You want the water to be somewhere around 90 degrees Fahrenheit for your baby, much cooler than what you probably use in the shower. Once you have all the necessary equipment you are ready to bathe a baby. Bathing a NewbornWhen a baby is first born it must be given a sponge bath until its umbilical cord falls out and the circumcision site is healed (if applicable).When you bathe a baby by sponge bath, you’ll want to do so near a kitchen or bathroom sink – someplace where you have access to water and a large counter top to lay your baby. Start by laying a soft towel in the spot where you’ll wash your baby. Fill the sink with warm water (90 degrees) and make sure you have all of your supplies ready. Undress your baby – including his diaper – and lay him on the towel. Using the wash cloth and baby soap carefully wash the baby’s body, being careful to keep the umbilical cord and circumcision areas dry. Be sure to wash the genitals and bottom well to help prevent diaper rash. After you’ve washed the entire body – take the wash cloth and rinse off every place you washed. At this point, if your baby has hair you can wash it with the baby shampoo. I always wash the head last, because I don’t want the baby to be sitting around with a wet head while the rest of the body is being washed. Wet the hair using the wash cloth and apply a small amount of shampoo to the baby’s head and gently lather. Rinse with a soaked wash cloth or if you can, hold the baby’s head under warm running water to rinse – you may not want to do this unless you have someone there to help you – like highways, babies are slippery when wet. Once you have completely washed the baby, wrap him in the hooded towel and gently dry his body. Put a diaper on him and dress him. If his skin seems dry you can put some lotion or baby oil on and give him a gentle massage (before dressing) while you apply it. This will help calm and soothe your baby as well. You’re done! You’ve just given your baby a sponge bath – congratulations! Now onto the tub bath. Giving a Tub BathOnce your baby’s umbilical cord has fallen out and the circumcision area is healed, you can begin to give him a tub bath.You’ll want to invest in a baby tub like this which will be useful from the first tub bath through when your baby can sit up on his own. I used a tub very similar to this and see that they now have a water thermometer on it to tell you if the bath water is too hot. Another benefit to having this is that you use less water. It takes much less water to fill one of these tubs than it does to fill a standard bath tub. Ok, so back to how to bathe a baby. Fill the tub with water to the point where your baby can lay in the sling and not be completely immersed in the water. The bathing process here is very similar to the sponge bath – take a wash cloth and clean the baby all over then use the shampoo and wash the baby’s hair. If you have a small cup you can fill it and pour it over the baby’s head to rinse his hair as well as over his body to rinse off the soap. After the bath, use the hooded towel and dry off your baby. Again if needed, apply lotion to the baby’s body, diaper, and dress. It really doesn’t change much going forward. As your baby grows and is able to sit up you can remove the sling from the tub and let him sit in there. Once he out grows the baby tub you can put him in the regular tub and go through the same process. There are bath seats you can buy if you want, they help the baby sit up and keep him from moving around, but I never used one (even though my wife bought one) as I never saw the need for it. As your baby gets older bath time can be a great time for playing and bonding with your baby. My daughter learned to recognize her letters in the bath tub. We bought some bath friendly foam letters and would play with them, teaching her each letter while she played with them. By her 2nd birthday she could look at any capital letter and tell you what it was. Now we work on words that begin with that letter, and by 2 and a half she can tell you words that begin with about 90% of the letters. When you bathe a baby, it doesn’t have to be a chore, it can be fun and can offer you some quality time with your little one. I encourage you to take advantage of this and get involved with the bathing process. Continue to How to Change a Diaper Return Home from How to Bathe a Baby |
