Bathing newborn babies

You can give a newborn baby a bath in different ways.

You can use different types of bath-tub, for example a bathinette, or you can use a large basin, as you see here.

Before you start, you should make certain that you have all you need within reach, and that the room where the baby is going to have a bath is warm and comfortable.

Start by running cold water into the bath-tub, and fill up with hot water. This will help to avoid the water getting too hot. The temperature of the baby’s bath water should be about body temperature, i.e. it should neither feel very cold nor very hot. Test the temperature of the water with your elbow or the inside of your wrist. The skin there is thin so that it is easiest for you to assess temperature. If you are uncertain of the water temperature, you can use a bath thermometer.

Don’t use too much water. It need not be deeper than 5-8 cm.

Undress the baby. Remove the diaper and clean the child’s bottom. Then wrap the baby in a large soft towel.

The baby should not be without clothes for longer than necessary, because small babies easily get cold.

The baby should be lowered carefully into the water, feet first.

See how the midwife holds the baby with two hands. She uses one arm to support the baby’s head and neck, holding her hand round the baby’s arm to keep a firm hold. She puts her other hand under the baby’s bottom. Let the child get used to the water gradually.

See how the midwife is still holding the baby firmly with one arm, while the hand that was below the bottom is now used to pour water carefully over the baby's body. You should neither rub nor scrub.

Most babies like having a bath. We see that this baby calms down very well after a short time in the water. Make bath time a pleasant time for the baby and talk to her all the time. The baby will be awake and following and understanding what is happening.

Start by washing the baby’s head.

See how the midwife washes the eyes carefully from the outside and in towards the nose to remove any material that is commonly present in the eyes of newborn babies. Also notice how she washes the ears and under the baby’s chin. Here there may be remains of the fatty layer that covers newborn babies when they are born. Then wash the rest of the baby’s body. Be careful round the umbilicus as the skin is often sore there.

The genital organs should be washed carefully and always from the front and backwards. You thus avoid transferring remains of feces into the baby’s urinary opening.

When the bath is finished, lift the baby up quickly and wrap her in a large dry towel.

It is important to dry the baby well, especially in all the skin folds, for example under the chin, under the arms and by the thighs. If moisture is left in these skin folds, the baby may easily develop a fungal rash.