The thought of your bathing your baby can be both exciting and a little confusing cause you are not sure if your doing the right things while bathing her. Ideally a baby bath begins once the umbilical stump has fallen. Till then the baby should be given a sponge bath.
To give the baby a sponge bath – keep all items ready before you undress the baby. soft sponge cloths, soap, shampoo, warm water, dry towel and fresh clothes.
Always clean the baby from cleanest to dirty which means face first and diaper area last.
Take a wet wash cloth and gently wipe the baby’s face. Clean the eyes, ears and nose with gentle strokes. For the rest of the body you can use a little liquid soap and then wipe with a wet cloth. Remember to clean well between all the folds and also the webs of the fingers and the toes.
Pat the baby dry and put on a fresh set of clothes and a diaper.
When giving a tub bath, check the temperature on your elbow. It should be tepid. Again ensure that you keep all items ready as you do not want to leave the baby alone in the bathroom even for a second.
Pour water in small quantity on the baby.
Always bathe the body first and shampoo the hair last. A baby will loose a lot of heat from the top of his head and hence will start feeling cold. Also a baby tends to feel over whelmed when water is flowing down his face and they will cry. The bath then becomes very uncomfortable for both the mother and the child.
Choose how you would like to bathe the baby. Traditionally in India we bathe babies on the legs. However you may not be very comfortable with this method and may prefer a bath chair. Pick a plastic or a mesh one as a sponge chair is very difficult to dry.
Once the bath is done wrap the baby is a towel and pat dry and dress the baby in a fresh set of clothes and a diaper / nappy.
Baby bath is a fun time and should not be stressful.
Babies do not get dirty and it’s ok if they do not take a bath everyday. You can also just sponge on certain days. At times its also ok to give the baby a couple of baths each day. It all depends on your comfort.