Tips for the first care of the newborn baby

Arriving home with the newborn baby is a joy but also a source of doubts, worries and indecisions. Can I bathe the baby? How can I cut such small nails? Am I cleaning my navel well? In Guiainfantil.com we help you to live these first days with your baby at home without so much anguish, especially if

Arriving home with the newborn baby is a joy but also a source of doubts, worries and indecisions. Can I bathe the baby? How can I cut such small nails? Am I cleaning my navel well?

In Guiainfantil.com we help you to live these first days with your baby at home without so much anguish, especially if you are a new mom or dad and we clarify all the doubts that may arise about the first care of the newborn.

The care of the newborn baby

The newborn baby requires specific care that we need to know to be able to take care of it properly. The change of diaper, the first poop, how to clean the navel, what to do with the milk crust or whether to apply cream on the skin of the baby are some of the questions we solve so you can live this stage more peacefully.

The first poop of the newborn

Do not be alarmed if your first poop has a dark green color, even black. Your baby is expelling meconium, a substance that accumulates in your intestine during pregnancy. It is composed of dead cells and secretions of the stomach and liver. After two or three days that color will become clearer.

Regarding the number of bowel movements, there are babies who make one a day and others up to 8 small poop. It is convenient to note in a notebook the number of steps and poops that the baby makes to control if it is well hydrated. Your whirlwind will be such that you may forget if you have peed today or not.

The care of the navel of the newborn baby

The umbilical cord is the organ that unites the baby with his mother, it will be cut at birth and, from this moment, will undergo a process of self-destruction.

The umbilical cord takes a long time to shed between 8 and 10 days, although in babies born by caesarean section it may take longer. During that time the ideal is to cure the navel with 70% alcohol and chlorhexidine, which is a clear liquid, which acts as a disinfectant and prevents infections. It is also important that you are not as airborne as possible, preventing it from getting inside the baby's diaper.

Baby bath

Babies do not really need to bathe as assiduously as an adult. They have no contact with dirt so the bathroom is more of a relaxation time than a hygiene one.

Babies can bathe from the first day you get home, it is advisable to use specific soaps for babies. It is important to control the temperature of the water before introducing it.

Creams for newborn babies

Actually, if the baby's skin is hydrated, it does not need creams or oils. We can use them if we want to make a relaxing massage for the baby, but not because his skin requires it.

It is normal that after the first few days the baby seems to peel, there we can resort to a moisturizer or in case of chafing in the diaper area.

Clean eyes, nose and ears of the baby

It may be that in the eyes are formed legañas, in that case, just a cotton soaked in saline to remove them. As for the nose, it may be congested or simply that some mucus has formed, to eliminate it you must use physiological saline in the same way.

As for the ears, we should remove only the cerumen that is external, never put a stick in the ear. Simply clean it with your towel or a little piece of gas on the outside of your ear.

Change the diaper to the newborn baby

To avoid chafing, it is advisable to change the diaper of the baby every so often and make sure that it is not stung. To clean it is preferable to use a sponge and soap to the classic wet wipes.

The most correct way to clean it is to do it from the genitals to the anus to prevent the stool from going to them. Before placing the diaper clean check that it is well dried by all folds of the bottom to prevent moisture accumulation and chafing.

The newborn baby's milk crust

It is a type of seborrheic dermatitis, a skin disorder that appears in areas where there are a large number of sebaceous glands. We must avoid removing the scabs with a brush, no matter how mild it is. It is also not advisable to use the nails to lift the crust because we could cause injuries, which can then become infected. If the baby is very upset, or the aesthetic effect is important, we must go to our trusted pediatrician.