Articles and Advice: Your Baby 0-6 Months

The Bathing Experience

Baths can be fun, but the first few will be learning experiences for both you and your baby. Be confident that soon you will both enjoy this ritual. This new experience, like other new experiences, will be more pleasant for both you and your baby if you talk softly, explaining what you're doing and why.

Don't worry about feeling silly using full sentences talking to a newborn. Babies can pick up language skills, and the more you talk to the baby now, the more likely he will enjoy being talked to or read to later. Sing if you feel like it, even if it's a little off-key.

These are the topics we'll cover in this section:

What You'll Need

For Safety's Sake

Giving a Sponge or Tub Bath

What You'll Need

• Soft washcloth
• Two towels
• Disposable diapers or cloth diapers and pins
• Clean clothes
• Cotton balls
• Bar of mild soap or liquid baby soap
• Baby shampoo
• Tub with 2 inches (5 cm) of comfortably warm water and liner to keep the baby from slipping

For Safety's Sake

• Keep your water heater set lower than 120°F (48.8°C). Always test the bath water with your elbow. Serious burns can occur as a result of excessively hot water.
• Use a safe hold when moving your baby. Have your fingers under your baby's armpit, with your thumb around the shoulder. Your other hand supports your baby's bottom and legs.
• Stay with your baby every second during a bath and dressing.

Giving a Sponge or Tub Bath

First Steps of Both a Sponge Bath and a Tub Bath:

1. Choose a place that is safe, warm and free from drafts.
2. Use cotton dipped in cool water. Wipe around the eyes. Then, wipe the outside of the nose and ears.
3. Wipe the rest of the face with plain, warm water and a washcloth (no soap).

A Sponge Bath

Continue with the following steps:

1. Shampoo the head and squeeze water from the washcloth to rinse.
2. Wash the front of your baby with your free hand lathered with soap. Go from front to back between the legs. Rinse well with the wet washcloth.
3. Wash the back of your baby with your hand lathered with soap. Rinse well with the wet washcloth.

A Tub Bath

When the umbilical cord has dropped off and the navel and circumcised penis have healed, your baby will be ready for his first tub bath. After completing steps 1 and 2 above ("First Steps of Both a Sponge Bath and a Tub Bath"), continue with the following steps, and keep talking to your baby:

1. Hold your baby safely. Shampoo the head with your free hand and squeeze water from the washcloth to rinse.
2. Wash the front of your baby. Go from front to back between the legs. Rinse with the wet washcloth.
3. Wash the back of your baby with your free hand lathered with soap. Rinse well with the wet washcloth. If the first bath isn't great fun, later ones will be. Some newborns fuss and cry when undressed. If this happens with your baby, you can keep him calm if you undress and wash one area at a time. If the bath remains difficult, remember that you don't have to bathe the baby every day so long as his diaper area and face are kept clean.