hi my name is gail and i'm one of the
childbirth educators and i'm going to
demonstrate today how to bathe your baby
once you're at home you will want to
sponge bathe your baby using a damp warm
washcloth you will only need to bathe
your baby maybe two or three times per
week
but you will be washing face hands and
bottom several times a day
get ready before beginning the bath by
having all supplies nearby including a
towel a fresh diaper and fresh clothing
if your bb was circumcised
you will want to have vaseline and gauze
ready to cover the penis
check your water temperature it should
feel warm to your elbow about 100
degrees fahrenheit
keep your baby warm and comfortable
and make sure the room is warm before
undressing baby
you can use a towel to cover parts of
the baby's body that you're not cleaning
at that moment
start at the top or at the baby's face
using a washcloth without soap and
wiping from the center of the eye
outward then around the face and the
mouth and around the ears you can get in
the ear canal with your finger but
nothing smaller than your finger
you'll notice that your baby has a very
small neck so in order to wash this area
you'll support the baby's shoulders with
your hand and lift slightly allowing the
head to slightly drop backward and then
it'll expose the neck and you can wipe
with your damp washcloth
wipe down the baby's chest and arms and
hands
to get inside the baby's fist rub the
outer part of the hand and the baby will
relax their fingers so you can get
inside the palm of the hand then dry
baby's face chest arms and hands with a
soft towel the umbilical cord will be
clamped at birth but the nurses will
remove the cord before your discharged
home
if they do not remove the clamp it's
because the base of the cord was not
completely healed yet but don't worry
there's no nerve endings in the baby's
umbilical cord so it doesn't hurt the
baby to move the cord make sure to keep
the cord clean and dry at the base and
when you're diapering make sure that
cord is exposed to air the reason for
the sponge bath is to help the cord dry
and allow it to heal
and the cord will fall off anywhere from
one to six weeks as long as there's no
signs of infection don't worry about it
watch for signs of infection which
should be redness
drainage or a foul odor from the cord
report any signs of infection to your
pediatrician once the cord falls off
the umbilicus will be moist at the
center continue giving a sponge bath
until the area completely heals and
dries
remove baby's diaper and use the diaper
to remove any stool that may be present
making sure to wipe from front to back
wash the diaper area with a damp
washcloth
again wiping from front to back you can
use a mild soap but it's not necessary
soap may be drying to the baby's skin
for little girls it's important to wipe
from front to back
for little boys
it's important
again wiping from front to back but
pulling the scrotum to one side and
wiping down the skin fold and doing the
same on the other side if you have a
little boy and he's been circumcised the
head of the penis will look raw and red
and the baby may have some discomfort
with diaper changes there may be a small
amount of blood at first or yellow
colored drainage later to wash the penis
area you can use a wet washcloth and
just squeeze to rinse the penis with the
fresh water
then apply vaseline and gauze over the
penis
vaseline and gauze is recommended for
the first 24 hours after circumcision
after that you can just use vaseline
either directly on the penis or on the
diaper the purpose of the vaseline is to
keep the healing tissue from sticking to
the diaper and pulling it off causing
the baby to bleed
continue to use the vaseline until the
circumcised area is completely healed
use a second washcloth to wipe down
baby's legs and feet and get between the
toes then you can turn bb over and wash
down baby's back and now you'll have a
better view of the baby's bottom to see
any stool you might have missed and wash
it away while baby is on their back this
is a great time to do some baby massage
with your warm hands start at the baby's
neck stroking down all the way to the
soles of his feet again with your hands
at baby's neck stroke out towards baby's
arms then turn baby over and you can do
the same thing on the front side put a
diaper on your baby and now you're ready
to wash baby's hair
wrap baby in a towel
and hold baby in a clutch hold using
warm clean water cup your hand and pour
water over baby's head to wet the hair
once the baby's hair is wet you can use
a few drops of a mild baby shampoo and
rub it in to work up a lather don't be
afraid to wipe over the soft spots or
what we call the font nails there's one
in front and another in the back
there's a tough membrane protecting the
baby's brain so rubbing over during a
shampoo will not injure the baby's brain
rinse thoroughly making sure to get all
the soap out of your baby's hair then
use your towel to dry baby's head baby's
head is the biggest surface area of
their body so they lose most of their
heat from their head so you want to make
sure that you thoroughly dry baby's hair
using the towel once it feels dry to
your hand bring baby's head to your
cheek if it's still moist you'll feel
this more so on your cheek than your
hand
once your bb's umbilical cord has
completely healed you can begin giving a
tub bath you only need about two inches
of warm water in the tub
check the temperature of the water it
should be again around 100 degrees
fahrenheit
support baby's shoulders and neck with
one hand and grasp their legs with the
other and gently lower baby into the
bathtub
always keep your hand around baby's
shoulder and supporting baby's neck and
never leave baby alone in the bathtub
once the bath is complete support baby's
head again with one hand and the other
hand grasp baby's feet to gently lift
them out of the tub and place them in a
warm towel and dry now you're ready to
dress your baby start with the t-shirt
lay it out on a table have it open so
you can lay baby down on the top of the
t-shirt so that baby's shoulder line up
with the shoulders of the t-shirt guide
baby's hand through the arm of the
t-shirt by putting your fingers through
the armhole first grasping baby's fist
and guiding it through
do the same thing on the other side and
then snap the t-shirt lay the sleeper or
sleep sack out and open it up again so
that you can lay baby down so that
baby's shoulders line up with the
shoulders of the sleeper again choose
clothing that's easy to dress your baby
most parents prefer to use zipper
clothing as opposed to snaps
while babies napping that's when i can
go ahead and do nail care and this is
the best time because they'll relax
their hands and you can just put your
finger inside of their palm of their
hand let their fingers roll over your
finger your finger and then you can just
use a soft nail file to file their nails
thanks for watching i hope this video
has been helpful for you
have fun with your baby and enjoy these
wonderful times
if you have further questions you can
call the childbirth education line at
zero three 248-325-0037