Your baby’s skin is smooth, soft, and highly delicate.  So how you care for your baby’s skin is very important. Here are some guidelines for keeping your baby’s skin healthy.

If your child has sensitive skin:

• Steer clear of products that have fragrances and perfumes.
• Avoid dryer sheets or fabric softeners, which leave a film on clothing and can irritate tender infant skin.
• Stay away from shampoo or washes made with sodium lauryl sulfate, which tend to burn children’s eyes.

If your infant gets cradle cap, a build-up of scales on the scalp, apply a little mineral oil to the scalp and gently brush away the thick scales with a very soft-bristle brush or toothbrush, suggests Jakubowicz.

Soaps and Anti-Bacterial Products

Avoid deodorant soaps meant for adults, they are harsh and too drying on a baby’s skin. Although they may not lather as well, try milder liquid or bar products that will be labeled “cleansing bar” or “skin cleanser.” “Babies aren’t sweating, you don’t have to use anything harsh to get its skin clean,” says Jakubowicz.

Avoid using anti-bacterial products. They tend to dry out a baby’s gentle skin. Also, regular use of anti-bacterial household products may actually increase the possibility that the germs they are meant to kill will eventually become more resistant to these products, and harder to kill.

Although bubble bath products may make bath time more fun for children, they tend to dry skin out. Be sure to use a bubble bath that is mild enough for frequent use. Using a moisturizer after bathing can also help avoid dry skin.

Moisturizers and Sun Protection

Stick to creams, ointment, and emollient moisturizers instead of lotions. “If it comes in a tube, it’s usually more effective,” says Jakubowicz. Avoid products that list alcohol in the ingredients. Alcohol tends to produce a drying effect that’s counterproductive to moisturizing.

Try to keep babies less than six months old out of the sun, or dress them in sun-protective clothing. When that’s impossible, apply a small amount of sunscreen with at least 15 SPF to exposed areas like the face and back of hands. For older babies, choose a sunscreen labeled “broad-spectrum” with an SPF of at least 15, and reapply every two hours or after swimming or sweating. Look for physical sunscreens and sunblockers or chemical-free sunscreen products that contain zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

Protect Baby’s Tender Bottom

If your baby develops a diaper rash, make sure to change your baby’s diaper every three to four hours, and immediately after a bowel movement. Wipes can be irritating to raw skin, so use unscented wipes or a soft cloth with water until it heals. Allow baby’s bottom to air dry. A cream or ointment with zinc oxide can help protect the area. For prevention, petroleum ointments should do fine.

For the first three months, or longer, if your baby has sensitive skin, avoid baby wipes that have fragrances. You can also skip the wipes altogether and just use wash cloths and a squirt bottle of water at the baby’s changing table.

If you use baby powder, pour it out carefully and keep the powder away from the baby’s face. Talc or cornstarch in baby powder can injure a baby’s lungs.

By Ms. Shobha

According to a recent report, Indian couples/ single parents are willing to adopt only pretty and fair kids. There are apparently no takers for sick, special needs, HIV positive or for that matter kids who are older, at least among Indian parents. Overseas couples seem to be more open to the idea of adopting such children.
Well, though the trend is sad, it is heartening to note that at least now days people are open to adoption, in fact in Indian metros one sees a rise in adoption rates.

The main criteria should be that the skin tone of the child should be somewhat similar to the skin tone of the adoptive parents; this not only helps the child to adjust better in the family environment, but also helps him to become a socially acceptable part of the family much more easily…this I feel is especially true in the Indian social scenario.

With some many children being abandoned everyday in India, especially little girls (some appallingly just hours after birth), adoption fair or dark should be welcomed. After all, we should look at the brighter side; these fair/ dark children get a chance to go into loving homes.

With time, I am sure the color bias among adoptive Indian parents would also lessen, and they just like their overseas counterparts will welcome the dark-skinned babies into their families

Source: Dr Anupam

They are the essence of what is good in life and taking care of them can easily ping about the pleaser that you need. Newborn baby skin care products are all about organic products that ensure that baby’s skin is well nourished and taken care. There is a regime that will need to be taken into consideration as part of the newborn baby skin care.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Trial And Error:

Baby face skin care or newborn baby skin care can make you feel like a failure. That is because baby acne often comes out when your newborn is a few days or weeks old. This should not make you think that what you have been doing with the newborn baby skin care is wrong. Instead take at it is, baby acne can happen and often does happen. This is not an indication of you being a bad parent or anything like that so be strong and preserver.

Just being there and giving baby the support they need in their world is important and can a real joy, as they do need you more than anything else. They are frail and you are the only world that they know until they can fend for themselves. So don’t feel depressed about it, as it is a fairly common thing, which can only be resolved with time. Just ensure that you do have as much information as you can under your belt to that you newborn baby skin care efforts don’t end not yielding any results.

Source: Dr Anu

Nothing is harder to see than your little baby crying in pain with a flaming red bottom. Fortunately, if you eat a healthy diet and use cloth diapers, diaper rash is rare. Here is what we have learned about preventing and treating diaper rash.

Our Top Tips for Preventing Baby Diaper Rash

• Quickly change diapers – Poop against bare skin is likely to cause diaper rash. Watch your baby closely for signs of pooping. Change your baby immediately after a poop and at least every three hours. You want to keep things as dry as possible.
• Use cloth diapers – they breathe much better than paper, reducing bacteria and heat build-up, both of which contribute to diaper rash.
• Cut back on citrus and /or tomato sauce – both are acidic and known to cause diaper rash if left on the skin for even brief periods of time.
• Use a natural diaper cream with Zinc if your baby has been eating foods you know will cause diaper rash as well as at night.
• Eliminate foods your baby is allergic to. If your baby is getting regular diaper rashes despite doing the above, check into possible food allergies and/or try eliminating foods you suspect your child may be allergic to (shows signs of gastric distress after eating, craves abnormally, etc.)
• Don’t change your baby on public changing tables unless you can sanitize it first and use a liner or something to prevent your baby’s skin from coming in contact with the table. Public changing tables are rarely cleaned and you don’t know what might be on them.

Tips for selecting the Right Diapers

Now, one of the skills that you need to learn especially as a first-time parent is how to change nappies. But first, you need to learn how to choose the right one to wear on your baby so that there will be no signs of nappy rash on your kid’s sensitive skin. To get you started on the right path, here are a few tips that you should keep in mind when choosing the right diapers for your kid:

Purchase a small pack of one brand of diapers and check

Raising a baby is quite expensive, so you need to be wise in your purchases. Bulk buying diapers which your baby is allergic to is a definite waste of money – so purchase a small pack of one brand first. Once you determine that your baby is not developing rashes with the brand of diaper that you bought, that is when you can safely buy in bulk.

Make sure that your baby is not developing nappy rash while wearing

During the first few months of your baby’s life, you are bound to change nappies more often because they always get soiled or wet. The frequency reduces gradually as your baby grows. With the bacteria and the moistness of the diaper area, it is but normal to expect your baby’s skin to develop nappy rash. But there are instances when the brand of the diapers used is the culprit for the rashes.

You are probably already doing this as a parent, but it doesn’t hurt to stress the importance of comparing different brands, prices and quality of nappies available in the market. By doing so, you can rest assured that you are getting the best value for your money without sacrificing the effect that the diapers have on your baby’s skin.

By Ms. Kusum