Bathing a newborn

 Be sure the room is

Things to remember: warm about 24º C, to
prevent chilling
 Bath water should be
approximately 37º to
38º C, a temperature
that feels pleasantly
warm to the elbow or
wrist.
 If soap is used, it
should be mild and
without a
hexachlorophene
base.
 Bathing should take
place before, not
after, a feeding to
prevent spitting up or
vomiting and
possible aspiration.
 The bathing
• Begin by washing baby's eyes. Use only
water to clean baby's eyes. Use the corner
of your washcloth and wipe eyes from the
inside corner of the eye to the outside
corner. Use another corner of your
washcloth and wash baby's other eye from
the inside corner to the outside corner.
• Wash baby's mouth, nose, and ears with
warm water. Rinse your washcloth.
 Washing the hair
• Teach parents to wash the infant’s hair
with each bath. The easiest way to this
is to first soap the hair with the baby
lying in the bassinet.
• Hold the infant in one arm over the
basin of water, as you would a football
• Splash water from the basin against the
head to rinse the hair.
• Dry the hair well to prevent chilling.
 The body
• Wash each area of the baby’s body,
rinse so no soap is left on the skin, dry
the body part.
• When you wash the skin around the
cord, take care not to soak the cord.
• Give particular care to the creases of
the skin, where milk tends to collect if
the child spits up after feeding.
 Washing the Genetalia

• In male infants, the foreskin of the

uncircumcised penis should not be
forced back, or constriction of the
penis may result.
• Wash the vulva of a female infant,
wiping from front to back to prevent
contamination of the vagina or urethra
by rectal bacteria.
 Tub baths
• Once your baby's
umbilical cord has
healed, she will be
ready for a tub bath.
Fill baby's bath with
2-3 inches of warm
water. Follow the
same procedure as
for sponge bathing.
Remember, never,
never leave a baby
unattended in the
tub.