How To Bathe With Baby?

One thing that first time parents are apprehensive about is bathing the new born. Right from deciding the optimum temperature to wiping the baby everything can be intimidating in the beginning. In this article we discuss a few tips that can help you handle the entire process in a better and a confident manner and ensure that not only is your baby clean but happy too, so just find out how to bathe with baby and enjoy !!

To begin with, bath time is a wonderful time to bond with your baby. While some may start to enjoy the water right from the first dip others may take some time to get used to the sensations that water may cause in their body. In this article we have a few tips to share that will help you keep your baby clean and happy at the same time.

Bathing a New Born or a Toddler: How To Bathe With Baby?

For bathing a new born or a toddler it is important to do the ground work before starting with the actual bath. Some of the things that you are going to need are discussed below.

Necessities

A clean towel: Wash the towel even if its new before using on the baby. Use a mild detergent or a detergent meant especially for children.
Clean tissues: Have a handful of clean tissues nearby. These can be used for wiping the eyes and the ears.
Cotton clothes: These can be used for soaping and rinsing the child
Baby soap & shampoo
Fresh diapers
Baby hair brush
A fresh set of clothes
Baby powder

Accessories

A hooded towel that will help you to keep the baby dry and warm
Bath tub with a head support

Once you have everything together, the next step involves giving the bath. Let us look at it step wise.

Deciding the water level

The water level is another crucial factor that may intimidate a new parent while giving bath to a new born. With regards to this some tips that can be helpful are:

There should not be too much water in the tub. Just half a tub of water should be enough. Keep it waist high for the baby and never put water more than that. Adhere to it irrespective of the age of the child.
Fill the tub and then put the baby and not the other way round.
The temperature of the water should be at room temperature. Do not make it too hot or too cold.
Dip your elbow and see if the water is fine. The baby has a soft skin and cannot tolerate very hot water.
If the child feels cold then you can put in some warm water to ensure that the temperature is fine enough for the baby.

Children can be unstable

With very young children you have to keep in mind that they are
A newborn child taking bath

very wiggly as their head is not steady enough. They can slip into the water easily if you do not hold him tightly. Your hand should always support the head of the baby even if the baby tub has a head support. If the baby is moving a lot you need to be more careful about this.
As the baby becomes bigger you can remove the head support. When the child learns to sit you can make him or her sit in the tub with bathing toys so that they are busy as you finish giving them the bathe.
As the child learns to stand you can make them stand holding something as you give them a shower. Slowly you will have to let the child take bathe all by himself.

The cleaning process

There area lot of folds in the body of the baby. Ensure that you soap and rinse all these folds
If you are applying shampoo then try to ensure that the foam does not enter the eyes, ears and the mouth of the baby. This is important. Baby soaps do not have harsh chemicals but still you must be careful.
Irrespective of age of the child do not bathe him immediately after a feed. It is best to wait for some while before giving a bath.

Drying Up

As soon as the bathe is done dry the baby well. No matter what age
A newborn child being dried with a soft towel

the baby is.
The head must be wiped well too.
As we said that the babies have lots of folds in the body you must wipe them all too.
Put powder and put the diaper.
Clothes should be comfortable.
Comb the hair and apply the baby cream.
Most of the toddlers would like to sleep as soon as they had a bath so let them sleep.

Additional Do’s & Dont’s on How to bathe with baby

Some additional do’s and dont’s for bathing very young children are:

A new born does need to be bathed everyday. Once in two days or three days is sufficient but if you have to bathe the child everyday, do not do it more than once in a day.
As the baby grows up they will dirty clothes and get messy more often. When the child gets messy you can look at giving them shower twice a day depending on the weather.
If the child is not well then follow the instructions given by the doctors.
As and when you change the diapers ensure that the genitals are wiped with a wet tissue.
Remove any ring or bangles that you are wearing as you bathe the child as they may hurt the baby. They have a soft skin and this can be very dangerous.
If possible do not keep too long nails as you are dealing with a baby.

Irrespective of age of the child do not bathe him immediately after a feed. It is best to wait for some while before giving a bath.

Use this time to bond with the child. Make it enjoyable for both the child and yourself. Talk to him, sing to him and have fun. So hope this article on how to bathe with baby gives you confidence to handle your toddler bath effectively.