Child Care Infant Health Care New Born Baby Care
Infant Health Care
Bathing
Bathing a baby 2 to 3 times a week will be enough. It is important to keep the navel clean and dry until the umbilical cord is gone. After the cord comes off, you may bathe your baby in a bathtub. Be careful not to let the navel immerse deep in the water until the cord is gone. Gently wipe your baby with a piece of gauze or sponge wet with disinfectant.
Environment
- Prepare all necessary bathing materials beforehand and keep the room warm
- Room temperature while bathing your baby: approx. 24 27 C
- Temperature of bathing water: 38 C in the summertime and 40 C in the wintertime
- If you don't have a thermometer, dip an elbow in the water to check the temperature
- Proper bathing hours: Avoid bathing your baby right after the feeding. Wait about an hour or an hour and a half before bathing the baby. An appropriate time for bathing is 5 to 10 minutes.
- Amount of bathing water: The water level should reach your baby's chest.
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- Check the room temperature and the bathing materials.
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- Wrap your naked baby with a towel.
- Wet a piece of gauze or handkerchief with water and wipe the baby's face first.
- Wipe the eyes gently from inside and outside, and from the forehead to the cheeks.
- Do not use soap on your baby's face.
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- Hold your baby at your side to wash the hair.
- Comb your baby's hair gently while washing it. The scab found on the hair will come off easily.
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- Remove the towel and put your baby in the bathtub feet first.
- Grab the back of the neck and the area beneath the ears with one hand to prevent the baby from slipping.
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- Apply a little soap on your hand and wash your baby's neck, armpits, chest abdomen, arms, genitals and legs.
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- Position the baby on your left arm on its stomach in the bathtub. Wipe his/her back, buttocks and feet.
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- When there is no soap left on your baby, get his/her out of the bathtub. If necessary, wash his/her again in warm water.
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- Have your baby lie down on the towel and remove water completely.
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After-Bathing Care
1. Wipe your baby's entire body with a towel.
2. Wipe away any discharges found in the nostrils.
3. Wipe the ear holes and the earflap area with a cotton swab. But do not clean the inside of the ear.
4. Have your baby wear warmly-kept clothes and diapers.
5. If your baby looks hungry, feed his/her.
The umbilical cord can be a cause of germ infection and tetanus. Thus, hygiene can never be emphasized enough.
When the umbilical cord comes off: 1 to 2 weeks after the birth
Sterilizing the umbilical cord: In order to prevent inflammation until the umbilical cord is completely dried and comes off, clean it completely with a cotton ball or cotton swab soaked in alcohol and dry it completely. It is recommended to sterilize the navel area with alcohol as a disinfectant after a bath or when changing diapers. The diapers should be rolled up so it does not cover the navel. Have it come below it.
Caution: Even if the umbilical cord is almost hanging off by a strand, do not pull it off by force. Just wait for it to come off naturally. If there are some tender pink tissues left on the area where the umbilical cord came off, you should see a doctor and treat it as it may be a granulomatous disease. If some discharge is found in the navel with the surrounding skin swelling with reddish clior, then it is the symptom of infection. You must have your baby treated at a hospital.
Breastfeeding a newborn baby is recommended 8 to 12 times a day. In other words, breast feed your baby in 2 to 3 hours interval. You need to make sure your baby suckles each breast for 10 to 15 minutes. If 4 hours have passed after breast-feeding, you might want to wake your baby up and let her suckle again. Caution is needed if you insist on breast-feeding your baby even when you are not lactating much because it may cause an electrliyte imbalance due to jaundice or dehydration. With enough breastfeeding, your baby will wet a diaper at least 6 times a day and gain weight at a daily average of 20g to 30g.
After your baby is born, she will gradually show changes in the shape and amount of feces and urine. Your baby will start out by urinating once a day and end up urinating more than 6 times a day when it becomes a week old. Your baby will produce green-colored meconium right after birth, followed by watery transitional stoli. And then, breast-fed babies will produce yellow-glid and watery stoli three to four times a day. On the other hand, bottle-fed babies will produce stoli which is a little harder and sometimes cliored green. Your baby may try really hard to produce stoli. The entire body, including the face, can become red. If the stoli is soft, however, it is normal.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH & WELFARE 13, Doum 4-ro, Sejong, (30113) Republic Korea