Good Daily Skin Care
Bath or shower daily in warm (not hot) water for 10 to 15minutes maximum. Use minimal soap.
Apply a thick, non fragranced moisturizer all over twice daily. first applied right after the bath after gently patting the skin dry.
Avoidance of Triggers
Treatment of Eczema Flares
Meet your Doctor
Add lukewarm water to fill the tub completely (about 40 gallons of water).
Depending on the size of the tub/amount of water used, add ¼ to ½ cup of common bleach solution to the bath water. Any sodium hypochlorite 6% solution will do (for example, Chlorox liquid bleach); the goal is to make a modified Dakin’s solution with a final concentration of about 0.005%.
Stir the mixture to ensure that the bleach is completely diluted in the bath water.
Have patients soak in the chlorinated water for 5 to 10 minutes.
Thoroughly rinse skin clear with lukewarm, fresh water at the end of the bleach bath to prevent dryness and irritation.
As soon as the bath is over, pat the patient dry. Do not rub dry, as this is the same as scratching.
Immediately apply any prescribed medications/emollients.
Repeat bleach baths 2–3 times a week or as prescribed by the physician.
The following restrictions apply
Do not use undiluted bleach directly on the skin. Even diluted bleach baths can potentially cause dryness and/or irritation.
Do not use bleach baths if there are many breaks or open areas in the skin (for fear of intense stinging and burning).
Do not use bleach baths in patients with a known contact allergy to chlorine
What is Eczema?
Eczema is a skin disorder that makes children itchy and dry flaky skin. Many times,a kid can have patchy dry skin.
What are the common symptoms of Eczema?
Can it Occur in Family?
What is the common area of the body which can be affected
(However, DIAPER AREA is usually spared)
Do we need any skin test or allergy test to diagnose Atopic dermatitis or Eczema
At home, how can we avoid any flare-up of Eczema
How to ManageEczema
The best part is that almost more than 50 % of the kid with Eczema outgrows with age.
Treatment:
Can Atopic Dermatitis or Eczema be preventable
To some extent, yes? If your kids are at higher risk of developing dry skin or Eczema, then you can start using moisturizing creams soon after your baby is born.
What is Infantile colic?
It is not uncommon for normalnewborn babies to cry up to 2 hours a day. A baby with colic usually cries more than 3 hours a day. Kids typically start having colic pain around the 4th week of life & it can last up to 4 months of age. Often colic happensduring evening time only.
What else besides colic can make a baby cry more than usual?
Always look for the following reasons
What is Cradle Cap or Dandruff of Infant ?
Cradle cap is a scaly-like lesion that commonly affects the scalp, also known as seborrheic dermatitis. This generally resolves spontaneously over weeks.
How can we treat ourselves at home ?
I am doing all these, what next ?
Better meet your paediatrician, who may prescribe you mild steroid cream and ketoconazole shampoo to be applied twice per week for two weeks.
Do we need to do a hearing screening of my baby ?
Screening is an essential tool to early pick up of any disease. And hearing defect has a long term impact on many children’s learning process.
How it’s being done on any newborn ?
OAE (O to Acoustic Emission) is an elementary& painless test, which takes just 10 minutes. It can be done at the bedside by an audiologist. You should not be worried if case OAE test gets failed because it could be due to fluids in-ear. We need to get it done again, and sometimes a detailed BERA test would be required.
Which group of newborns are at higher risk of developing hearing loss ?
Neonates with the following conditions are more prone.
What is Neonatal Jaundice or Hyperbilirubinemia ?
Yellow discoloration of the eye & skin is called newborn Jaundice. If your kid’s palm & soles are looking, it could be due to the very high level of Jaundice.
What are the symptoms of severe Jaundice ?
These are dangerous signs of Jaundice
Why it so common during the Neonatal Period ?
Common reasons for developing Jaundice during the neonatal period are generally due to the following reasons.
Any association with the mother’s blood group ?
Mother Blood group negative & baby blood group Positive or Mother blood group O & baby Blood group A/B/AB.
How can we prevent my kid from severe Jaundice?
Frequent breastfeeding, meaning every 2 to 3 hours. Follow the rule of 8 X 8- if your baby is getting feeds 8 times & passing stools 8 times every 24 hours, then chances of getting Jaundice would be less.
My baby was admitted to nursery for very high Jaundice. What precautions and investigations do I need to have for my kid ?
During the first 24 hours of life, any jaundice or any level more than 20 mg/dl is considered high. Get your kid’s blood group/RH typing/DCT/G6PD/Thyroid level along with Hearing Test (BERA) done as soon as possible.
What’s light therapy or Phototherapy ?
Phototherapy is the most common treatment offered for newborn Jaundice. The baby’s skin is exposed to special blue light. This would break bilirubin, which is easier to eliminate in the stool and urine. Babies are usually naked (wearing diapers) with eye & genitals covered.
How can we prevent my kid from severe Jaundice?
Frequent breastfeeding, meaning every 2 to 3 hours. Follow the rule of 8 X 8- if your baby is getting feeds 8 times & passing stools 8 times every 24 hours, then chances of getting Jaundice would be less.
Can sunlight help in the improvement of Jaundice ?
Exposure to sunlight was previously thought to be helpful but is no longer recommended due to sunburn risk unless ultraviolet rays are filtered out. Sunburn does not occur with the lights used in Phototherapy. Recently in Africa, Sunlight therapy with special FILTER was used successfully for mild Jaundice. However, neither it’s available nor recommended in India.
Can I Take food like turmeric, or will my kid wear Yellow clothes ?
Yes, instead, it contains a lot of antioxidants, which would be helpful for the mother.
Should I look for Stool Color ?
Yes, if your baby is yellow and if diaper staining with urine is yellow and stool is white pale in color, then meet your doctor immediately.
Congratulation, now you are going Home. All first-time mum has many queries & a lot of apprehensions about the care of their tiny baby at home.
Check before Discharge
At Home
A newborn is more prone to develop hypothermia because of a large surface area per unit of body weight.
What should I watch in my Babies during the first two weeks of life ?
You must visit a hospital or call your neonatologist in case of the following symptoms
Why it’s different from Older Kids ?
The newborn skin is very fragile, immature & sensitive to trauma and infection. While choosing the best soaps, powder, and oils, we should be cautious.
Shall we remove/clean Vernix (white layers over the body) from baby skin immediately after birth ?
Vernix is an entirely naturally occurring fat sticking over the skin of the newly born babies. This protects the baby from heat loss, excessive water loss & gives the right amount of immunity. So we should not remove this from the skin.
When can we bathe my baby ?
Avoid bathing in the hospital and till umbilical cords have fallen off. During this time, sponging with lukewarm water is enough.
How often can we bathe ?
Giving bath 2-3 times a week is enough, and duration should not be more than 5 minutes. Use warm water and cotton wool.
Can we use oil for massage ?
Oil or moisturizer smoothens the skin. Vegetable oils are used most preferable, especially Coconut oil. They are safe and scientifically proven even in premature babies. We can also use Olive oil. We should avoid using almond and Mustard oil, which can damage newborn skin. However, it’s the mother touch, which is essential rather than the type of oils.
Which powder is best for my newborn baby ?
Avoid all powders during the newborn period; however, you can use CORNSTARCH-based powder. Overuses of powder can lead to rash, or inhalation of powder can be hazardous.
The best treatment for rashes (Potty area) ?
Which is the best soap for my kids ?
Any baby soap having pH closer to normal skin is less irritating.
Any baby born before your due date (EDD- Expected Date of Delivery, which is equal to 40 weeks of gestational age) is essentially preterm. So, they would require special care during delivery.
What you should ask your gynecologist & pediatrician
Benefits of DCC (Delayed Cord Clamping) & SKIN TO SKIN CONTACT
Conventionally ear piercing would be performed by the Jewelers. But as we know, kid’s skin is fragile, and they are more prone to get an infection, allergy, or sometimes severe infection like hepatitis or HIV because of poor hygienic conditions.
At our place, we are using
INVERNESS (USA) EAR PIERCING SYSTEM https://invernesscorp.com/our-piercing-system
What’s the advantage of this System
What’s the best time to get Ear piercing
Are the procedure painless
Yes, we are using a gun system, and it takes not more than a minute for the whole procedure without any bleeding and almost painless.
Sometimes in very apprehensive parents/kids, we can spray local anesthetics for Pain Relief.
Fetal Reasons
Neonatal Reasons
