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Step by step guide to sponge bathing your baby
Important:Read the "Things to remember" section at the end of this page to have a smooth experience bathing your baby.
- Gather all the essentials
- Place a large towel on your shoulder so you wouldn't have to take your hand off the baby to pick it up later.
- (Weather permitting) Undress the baby and clean the diaper area if it is dirty. If you live in a cold country, it is ok to leave the diaper on, wrap the baby in the towel and expose only one area at a time as and when you wash it.
- Lay the baby on a steady, strong surface.
- Mix soap in a bowl of warm water if your soap is a special 'no-rinse' formula. If not, you might consider using a divided bowl with separate space for clean water to rinse.
- Take soapy water in a flannel or wash cloth.
- Wipe baby's body, hands, legs and hair using the flannel.
- Slightly turn the baby to his side and wipe his back, as far as possible.
- Turn him to the other side and wipe the rest of his back.
- Wipe the diaper area last, to make sure any remaining germs from the area doesn't get to the rest of the body. If the baby is a girl, make sure to wipe diaper area from front to back, and never from back to front.
- Pick the baby and wrap him in the towel on your shoulder.
- NEVER leave the baby unattended in the bath or anywhere nearby. If you HAD to go, wrap the baby in a large towel and bring him along with you.
- Gather all essentials before you bathe the baby, so you wouldn't have to run around the house looking for things with a wet, wrapped baby in your hands.
- (Optional) Keep your phone ringer on silent mode if you tend to get nervous, especially during the initial days. A constantly ringing phone, when you cannot attend it, will only leave you frustrated.
- Keep your older child busy with someone or a play time while bathing the infant during the initial days to reduce distraction.
- While drying your baby up, take care to dry the folds of the skin thoroughly, especially in the diaper area, as water is an irritant when different part of skin touches each other.
- Give special attention to the baby's hands, in between fingers where most dirt is likely to accumulate. Even if your baby is too small to touch things yet, milk and spit-up most possibly accumulates in this area.
- When you clean delicate areas like neck or in between fingers, do no rub, as rubbing will irritate the skin and harms it. Gently wipe away the dirt with cotton cloth.
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