Skin deep
Your brand new baby looked perfect at birth with smooth, soft, unblemished skin.Within days this perfection is marred: spots appear on her face, hotly followed by a rash on her neck and then, maybe at a later date, the inevitable angry red nappy rash spreads across her bottom. Don’t despair, these are all normal skin problems for babies.
Common skin problems that babies develop:
Milk Spots (Milia or Miliaria): spots often develop when bacteria, which quickly establish a ‘base’ on the skin, invade the pure, healthy skin of a newborn baby. Frustratingly, this often happens just when friends and relations are calling for an early ‘viewing’ of the new arrival. Sometimes tiny septic spots appear but they should all settle quite quickly without any treatment.
Nappy Rash (Ammoniacal Dermatitis): All babies are likely to get this at some stage – red patches with small lesions around them. With any luck it will just be sore around the nappy area where the skin is in direct contact with urine. In severe cases, blisters appear on the skin leaving the surface broken and open to infection. Baby wipes are as effective as soap and water when you’re cleaning up and they’re less irritating to the skin. Once you’ve dealt with the mess, allow your baby’s skin to dry thoroughly before you put another nappy on and use a barrier cream to protect the skin. If the rash doesn’t heal over after a few days, or becomes infected, consult your health visitor.
Dry Skin: Babies often have ‘dry’ skin, because their oil-secreting glands aren’t fully developed, so the natural water in their skin dries out more quickly. Emollient creams, whisked up in the bath water, help to restore moisture to the skin – ask your health visitor or pharmacist about special children’s formulations and other moisturising creams to use during the day.
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