Infant Bathing
Infant bathing is the process of washing and drying an infant’s skin and hair. It’s important to bathe your baby at least once a week to keep them healthy. But it doesn’t have to be every single day. In many countries, this practice is even encouraged by health institutions. In this way, it’s believed that infants bathe frequently to prevent the development of bacteria on the skin. Therefore, avoid infections and various diseases.
Whether to bathe a newborn during the early days to remove vernix, meconium, and bacteria from the skin is debatable. Some consider the bath to be a coddling measure with little benefit for the infant in avoiding infection. The decision should reflect a balance between psychological and developmental considerations. On the one hand and the health benefits of regular bathing on the other.
However, bathing can be a dangerous activity for children under one year old if not handled properly. Drowning is among the most common causes of death among children under four years old. In most cases, these deaths happen when a child is left alone at home unattended.
The American Academy of Paediatrics’ warns that the practice is dangerous for children aged between 1 and 3 months. Unless they are fully supervised. This is because their organs haven’t been fully formed yet and their natural defense system works badly. They recommend that infants shouldn’t be bathed more than once a week. It’s best to keep the child under constant surveillance so they won’t get in any danger and you don’t have a problem.