Hey Cousin! Michelena is getting SO big! Glad you are having fun with your little girl!
Just a couple of things about tubby bathing... Babies lose heat through their head the fastest, so I always save hair washing for last (after I finish bathing and have Brandon wrapped up in a towel to dry off). If you prefer to wash her head first, put a hat on her after so she can stay warmer. One thing that also kept Brandon warm during baths (and made it more enjoyable for him) was I would keep a warm wet towel over his chest & belly as I washed him, since his legs and parts of his arms were usually still submerged in some of the warm water. Always test the bath water using your wrists (just like when you warm milk and are testing its temperature). Our hands are not as sensitive, and in general, we are less sensitive to water temperature than babies' sensitive skin.
Lastly, when you are washing a baby girl's private area, always wipe from front to back (to avoid urinary tract infections), and after you use your washcloth to clean her butt (which you should always clean last because it is the dirtiest part), do not clean any other part of her body with that washcloth or re-submerge it into the bath water - get a new washcloth if you need to rinse or clean anything else! Otherwise, you are just spreading germs (like E.coli, etc.) from the dirtiest part of her body to the parts you just cleaned.
These are just some of the things we teach new parents in the NICU when we do tubby baths with them. Also, I learned after a while that Brandon loved his baths much more when he wasn't starving - so I always tried to bath him when he had a little something in his belly (not a lot, but enough to make him happy), and then I would nurse him again before putting him to bed.
I know you didn't ask... but I hope this helps! Enjoy your little peanut!
Hey Cousin! Michelena is getting SO big! Glad you are having fun with your little girl!
ReplyDeleteJust a couple of things about tubby bathing... Babies lose heat through their head the fastest, so I always save hair washing for last (after I finish bathing and have Brandon wrapped up in a towel to dry off). If you prefer to wash her head first, put a hat on her after so she can stay warmer. One thing that also kept Brandon warm during baths (and made it more enjoyable for him) was I would keep a warm wet towel over his chest & belly as I washed him, since his legs and parts of his arms were usually still submerged in some of the warm water. Always test the bath water using your wrists (just like when you warm milk and are testing its temperature). Our hands are not as sensitive, and in general, we are less sensitive to water temperature than babies' sensitive skin.
Lastly, when you are washing a baby girl's private area, always wipe from front to back (to avoid urinary tract infections), and after you use your washcloth to clean her butt (which you should always clean last because it is the dirtiest part), do not clean any other part of her body with that washcloth or re-submerge it into the bath water - get a new washcloth if you need to rinse or clean anything else! Otherwise, you are just spreading germs (like E.coli, etc.) from the dirtiest part of her body to the parts you just cleaned.
These are just some of the things we teach new parents in the NICU when we do tubby baths with them. Also, I learned after a while that Brandon loved his baths much more when he wasn't starving - so I always tried to bath him when he had a little something in his belly (not a lot, but enough to make him happy), and then I would nurse him again before putting him to bed.
I know you didn't ask... but I hope this helps! Enjoy your little peanut!
Love,
Sam