First time: first bath, first walk, first tears

• How to bathe a child and when can he be bathed for the first time?

You can start bathing your baby after the umbilical wound has healed. Usually, it heals completely about two weeks after birth. But if after a week the umbilical wound shows no signs of inflammation and your local pediatrician does not see any other contraindications, you can start bathing your baby.

For the first bath, the water temperature should be about 36 °C. It is not necessary to boil the water. Considering that you will start bathing the baby before the umbilical wound has completely healed, you can add a solution of manganese to the water. In this case, you need to make sure that the crystals themselves do not get into the bath.

For bathing, you can use baby soap or special shampoos for children, containing additional components obtained from various herbs. You can, in the old-fashioned way, use a decoction of succession for bathing, which, in addition to cleansing properties, also has an anti-allergic effect.

Now let's talk about how to bathe the baby. Place his head on your left forearm so that it lies on your arm closer to the elbow bend, and support his back with your palm. Or you can support his head and neck with your palm, and let his body "dangle" in the water. And with the palm of your right hand, gathered in a "boat", pour water from the bath over him. When soaping, remember that the body becomes slippery, and try not to drop it. If you are bathing the baby together, then one of the parents supports the child, and the other soaps and pours water. You can use a special lounger installed in the bath, on which you lay the baby.

Many parents are afraid of water getting into their baby's ears. Of course, you don't need to "flood" the ears on purpose, but you shouldn't be afraid of water getting into them either. Remember that in utero the baby swam in amniotic fluid and, naturally, it got into the ears without causing any negative consequences. However, amniotic fluid and tap water are different liquids in their composition. Therefore, if water does get into the ears, remove it by twisting a soft flagellum out of cotton wool and inserting it into the ear. You shouldn't use cotton swabs for this purpose, since you may miscalculate the depth of the ear canal and damage the eardrum.

The first bath should last no more than 5-7 minutes, as the water in the tub cools down quickly. In the future, gradually increase the duration of the bath and gradually reduce the water temperature (by 1 °C per week or by 3-4 °C per month).

Many parents are interested in how long to treat the navel? The fallen off stump of the umbilical cord (falls off on the fourth or fifth day) is lubricated with a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide and a solution of brilliant green. Usually, the navel heals completely in one or two weeks. I repeat that until the umbilical wound is completely healed (when instilled or lubricated with hydrogen peroxide, until foam stops appearing), it is better not to bathe the child.

• When can I start walking?

The first walk can be done immediately after discharge from the maternity hospital, if it is summer, and after 3-4 weeks - if in winter. During this time, the child will have time to fully adapt to extrauterine life. In addition to the immunity received from the mother through the placenta, it will receive additional protective factors with milk. The child is born sterile. That is, there are no microorganisms on it or in its body. The so-called seeding with various microorganisms harmless to the child must occur. Moreover, it will receive most of them from the mother. All this takes time.

If you take your first walk in the summer, its duration should not exceed 30 minutes. If in the winter, then no more than 10-15 minutes. Gradually increase the duration by 5-10 minutes a day, bringing the walk time in the summer to 2.5 hours, and in the winter to 1.5-2 hours. Frequency of walks: in the winter - 2 times a day, in the summer - 3 times a day.

In the first six months of life, the temperature at which you can go for a walk is not below 12 °C below zero, and later - not below 15 °C below zero.

You already know how to dress your baby for walks (one more layer of clothing than you have). If you are walking with a stroller, take with you: in the summer - a diaper, and in the winter - a blanket to cover the baby.

In summer, you can hang gauze or tulle on the stroller visor to protect against insects.

To find out if the child is cold or not (this is especially important in winter), touch his nose. If the nose is warm, then the child is warm, if it is cold, you need to get home immediately, the child is cold.

• Why do newborns and infants cry?

The thing is that a newborn or infant cannot attract the attention of adults to himself and his problems in any way except by crying. He cannot speak with words or gestures, and therefore he can only ask for help in this way.

Experienced educators and pediatricians distinguish about six types of baby crying: crying indicating hunger; crying indicating pain; crying indicating discomfort (wet diapers); crying indicating fear; crying indicating a desire to sleep (if it is impossible to fall asleep for some reason); crying indicating a desire to communicate ("I'm bored"). Knowing the possible reasons for crying, you should understand what the child wants, and having understood, you can help him. At the same time, in no case should you be angry with the child. Trying to help him, you should try to calm him down in a soft, affectionate tone. After all, children are very sensitive to intonation, not understanding words at all. After the problem is solved (the child is fed, changed diapers), he needs to be distracted, if even after solving his problem he continues to whine. To do this, you need to pick him up, stroke his back, attract his attention with something new for him.

Don't ignore a crying child! It's not that he's being "naughty", it's that you can't or don't want to understand what he needs, what's wrong with him!

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