Newborn skin sensitivity, dryness and eczema. Some handy advice for the anxious mommies.

Newborn skin sensitivity is a nightmare for any parent. Dry, rough and scaly skin is a frequent problem in newborns while frank eczema is a troublesome medical issue requiring carefully monitored therapy. The road to soft-supple kissable cheeks is not only wearisome but full of doubts and confusions. What products to use, which ones to avoid, what skin-care regime to follow, who to consult, and what not to do?

Even with the 24×7 counsel of my paediatrician husband, along with constant consultations with my dermatologist friends, I had a very unpleasant experience. I can only imagine the pain and confusion that surrounds the new parents when they see their baby hurting like this coupled with a tiresome cycle of consultations, product trials, and frustrations.

I hope my experience can be of some help to you, bringing in the anticipated relief for you and your baby.

Recommendations on newborn skincare.

First and foremost, you must consult your baby’s paediatrician for routine skincare advice at birth, even with no apparent skin issue. Not following the recommended guidelines for newborn skincare can land you in the zone you were not intended to be in. You must actively seek the guidance, this is your parental right and responsibility. I shall throw some light on the topic as most of us, ‘the new parents’, are unaware of the damage we do by not paying attention to the right pieces of information.

Baby bath and massage.

Healthy newborn babies have a protective (outermost) skin layer that is imperative to maintaining a normal body defence system. Using wrong products, or following the wrong practices can abrade this sensitive layer. A breach in this skin-barrier allows bacteria/germs to get access to the living epidermal keratinocytes. This is also linked to a disturbed immune response later in the life of the child.

Some suggestions from the best practice guidelines from paediatric societies –

• Sponge baths till the umbilical cord falls off, and the circumcision scar heals.
• For the first month (or the first few weeks), don’t add any cleansers to the bathwater, water-only baths are adequate for the baby. Some societies consider using a mild liquid soap superior to using only water.
• The bathing frequency should be once in 3 to 4 days. You should clean the neck and nappy area with a wet-sponge or alcohol-free wipes as and when required. Excessive/aggressive cleaning/soaps/rubbing can cause skin dryness and abrade the superficial layers.
• While touching increases bonding between the baby and her caretakers, one should not indulge in aggressive/active massaging till a few weeks after birth. Too early application of oils and forceful massages can lead to excoriation of the protective dermal layers and cause skin problems or lead to infection.
  • By 5 to 6 weeks your infant’s skin should be ready to indulge in the warmth of essential oils.

Everything that touches your baby’s skin is important.

Not only the skincare products but everything that comes in contact with your child’s skin is very important in maintaining normal healthy skin. Use soft cotton clothes and baby wraps/ swaddles only, avoid using synthetics like nylon. There should be a layer of soft cotton between the newborn’s skin and the woollen/ synthetic clothes.

All clothes should be pre-washed to wash off any residual chemicals and dirt/germs from handling by others.

The same holds true for the bedding, toys, burp clothes, napkins, etc.

Use child-friendly detergents. I used Pigeon laundry liquid as her routine cloth wash. Recently, I have tried Mamaearth plant-based laundry detergent. Their products always do justice to their claims. Ezee wool wash is my other all-time favourite for the woollen lot.

Wipes used on the baby should be alcohol and scent-free. Mamaearth organic bamboo wipes are the best option available in the market at present. I have not tried another option after I started using this product.

Avoid direct sun exposure.

Sunlight is full of benefits for our body and exposing the newborn to sunrays is one universally followed ritual. You just need to keep a few facts in mind for safe exposure:

• Early morning 6 am to 8 am in summers and till 10 am in winters is the best time for exposure in our country.
• 5 minutes to 5 hours of exposure may be needed to meet the daily vitamin D requirements of the infant. The exposure time increases with increasing fairness. It also depends on the latitude, altitude, season and time of the day.
• Don’t expose the child to sunrays directly especially after 10 am. The heat and UV rays can do more damage than good.
• Immunosuppression and higher chances of skin cancer are seen in adults who were exposed to direct sunlight in infancy, specifically in fair-skinned individuals
• The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that ‘infants should be protected from the sun as much as possible and vitamin D requirements should be met through diet and fortified foods rather than deliberate sun exposure.’

Choose the right products.

Even before our fragile package makes an appearance in our arms, most of us (would-be-moms) have already searched and researched for the best baby products for an n^th number of times. Loads of advice keep pouring in from all around as well. Despite that, this anxiety will be soothed only once you see the soft-supple results you dearly craved for.

There are a lot of well- established names in the baby skincare product industry, and some new brand promising organics and the preservative-free alternative is always being launched on a daily basis.

Frankly, it makes little difference when you choose products for a baby with healthy skin. It becomes a major deciding factor when the ‘to be cared’ skin is dull and damaged already. I had absolutely no problem with my first-born, the King of our house-Advitya, who had a wonderfully supple skin. I relied on the promise of Aveeno products and I was never disappointed. Aveeno daily bath liquid soap and body lotion were my routine cart items till he was 3 years of age. The products are wonderful and trustworthy.

Every child is unique in his/her skincare needs.

With Aarayna, my sweet little monster, fate had a laborious path sketched out for us. Her skin would go red and angry even when touched. There were rough and scaly patches at multiple sites. I started with Aveeno, happy and content with my last encounter. Yet, the road ahead was not as smooth as I expected. After every bath, her skin would become angrier, expressing it’s unhappiness with a flaring of the patches and mocking my patience with new spots. Despite applying a generous amount of lotion, it still stayed raw. In moments of desperation, I did try cooling off the redness with help of some steroid creams. A momentary relief!

In between, I tried Cetaphil body wash. It did soothe her flares to some degree but I was still distressed and my wait for seeing her skin smooth and happy was getting longer.

I tried to soothe her by oil- massaging but every time I attempted, her skin became more raw and patched. I tried mom’s co and Figaro olive oil initially but the flare of patches was so grim that I had to discontinue her massage till her skin became less sensitive and her lesions healed.

The arrow that finally hit the target.

After a lot of hesitation, and repeated advice from my husband-cum-paediatrician, I agreed to try Curatio products. Till date, I repent not following this piece of advice from day 1. This is one platform where I agree harmoniously with him, hands down.

Now Aarayna has a fixed skincare ritual starting with a warm and healthful massage using Qtepy virgin coconut oil. Though she is not a massage person unlike her brother, still we manage a 10-15 minute session before every bath. The packaging of the oil tube is very nice and handy. The oil solidifies in winters and you need to warm the tubing to let the oil flow. Its natural fragrance is incredibly soothing and the light oil texture is perfect for my baby’s skin.

She loves playing in her bathtub filled with soft and lukewarm water. Tedybar is an excellent emollient soap having a baby-like fragrance. However, there is one irritating problem with the soap, it tends to dissolve into a messy slime-like lump very easily. I recommend keeping the soap dry in a soap dish, not allowing it to stand in water for long, this remarkably prolongs the shelf-life.

For hair wash, we prefer using Spoo shampoo, although Tedibar can be used instead.

Generous coating with a baby lotion after a bath helps locking-in the essential skin moisture. For this, I highly recommend Atogla body lotion. The lotion is free of all harmful chemicals and till date, I do not have any complaints. For more intense moisturization, Atogla cream is the best option. We used it routinely on her face and the on the dry patches. In between, we use it in place of lotion for richer moisturisation. Her face skin recovered very quickly with the use of Atogla cream.

Touchwood, the patches went away within 2 weeks of use and have not troubled me since then. Her skin has the soft supple gentleness that it always deserved.

Based on my personal experience with newborn skin sensitivity, I would recommend:

• No oil massaging till at least 4 weeks post-delivery.
• Sponge baths till the cord falls off.
• Water-only baths till the first few weeks.
• Do a small patch test before introducing any product, be it a shampoo, soap, lotion or oil. Choose a peripheral part like forearm to do the test. Apply a small amount of the product and let it stay for a few hours. Wipe off with lukewarm water, or alcohol/scent-free wipes. Don’t use that product if you notice redness, swelling. hives, or eruptions.
• Use paediatrician recommended products only. Always feel free to consult your doctor before making any changes to your baby’s skincare routine.
• Curatio offers a good range of products and deserves a try if you are also caught in infant-skin trouble.
• Everything that touches your baby should match the sensitive texture of your baby’s skin and must always be pre-washed.
• Avoid direct sun exposure.
• Keep the skin well-hydrated and protected all the time

There is no single right answer to the newborn skin sensitivity dilemma and no single brand or product will suit all skin types. Mommies need to find their individual success paths. Before choosing to let a product touch the sensitive skin of your newborn, you must do thorough research on the goodness it offers, and the validity of the claims made (the online reviews often provide a true experience of trusted users, the more reviewed a product, the better are chances of the reviews being authentic).

Stay blessed!