Baby’s First Bath: How-To-Bathe Your Newborn

Dec 19

Written By Christin Murillo, CD-LD, HCHD Doulas of Jacksonville Owner

For many new parents, bathing your baby for the first time can be daunting for sure. Do you use a baby bath tub? How much soap should you use? Should you use soap at all? How soon and how often should you bathe them?? Generals made less decisions during WWII am I right?!?! (just kidding) But rest assured that a little preparation can go a long way!

What methods can be used:

There are pretty much two ways to go about this, with a bit of wiggle room.

Sponge bathing- wiping your sweet newborn off with a warm wet rag that may or may not have some mild soap on it.

Submersion bathing- placing the newborn in a small bath of warm water with mild soap in it and wiping them off with the water and rag or simply your hand.

How-to for each method:

Experts say to focus on sponge bathing until the umbilical stump dries up and falls off. Usually this happens 5-15 days post birth. Then to move to submersion bathing. So let’s look at both options!

When sponge bathing, you get a bowl of warm water and add a drop of organic baby soap to it and stir it up. Undress baby and leave the diaper on. Wrap baby in a towel. Dunk a baby wash cloth in the bowl of warm water and start to wet and wipe the baby from head to toe. Washing the head first and scrubbing the hair area well then drying the head off. Gradually re-dipping the wash cloth in the warm water and working your way down the body keeping the rest of the baby covered with the towel. Make sure you get into all the rolls, neck, armpits, between fingers and toes etc. Finally taking the diaper off and bathing the genital area well, again cleaning in all the folds and rolls. Wrap baby in a dry towel and then you are done!!!

When bathing your baby by submerging, you first decide where you will do this! In a baby bath tub, in the kitchen sink (clean it first LOL)- with/without a seat or in a tub that you get into and hold the baby yourself. If choosing the last option be sure to have your partner there for support so that you can hand the baby off to them before getting out of the tub yourself! Now that you’ve decided where, let’s get started!

Fill the baby tub or sink with warm water (with a few drops of organic baby soap) so that it will be up to baby’s waist once he/she is laid in it. Be sure to support the head if not using a baby bath seat. Always keeping a hand on the baby! Those tiny humans get REAL slippery! Use a wash cloth and a small cup or even a peri squirt bottle to wet baby down and begin wiping off from head to toe just as you did while sponge bathing! Saving the diaper area for last! Getting into every roll and fold baby has. Rinse and you are done!!!

It’s really that simple! Some use baby wipes or body wipes to sponge bathe and some use water only for the first bath then slowly add a drop of soap every other bath as needed. It’s also important to take into account when doing this, whether you or baby have been outside the home, sweating, had others holding the baby, if baby’s skin is sloughing etc. when deciding how often you need to bathe your newborn. My general rule is…. if mom needs a bath…then baby does too! No matter if that is every day or every few days or once a week. I suggest at least a sponge bath daily getting the rolls and folds and diaper area at least if you are only going to submerge baby in a bath once a week. After each bath be sure to use a good organic moisturizer to lock in hydration for the skin!