Learning to bath your baby for the first time can be one of the most daunting and worrying times for a new parent. We might ask ourselves how much water we should use? What products are the best for my baby? How do I keep my baby safe in the bath? What is the correct temperature to bath my baby in?
If you’re a new parent and want to learn how to bath your baby, keep reading.
Baby Bath Best Practices
Let’s start with the basics, baby bath rule number one: It doesn’t matter what the water level is in the tub, never leave your baby or toddler unsupervised during bath time. Make sure you have prepared everything in advance with everything you need so that you can stay with your little one and keep your focus on making it a relaxing and enjoyable experience for both of you.
Next - let’s talk science. Healthy babies are born with something called vernix caseosa, which is a waxy coating that helps to moisturise their skin and regulate their temperature. Because of this, they don’t need to be bathed as regularly as you might think. Until their umbilical cord falls off after the first couple of weeks, you can just use warm water with a soft sponge or cloth and gently wipe between their folds of skin, under their neck and behind their ears.
Once their navel area has healed, then you can start bathing your baby once or twice a week. Remember that once babies start crawling and eating solid foods they will get dirty much more frequently and may need to be bathed every 1-2 days, with their faces, hands, necks, and bottoms being kept clean with a warm, wet washcloth in between bath times.
How Can The Shnuggle Baby Bath Help?
The Shnuggle Baby Bath is designed to support your baby no matter how tiny they are, in an upright position to prevent them from slipping or sliding down in the bath. This means they are more comfortable and have a more enjoyable bath time, right up until approximately 12 months of age, when they can graduate to the Shnuggle Toddler bath.
The Shnuggle baby bath is a great option for new mums and dads as it provides a comfy and cosy bath time for babies and helps to build confidence while you learn how to handle your newborn at bath time.
The bath design incorporates a handy plug that helps to easily empty and refresh the water, with a compact size to keep the water warmer for longer. We recommend a minimum of 2 litres of water when using the Shnuggle Baby Bath.
Keeping Your Baby Calm During Bath Time
As with anything, we are all different and respond differently to various situations. Our newborns are exactly the same and while some can’t get enough of bathtime, others don’t enjoy the experience just as much . As with anything new, it can be a shock to their system, so it’s important to ease your baby into it and create a relaxing and comfortable environment for them.
There are a number of things we can do to make bath time a stress free and calming experience,, such as singing lullabies or reading to them aloud. Skin-to-skin contact can also help to soothe them and is crucial for their overall sensory development as well.
You can also try:
- Using a calm, soothing tone of voice.
- Bathing them when they are relaxed (try to avoid times when they are too tired or too soon after feeding)
- Using a cup or jug to gently wash away shampoo and soap
- Ensuring that the water temperature is correct with a thermometer
- Use a soft brush to gently massage baby’s head and clean their hair
Once bathtime is over, gently pat your baby’s skin until dry and place them in a cosy towel or hooded towel to keep them warm from head to toe. You may want to take this time to moisturise them with an organic baby lotion to help lock in the moisture and prevent dry skin.
Making Bath Time Interactive & Relaxing For Your Baby
Bathtime can be an integral part of your baby’s sensory and cognitive development. To help aid your baby’s development, there are a number of bath time accessories that you can incorporate into your baby’s bath time to make it more interactive, relaxing and interesting for them.
The Shnuggle Pebbly bath time thermometer not only uses a super accurate sensor to measure the water five times every second to quickly inform you of any temperature changes, it also has an easy to read heart light that keeps things interesting for baby during bath time.
Related: Pebbly FAQ’s
The Shnuggle Wishy light up bath toy is the perfect toy for curious little minds and little hands, with a soft light and varied texture, there are three parts to pull apart, play with and connect to help improve their coordination and play as they grow.
Have Fun During & After Bath Time!
The Shnuggle Baby Bath and bath time accessories makes bath time less stressful for parents and more fun for babies, it’s no wonder why it was the Gold Winner of the 2019 Mother & Baby awards, or why it’s at the top of most parent’s newborn essentials checklist. Try it out for yourself - we hope you love it as much as we do.
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