AS A RULE, young mother have lots of questions. A baby is so small, he requires constant care and attention, and you’re afraid of hurting him. Genital hygiene causes especially many troubles. As for girls, here we can make for ourselves. But we understand nothing about boys. Let’s learn this science by ourselves.
Genital hygiene should be treated very carefully since the very birth. Otherwise, strangury, different inflammations or problems in youth age can occur. In fact, there’s nothing difficult here, you just need to learn several simple rules.
Boys
During first week, boys can suffer from scrotum edema. Genitals look too big and swelled up. You should not be worried. This is connected with the fact that through placenta or breast milk an excessive quantity of maternal hormones penetrates into a new-born baby’s organism. As a rule, this edema disappears in several days. But if such edema still presents by the end of the second week, apply for a doctor immediately.
Intimate hygiene for boys means regular (while each change of a diaper) washing of genitals with warm water. Doing this, you should move a skin wrinkle (foreskin) off a head of a penis necessarily. Fatty substance (smegma) is accumulated there, which should be removed. If you see reddening on foreskin, then you need to cleanse it with a cotton tampon, moistened in a light (light-pink) manganese solution or bur-marigold extract several times a day.
Sometimes, foreskin can be very narrow and does not allow baring a head of penis completely. In such case, it’s desirable to apply for a doctor as soon as possible. As a rule, a surgeon just needs to make a small cut of a skin wrinkle. And the earlier he does such operation, the better.
If a baby has very sensitive skin, then you may sometimes do just “dry” washing with the help of wet or oiled tissues. You should wash a baby’s genitals with soap no less than once in 4-5 days.
Girls
In the end of the first week of a girl’s life you may notice mucous excreta or excreta with some blood. As a rule, they disappear by itself in 2-3 days. This is also connected with excessive amount of maternal hormones coming to a girls’ organism. During this period, a baby needs careful care. Diapers should be changed every 1,5-2 hours. If excreta still take place for more than 3 days, you need to apply for a doctor.
Girls’ genitals are very sensitive and have rather low resistibility to different infections. The most common “female” disease of new-born babies is vulvitis (inflammation of external genitals). So, keep them clean and warm all the time. Every time you change a diaper, wash your daughter with warm water. You can wash her either under tap or with a cotton tampon moistened in water. Move from pubis to coccyx, to prevent excesses of excrement from coming to genitals. Soap should also be used no more than once in 4-5 days, to prevent skin from getting too dry.
And yet, try not to take a great interest in babies’ cosmetics. Use various creams, oils and powders only in case of need (while irritations and diaper rashes), not regularly. Otherwise you will break a natural protective skin layer of a new-born.
Yana Mikheeva is the creator of Baby Health Directory – Pregnancy, Birth, Parenting and Baby Care resources. Are you going to get pregnant? Visit our friendly resource and read information on pregnancy and parenting, painless childbirth, growth and development of a baby, baby health, safety, signs of pregnancy.
She also has All about women site where you can find articles on various subjects, such as: diets, receipts, health, cellulite, figure, aromatherapy, wholesome food, psychology of relationships, pregnancy, parenting, fashion and many others.
