Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

When do you get to give baby a wash?

36 replies

BlueButTrue · 09/09/2017 20:06

Obviously when they're first out they usually look like they've got white stuff all over them, but whenever I see a parent post an inpatient hospital photo of baby, the baby always looks clean and rosey once dressed.

Does the MW wipe them or are all these people just using head to toe wipe down wipes before taking pictures? Grin

Silently hoping I can clean baby before dressing them

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
Oysterbabe · 09/09/2017 20:08

DD didn't have a bath until she was a week old, they don't recommend doing it too early. The gunk and stuff sort of wears off Grin

dementedpixie · 09/09/2017 20:08

Best not to wash them too soon as the vernix helps keep their skin from drying out

FoxesSitOnBoxes · 09/09/2017 20:08

No wipes. Not good for newborn skin. Just dried with a towel. It's good to let the white stuff get rubbed into the skin rather than wiped off. You will not care when the time comes

Perfectly1mperfect · 09/09/2017 20:09

The midwives gave both my children a bath not long after they were born. I presume it's the same in every hospital. xx

museumum · 09/09/2017 20:10

The white stuff (vernix) soaks into their skin like moisturiser or suncream.

cheerylilthing · 09/09/2017 20:10

Baby's skin will be given a brief rub when born & ideally you don't wash them for a few days as the white layer soaks into their skin & acts like a natural moisturiser.

furryelephant · 09/09/2017 20:11

My DD didn't really have any at all! But it wasn't even mentioned about giving her a bath or any sort of wash. It was 4am though Grin

Elledouble · 09/09/2017 20:15

We didn't give our son a bath for ages! Just top and tail washes. The vernix soaks in (or gets towelled off). The midwife will just wrap them in a blanket at first anyway.

Slowtrain2dawn · 09/09/2017 20:21

I have 3 children. No 1 and 3 were not washed by MW. For some reason No 2 was washed ( maybe necessary for some reason!) I can remember thinking she smelt wrong! It felt weird and I sort of took longer to get that rush of love feeling with her but that might not be related. She was by far the easiest birth too.

Perfectly1mperfect · 09/09/2017 20:21

Was it strange that the midwives gave my children a bath then ? They never asked, just said that they would. It was only with water. My first was bathed within 15 minutes of being born and my second maybe an hour later.

Ecureuil · 09/09/2017 20:21

I didn't bath mine for about a week. The midwife gave them a rub down for a towel but that's it. Neither of mine had any noticeable vernix at birth.

Lules · 09/09/2017 20:23

He was rubbed down with a towel after he was born and we were told not to bathe him til he was about a week old. I didn't see any baby baths in hospital anyway.

Ecureuil · 09/09/2017 20:23

Perfectly1mperfect I don't know if it's weird but certainly not my experience. Mine were handed straight to me for skin to skin. Both immediately latched on. DD2 wasn't even weighed for about an hour as she latched on to my breast and wouldn't come off! Then I dressed them, had a shower myself and we went home.

Perfectly1mperfect · 09/09/2017 20:28

Ecureuil

I wonder if it's just different hospitals. Or maybe 'new thinking'....my youngest is almost 9.

Passmethecrisps · 09/09/2017 20:29

DD1 was washed by a midwife purely because we had been readmitted for feeding issues and they wondered if we fancied passing the time. She was 2 days old.

DD2 was about a week old and we did it because DD1 wanted to really. She looked beautifully clean and did not look like she needed a bath.

Passmethecrisps · 09/09/2017 20:30

I gave birth very recently I should say and the thinking now is leave as long as you can bear it really. Many on My post-natal group left it over two weeks

24hoursfliesby · 09/09/2017 20:31

I washed both of mine at 2 days old. They didn't look or smell dirty and not much gunk when they were born, it was just towel dried off. Although a few blood smears! I was just a bit paranoid re germy hospitals and lots of people visiting and touching them so preferred to have them bathed!

Heartofglass12345 · 09/09/2017 20:33

My son was 6 weeks old before he had a bath as he was prem and in hospital. He never seemed dirty tho, babies are different to us 😊

Camomila · 09/09/2017 20:35

I had a water birth so DS came out and got towel dried so looked pretty clean.

Gave him a bath when he was 2 weeks old - wanted the cord stump bit to fall off and dry out first.

If I hadnt had a water birth I would have probably washed him earlier!

ElizabethShaw · 09/09/2017 20:39

Mine were both late and didn't have a vernix coating, but they both had lots of hair and were very bloody/gunky in the early photos! Washed their hair as soon as we got home but can't remember when they actually had a bath.

Stellato · 09/09/2017 20:40

The vernix is what gives them that newborn smell. It's amazing!! Don't wash it off. Also it's very important for protecting their skin as PPs have pointed out.

Snap8TheCat · 09/09/2017 20:42

I had to wash dd's hair twice a day for the first few days. She had a lot of it and it was caked in my blood Envy

imnottoofussed · 09/09/2017 20:46

Following day midwife showed me how to bath dd. Probably cos I looked like a petrified new single mother!

IWantABlueBanana · 09/09/2017 20:57

My eldest was about 3 weeks, was in scbu. Dd2 i think about a week. Dt's were 7 weeks- also v prem so couldnt sustain a decent temp

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.