Newborn Bathing: How Much Is Too Much?
Michael Gerchufsky, CMPP, ELS, is the managing editor of Consultant for Pediatricians and PediatricsConsultant360.com. E-mail him with thoughts on this post at editor@pediatricsconsultant360.com, or post comments directly below.
How often do you recommend that parents bathe their newborn?
One mother's frank blog post about the frequency of her own baby's baths has been surprisingly polarizing and has led to a wider discussion of infant hygiene practices.
Claire Goss led off her Oct. 3 post at the parenting site Babble with, "Yep, total confession time: I really don't bathe my baby."
I’m guessing at least half of you cringed reading the above and the other half nodded in solemn approval. … Unlike my older kids who really, truly stink when dirty, my baby smells really good to me all the time. My hormones say so.
In her post, Goss linked to information from the Mayo clinic supporting the view that daily baths are unnecessary and in fact might lead to dry skin and suggesting that paying diligent attention to cleaning the face, neck and diaper area can be sufficient.
In comments at the blog and on Facebook and other social media sites, readers' reactions ranged from horrified ("Ewwwww, that's so gross, you don't know what your kid did that day [and] what they touched or wiped on them") to huzzahs ("Of course babies don't need baths every day! That’s just plain crazy"), with some commenters scathingly calling into question Goss's parenting qualifications ("You are one lazy mom who seems to have the attitude that you would rather not have your baby, that your baby is too much of a bother").
The post and reaction to it landed the mother of three an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America," where Goss says that after her second child, her pediatrician told her that her son's dry skin was a result of her bathing him too frequently.
In the GMA piece, ABC News quotes California pediatrician Alan Greene:
We've learned now that baby skin is very different than adult skin. Really, you want to watch your baby more than watching the calendar when deciding to give a bath.
What do you tell new parents about infant bathing?
