Surely many people know the phrase "skin like a baby". Every girl, having heard such a compliment in her address, will be very pleased and flattered. Because this phrase is associated
with something gentle, soft, velvet, gently pink color.
So it should be in the baby, but it happens the opposite, when the skin of the baby leaves much to be desired and worries the parents.
First of all, young parents are concerned about the proper care of the child and the state of his health and skin. For example, caring for the child's skin, what it should be, what to warn and what to follow. These questions require a long and detailed explanation. We will now talk about this.
Functions of the skin and its structure.
The human skin consists of 2 layers (epidermis and dermis). Epidermis - the outer skin of the skin, consisting of the horny and basal layers. Dermis - is under the epidermis and is a connective tissue in which hair bulbs are in turn. And also sebaceous and sweat glands.
The skin performs a number of vital functions:
· Protective
· Excretory
· Thermal Regulating
· Respiratory
· Sensitive
· Synthetic
Newborn skin.
Those features, which we talked about above, are inherent in both an adult and a newborn baby. Now we will talk about the features of skin care for a child. The skin of toddlers is the most sensitive, it has a lot of features that make the child vulnerable and vulnerable. All these young parents need to know about these features in order to give the newborn a good care.
· The newly born baby has a very thin skin (3-4 rows of cells). Since this layer performs a protective function, because of its fineness, the child is very easy to injure. Such a thin layer of skin does not fully perform the thermoregulatory function, so the baby quickly freezes and overheats.
· Newborns have a very loose layer, where the epidermis and dermis are connected. Therefore, a child more than adults is susceptible to penetration into the body of the infection.
· The penetration of infection into the blood is also facilitated by a developed network of capillaries. But besides this, it promotes a good gas exchange of the skin. In other words, the protective function of the baby's skin is much inferior to the skin of an adult.
· Another feature of the newborn's skin is that it contains 80-90% water, in contrast to the adult, whose water content is 65-70%. This content of water in the baby's body should be constantly maintained, because because of a thin layer of skin, water evaporates rapidly with increasing ambient temperature and the skin begins to dry.
· Skin in young children is poorly protected from penetration of ultra violet rays due to low melanin content.
Tips for caring for your baby's skin.
· Ensure an optimum ambient temperature. This factor, along with hygiene procedures, plays an important role in the proper care of the baby's skin. This must be done so that the child's skin maintains a constant temperature and does not lose the amount of water needed in the body, since the skin of the newborn can not itself cope with the thermoregulatory function. In the room in which the baby is, you need to maintain a constant temperature, approximately 20 degrees, to protect from overheating, otherwise the baby may develop a sweating.
• Thoroughly bathe the newborn. In the absence of contraindications, the child needs to bathe every day. To do this, you will need water from the tap. The water temperature should be 36-37 degrees. A weak solution of potassium permanganate must be added to the water. Twice a week, bathe the child with baby soap, wash the baby's head 1-2 times a week with baby soap or a special baby shampoo. Do not forget that in no case can the newborn be wetted with umbilical water containing manganese solution.
Moisturize the skin. Every day, look at your baby's skin. If you notice dry areas, moisten them. To do this, home remedies (olive or sunflower oil), pre-sterilized them. Vaseline can also be used for moisturizing, but it is not as effective.
· Treat natural skin folds. After you have moistened the skin of the newborn, treat the folds in the groin, in the knee area, neck and other folds. Apply for this you can special baby cream. To process a cream all body it is impossible. As this will clog the pores and the skin will stop breathing. This can cause hypoxia or a lack of oxygen in the blood.
· Handle the umbilical wound. Umbilical wound should be treated until it is completely closed and there will be no excretions during treatment. For this procedure you will need 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. When handling, move the edges of the umbilical cord. Crusts that are on the bottom of the wound should be removed. After carrying out this procedure, treat the umbilical cord with 1-2% solution of brilliant green (zelenok) or 5% potassium permanganate. More in detail and visually, this will teach you a visiting nurse.
· Provide the newborn with air and sunbathing . Parents think that this is what they are tempering their baby. But apart from this, these procedures are very important for skin hygiene, as they help the child get rid of sweating and diaper rash. When taking such a bath, the child should not be in direct sunlight, as the child's skin is poorly protected from ultra violet rays. He can lie down in the garden under a tree or on the veranda, naturally, if the air temperature allows. This procedure helps the newborn to ventilate and when receiving a minimum dose of ultra violet rays, produce vitamin D. In winter, of course, you have to limit the baby in sunbathing, but you can provide it with air baths. When swaddling it is enough to leave the child for a few minutes naked. A kid at the age of 3 months can take air baths for 15-20 minutes a day, half a year 30 minutes, and a year up to 40 minutes a day.
If you carefully take care of the baby's skin, your baby will enjoy your health and not bring any worries or inconveniences.
