? For my crunchy mamas

YellowLily2013

So we are using a birthing center. Last night at our final birthing class I learned that they do not bathe our baby. And it wasn't really like we don't bathe your baby you get to here. It was more like we just dry baby off and you take baby home like that and bathe him at home when you want.

She did mention one lady didn't bathe her newborn for 13 days and he had the softest hair in the world.

So has anyone heard of delayed bathing? When they are that small of a newborn do you just gently use a wet wash cloth?

I wasn't planning on bathing daily in the beginning. But I just assumed he'd be bathed before we came home!

Another option they do offer is a herbal bath for mom and baby before we leave. Which sounds awesome. But I thought post partum we weren't supposed to take a full bath? And I didn't think baby was supposed to be submerged because of his cord.

So I don't know how that would work!

What would you do?

Into+the+Kitty

I'm shaking my head at myself. I read the title, paused, and contemplated my 'crunchy' status before opening. And apparently I am crunchy, once again, haha.

We waited for a few hours before giving her her first 'bath' where we washed her hair,but that was mainly because the SOP is to take the babies from the parents and room for their first bath, which we refused. We waited until I was feeling up to going to the nursery to do it. I think we just used water, no soap. We didn't actually bathe her body for several days, though, although she had been toweled off at some point after birth, and again I think it was just with water and a washcloth. I'm really not sure about whether or not we used soap.

The post partum bathing thing is because you're opening yourself to risk of infection becUse of thr state of your cervix, and if you end up with stitches I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep them dry or not submerge them or something. I would talk to your OB or MW about that before deciding whether or not you would do that.

Latham12

Idk if I'm crunchy lol but our hospital gve our baby a normal, submerged bath 24 hours after she was born. It's ok within 24 hours to give them a regular bath bc their umbilical cord isn't hard yet. Well, our baby might have still had the clamp in, so ask your birthing center if you should submerge or not. Otherwise we put LO on our kitchen table on a towel and gave her sponge baths till her umbilical cord fell off.

It's ok to bath after birth. There was even a whirlpool bath in our suite. I had PUPPS after I gave birth, it sucked, and I bathed in an oatmeal bath postpartum. So I'd go for the herbal bath!

EDIT: our nurse used soap on our baby just fine and really scrubbed her head. Also, I had stitches and was fine to bathe.

starlightstef

Some people wait to bathe the baby because the vernix (that cheesy white stuff) that coats baby's skin is an excellent moisturizer.  We were going to wait a couple days, but then it turned out that all the vernix was gone when DS was born (typical of full term or late babies).  So we let the hospital "bathe" him.  All they did was a sponge bath with warm water and washed his hair with baby shampoo.  That's all we did at home for the first several weeks too (2-3 times a week).

As for submerging yourself...I had a small first degree tear with stitches, and my midwife actually encouraged me to take warm baths and sitz baths.  She said it was great for healing.

hst

They bathed DD on the second day at our hospital, and I'm pretty sure her cord got wet, they washed her in what looked like a dish tub full of soapy water.

sschwege

We did this with DS, he didn't have his first bath until his umbilical cord fell off at 11 days old.  Here's some information on the possible benefits of vernix:

https://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?tag=benefits-of-vernix

As an added benefit, the hospital staff had to handle DS with gloves, which I liked.  Plus I didn't have to listen to the poor little guy scream his head off, as DD did

You might XP this on the Natural Birth Board, it is not unusual to decline the first bath.  

My MW actually recommended me taking a bath twice a day when I was healing.  The bath tub had to be thoroughly cleaned and I had to blow dry down there to make sure it was completely dry afterward, but it's supposed to help with healing.    

YellowLily2013

sschwege:

We did this with DS, he didn't have his first bath until his umbilical cord fell off at 11 days old. nbsp;Here's some information on the possible benefits of vernix:https://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?tag=benefitsofvernixAs an added benefit, the hospital staff had to handle DS with gloves, which I liked. nbsp;Plus I didn't have to listen to the poor little guy scream his head off, as DD did :You might XP this on the Natural Birth Board, it is not unusual to decline the first bath. nbsp;My MW actually recommended me taking a bath twice a day when I was healing. nbsp;The bath tub had to benbsp;thoroughly cleaned and I had to blow dry down there to make sure it was completely dry afterward, but it's supposed to help with healing. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;

Thanks for the info. I havent been on the natural birth board! I might have to check it out!

ETA: for clarity

oliversmommy32912

I wouldn't consider myself crunchy at all, but we didn't bathe DS until he was a few days old. We asked them to rub the vernix into his skin and we gave him a sponge bath a couple days after we got home. We did wash out his hair.

I have read the herb baths actually help the umbilical cord to fall off sooner.

hispenguin

When we were in the hospital the nurse demonstrated how to bathe the baby the first night. They only did a sponge bath though, which is all we continued to do until her cord fell off.

I have no clue about having a bath yourself though, so I am of no help.

Mrs.AmyDylan

Birth center birthing mama here...they didn't bathe DD. Our hot water heater was on the fritz and she didn't end up getting a bath until around a week old. I went to the gym and showered.

The random side benefit was that her skin never got peely, no baby acne or cradle cap.

Feel free to side-eye...wasn't the plan, but given her week between Xmas and new year arrival, our house construction and inability to get a plumber out it just happened. 

robyn2201

Our hospital has a new policy, in which they recommend you not bathe your LO for a few days. From what I have heard, this is rare for a hospital to do. They will bathe your baby, if you ask them to. I was really excited to hear this, and DD2 did not get a bath for several days.

A37licia

We asked that DS not be bathed in the hospital, and they were fine to honor that. We didn't bathe him until a week old I think?  Same with our second. We didnt want any vernix washed off, nor did we want to mess with their body temperature. Their skin was very soft. I didn't view them as dirty, and they didn't stink at all. If there are any bits stuck on baby, you can gently wipe them off with a wet baby washcloth. 

A post partum bath would be fine. It's more when you have stitches to avoid baths while you heal, but even if you do, I wouldn't worry about a short bath in the immediate post partum period. 

PurpleFrog15

Another thing I've heard recently is that when you do immediate skin to skin, the amniotic fluid gets on your chest and makes it easier for babies to sense that smell when trying to breastfeed. Apparently it really helps with breastfeeding, but once you wash baby and/or yourself, that is gone.

AshleyPT

We had a home birth and she wasn't bathed. She also wasn't gross at all, they just wiped her off. We didn't give her a real bath until her cord fell off, so around a week. 

Herbal baths sound great, my midwife is just starting to do them, the herbs apparently help with healing for both mom and baby.  

Into+the+Kitty

Chickypoo2468:

IntotheKitty:

I'm shaking my head at myself. I read the title, paused, and contemplated my 'crunchy' status before opening. And apparently I am crunchy, once again, haha.We waited for a few hours before giving her her first 'bath' where we washed her hair,but that was mainly because the SOP is to take the babies from the parents and room for their first bath, which we refused. We waited until I was feeling up to going to the nursery to do it. I think we just used water, no soap. We didn't actually bathe her body for several days, though, although she had been toweled off at some point after birth, and again I think it was just with water and a washcloth. I'm really not sure about whether or not we used soap.The post partum bathing thing is because you're opening yourself to risk of infection becUse of thr state of your cervix, and if you end up with stitches I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep them dry or not submerge them or something. I would talk to your OB or MW about that before deciding whether or not you would do that.

My OB told me to take warm baths to relieve the pain bc I was so tore up. Maybe the herbs fight infection or something as well as soothe?

I feel like there are so many things that you hear both sides of the same story from different medical professionals. Some say definitely so something, others to definitely not.  

Danni7535

A doula we took prenatal classes from said delaying the bath and leaving the vernix on baby helps encourage baby to latch and successfully breastfeed. I don't know if this is true, but that is what she taught us.

SidraJedi

We had a home birth. We bathed DD in a shallow bath within 24 hours of her birth, mostly b/c I wanted to get the blood off of her. We kept the cord clamp on until the stub fell off. I basically gave her three baths in the first four weeks of her life (with a few water only wash cloth "baths" in between). After that I discovered that she likes showers and now she showers with me twice a week. Every bath she's ever had we use a watered down Dr. Bronner's Castile soap solution.

ETA: the midwife wiped her down but she had a little blood in her hair and a little blood under her eye that I couldn't smudge away, etc. SHe was way late so very little vernix.