Baby hygiene

Lhand11 · April 2012

First off, I cut my baby's finger by accident while cutting his nails! I feel awful!

Secondly, the reason for the post, how do/do you clean your baby's ears? DS had some ear wax, superficially, that I used my nail to get and it got me wondering about cleaning it. I have baby q-tips but I haven't talked to my Ped about it. What do you guys do?

theladyjess · April 2012

I don't do much to her ears except occasionally wipe the outside of them with a Q-tip.

Never stick the Q-tip in your baby's ears! It can push wax farther into the ear canal and cause a blockage. As a former ped medical assistant I've had to do ear washes on toddlers to remove blockages and it's not fun for the child or the person doing the wash. (One 18mo old stuck a popcorn kernel in one ear and an orange pony bead in the other that I had to wash out.)

namara5532 · April 2012

I run a washcloth over DS's ears. I'll pick out any stray wax in the outer ear, but nothing ever goes in the ear. If there was buildup, I'm sure the pediatrician would have mentioned it.

AlliMG · April 2012

I asked my pedi about this and he said that I am fine to clean whatever I can reach with a warm washcloth and ok to use a q-tip for the nooks and crannies in the outside parts. As someone else mentioned, you don't want to stick the q-tip in their ear because it pushes the wax further in and compresses it, whereas if you don't do anything it will naturally work it's way out of their ear.

raefre · April 2012

At our two-month appointment, I mentioned the ear wax to the doctor. She just brushed over it as if it were nothing abnormal. As it were, I have used the q-tip or my finger to remove the wax on the outside.

She also told me I need to trim LO's nails. I'm so afraid to do it. Thinking of using a file just because I don't want to risk clipping the finger tips.

SoonToBeMsP · April 2012

I just grab the wax with my finger or a dry cloth. Thankfully it hasn't happened often, though!

Izabella22 · April 2012

SoonToBeMsP:
I just grab the wax with my finger or a dry cloth. Thankfully it hasn't happened often, though!

This... and sometimes I wipe the outer part of the ear with a damp washcloth after a bath.

The nail clipping took me a while but I've got it mastered now... I asked my mom to show me and she snipped his finger and the boy is a bleeder... she felt bad and I still feel horrible about it... but I just make sure he's sleepy, usually after he's just eaten and is good and milk drunk... then I just get what I pulls away from the skin so there's no risk of cuts. It takes me a few tiny snips but I get it... plus it keeps him from scratching himself too badly... it was just taking forever with the nail file, now I just use that to smooth it out. You can do it!

lp0 · April 2012

I snipped the skin on ds's little finger once and it bled a little. He didn't even react but I felt horrible and wanted to cry that I had hurt him. I'm a pro at cutting his nails now since I do it every couple days. Ds's nails grow so fast and he scratches himself. I asked the dr about wax at his 2 month appt and also because I was concerned about water getting in during baths and causing an infection. He said never stick a qtip in and just to use a damp wash cloth. He gets so much wax though I use my pinky nail and gently scrape out what I can see.

courtneyklv · April 2012

I just file her nails, with a file I would use, twice a week..

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