Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital

Bathing

• the tools :
  bath tub, the towel( big, for drying ), towel( small, for bath ),cloth ,baby wraps, diaper, shower gel, umbilical care set ( sterile cotton swab,gauze, 75 % alcohol ),cream, Vaseline, hear lamp( depend on environment )
• Preparations before bath :
  1.Don’t bath 1 hour after feeding and bath when it is warm.
  2.Assemble all necessary bath accessories for easy-to-get
  3.Remove your ring and watch thus not to hurt the baby
  4.Fill the tub with water that feels warm but not hot, about 36.5-40 degrees Celsius. You can use your elbow or the inner side of the wrist to adjust the temperature.
• Steps :
  1.Hold the baby constantly in your hand
  2.Use moistened cotton wool to clean his eyes, face, and ear with clean water. You may use the cotton swab for the smaller area. If there is eye discharge, clean one eye  first, and then shift to the other one.
  3.Support on the head and neck. Wet your baby’s head with water. Add some baby wash to a damp washcloth and work up a lather. Apply the lather to your baby’s head. Gently rub the lather over the head from front to back to keep suds out of the eyes. Rinse the head with clean water and pat dry with a towel.
  4.Remove the cloth, support the neck and head, hold the baby’s buttock or feet and put the baby gradually into the water.
  5.Start with your baby’s neck and wash the back, stomach, arms, and fingers. Rinse the washcloth, then rinse the area just washed with water. Repeat the rinsing and lathering of the washcloth and clean the legs and feet.
  6.Support on the baby ‘s subaxillary area with one hand and turn the baby back to wash the back and bottom.
  7.Dry with big towel after bathig , apply proper cream on the body and Vaseline on the bottom. If the umbilici remain in place, umbilical care is needed.
  8.Put the baby’s cloth and diaper on.
  Umbilical care
• –Step 1 :take alcohol ( 75 % and 95 % separately ), sterile cotton swab , gauze and paper tape
• –Step 2 :The mother must clean her hands before doing the umbilical care
• –Step 3 :wet the cotton swab with alcohol ( 75 % ), rub the umbilical stump circularly from the bottom to the tip. Repeat this several times with different clean cotton swab till the stump is clean. Finally, use the alcohol ( 95 % ) to rub the stump again to help dry out.
• –Step 4 :cover the umbilical cord stump with gauze and taped it.

Cautions for umbilical care

1.Umbilical care must be done after each bath before the stump falls off, otherwise it may lead to infection if not kept dried.
2.Parents are instructed to swab the stump with rubbing alcohol after every diaper change.
3.Contact you baby’s doctor if the umbilical area appears red and swollen, oozes yellowish pus, or produces foul-smelling pus.
4.Keep cleaning and drying out the base even though the cord had fallen off.
5.Avoid using gentian violet for umbilical care if the result of the G6PD deficiency is still unknown to prevent hemolytic reaction.