How often should I bathe my newborn to prevent pimples?

Question

My newborn is starting to get pimples. We had thought that we only needed to bathe him once a week, though I can't remember where we read that. What is the recommended bathing frequency for newborns and how can it help prevent pimples?

Answer 1

Don't bathe small children too often, especially not daily! There's a risk they develop a skin condition like dermatitis.

In Austria, the recommendation from the midwives' association is to bathe infants weekly *' and newborns and infants ordinarily don't get so dirty that you need to use soaps (and lotions afterward) -- just let the baby's skin do what it's built to do.

*' And of course as needed! :-)

In reality, we bathed our son weekly while he was newborn, using only warm water, and that was fine. Now that he's 20 months old, we put him in the tub with intervals of roughly 3-7 days (and as needed when he's played in the sandbox). We let him play in the tub for a while, then use a soft cloth with a baby soap.

Answer 2

14

Can this be baby acne?

If it is, it has nothing to do with the number of times you bathe your child.

The rule of thumb torbengb mentions, to wash it once a week, is ok, altough I would bathe it more than that, but that's probably more because of social pressure and not for health reasons. We washed our baby regularly with a washcloth with lukewarm water and no soap. The Childcare organisation in Belgium does not warn against bathing with water per se, but it recommends to stay away from using too much skin products and soaps. It's better to use too little than too much.